CUA Football Kicks Off 2025 Season with Victory Against McDaniel
Photo by Susie Blanchard.
By Anthony Curioso
The CUA Cardinals football team officially began its 2025 season on September 5, facing off against the McDaniel College Green Terror at Cardinal Stadium.
2025 marks the second season in which the newly established CUA Pep Band energizes Cardinal Stadium. The September 5 season opener also saw the debut of a newly composed “fight song” written by senior music composition major Aidan Feeney.
Ultimately, the Cardinals kicked off their 2025 season with an epic 10-7 victory, which came down to the game’s final seconds.
This matchup marked the twentieth time in the last twenty-one years that the Cardinals and Green Terror have competed in the first game of the Cardinals’ football schedule. The Cardinals’ 2024 season opener one year ago at McDaniel ended in a close 7-3 loss, despite outstanding defensive efforts from Carson Henry, Michael “Mick” Hopkins, and Conor Jennings, all of whom have majors in the Busch School of Business. Henry graduated from CUA in spring 2025 with a degree in sales and marketing. Hopkins is now a senior finance major, while Jennings is a junior business exploratory major. Both players are eager to continue their impressive defensive performance, which has received high praise on the Cardinal Athletics website.
The Green Terror received the opening kickoff of the 2025 season, moving down the field before being brought down at their 28-yard line. In the season’s first quarter, the Green Terror had highlights that included several spectacular catches on third down, an impressive kickoff return following a Cardinals touchdown, and swift defensive plays. The Cardinals responded with an outstanding defensive stop on a second-down play and a long pass to convert on a fourth-down play on the offensive side of the ball, which led to a touchdown. At the end of the first quarter, the Cardinals led by a score of 7-0.
The second quarter featured a deflection to force fourth down, a diving catch on a first-down offensive play, and an interception with a brief return before the two-minute warning from the Cardinals. The Green Terror executed an improbable leaping interception, a diving catch to secure a first down, and an extended interception return in the second quarter. Going into halftime, the score was still 7-0 in favor of the Cardinals.
At the beginning of the third quarter, CUA received the kickoff and ran it to the 35-yard line. In the third quarter, the Cardinals’ highlights included an eighteen-yard rushing play, a medium-length kickoff return after a McDaniel touchdown, and a tackle near their end zone for a five-yard loss that they immediately followed by narrowly preventing a touchdown pass. At the same time, the Green Terror fans watched their team execute highlight plays such as an interception at their 20-yard line, a rushing touchdown to tie the game, and a 78-yard pass that sparked a drive in which they narrowly missed several chances to take the lead. At the end of the third quarter, the two teams had tied 7-7.
In the fourth quarter, highlights from the Cardinals included a 20-yard run that set up a successful field goal attempt from freshman finance major and kicker-punter Brent Fardette III with three seconds remaining. In contrast, the Green Terror’s fourth-quarter highlights included a diving catch at their 25-yard line, an equally impressive eight-yard diving catch, and their defensive line breaking up what would have been a legendary catch for the Cardinals. Ultimately, the final score was 10-7 in favor of the Cardinals.
Next week, the Cardinals will travel to Columbus, Ohio, to play a road game against the Capital University Comets on September 13 at 1:30 p.m. The next home game for the Cardinals at Cardinal Stadium will be against the Salisbury University Seagulls on September 27 at 2 p.m.
