Castleton quarterback Shane Brozowski threw for 499 yards to lead the Castleton State College Spartans to a 35-27 win against Norwich University in the battle for the Maple Sap Bucket. With the win, the Spartans improve to 3-2 on the season and 2-0 in Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) action, while the Cadets drop their second-straight game, falling to 3-2 on the season and 0-2 in league play.
Norwich senior quarterback Kris Sabourin (Georgia, Vt.) became the all-time rushing leader in Cadets program history as he totaled 97 yards on the ground to set the new record at 3,077 yards. Sabourin also totaled 226 yards in the air for the Norwich offense, completing 22 of 36 passing attempts for three touchdowns.
Danny Triplett (Haverhill, Mass.) netted 187 rushing yards for the Cadets on the afternoon, including a long of 34 yards and a two-yard touchdown run. Derrick Pitts(Schenectady, N.Y.) was the Cadets' receiving leader with 104 yards and a touchdown.
In addition to Brozowski's 499 passing yards, the Spartans were led offensively by Brandon Boyle, who totaled 274 receiving yards. Tyler Carpenter totaled 59 rushing yards to lead the Spartans on the ground.
Castleton opened scoring early as Brandon Boyle collected a 51 yard pass from Brozowski to put the Spartans on the board at the 8:09 mark in the first quarter. A Dave Fox completed extra-point attempt would give the Spartans the early 7-0 lead.
The second quarter would see the most offensive action of the day, as Castleton outscored Norwich 14-13. Denny Wilhelm collected a seven-yard pass from Brozowski at the 6:54 mark to take a 14-0 lead. Norwich responded with a seven-point play at 2:22 as Triplett converted a two-yard run and Michael Schreiner (St. Albans, Vt.)converted the extra-point attempt.
Castleton wasted no time making up for the Cadets' touchdown, reclaiming the 14-point lead with 1:29 to play in the half on a Brozowski 13-yard pass to Tyler Carpenter. The Cadets would use 11 plays to travel 71 yards in 1:13 culminating with a Pitts seven-yard catch from Sabourin to set the score at 21-13 entering halftime.
Castleton was the lone scoring team in the third quarter as Brozowski found Boyle for the second time on the day for a 22-yard touchdown reception. Fox connected on the extra-point attempt to give the Spartans the 28-13 lead.
Castleton extended the lead to 35-13 49 seconds into the final quarter as Boyle exploded for a 92 yard reception from Brozowski.
The Cadets responded with touchdowns at the 9:32 and 5:11 marks, but it would not be enough, giving the Spartans the 35-27 victory. Dan Jamieson (Morris Plains, N.J.) caught a 20 yard pass from Sabourin and the Cadets converted the two-point attempt on a Sabourin pass to Adam Fraser (Lowell, Mass.) to bring the score to 35-21. The Cadets would then use 10 plays to travel 69 yards, resulting in a one-yard reception for Zach Allen (Boston, Mass.).
Todd Carr led the Spartans' defense with 15 tackles, while Mick Wong added nine tackles, two of which were tackles-for-loss.
Nate Fortezzo (Branford, Conn.) and Andy Mangin (Concord, Mass.) both totaled seven tackles for Norwich. Ethan Hanks (Hull, Mass.) posted a game-high four breakups on the afternoon.
Norwich returns to action next weekend, traveling to Washington, D.C. to take on Gallaudet in ECFC action on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 122:00 p.m.
