Castleton, Vt. – The Castleton offense led after the opening 15 minutes but Endicott came back and methodically extended its lead through the final three quarters on the way to a 43-7 victory over the Spartans on Saturday afternoon in Spartan Stadium.
Castleton was unable to generate any points after the first quarter and finished the day with 229 total yards of offense as the Spartans dropped to 1-1 on the season. Endicott improved to 1-1 with the victory. Freshman Tyler Higley saw the most time behind center for Castleton, going 12-for-25 for 166 yards and one touchdown while also throwing a pair of interceptions.
Junior Kevin Alberque was Higley's primary target on the afternoon, catching eight passes for 152 yards and the lone score. Alberque also added 148 yards in special teams for an even 300 all-purpose yards on the afternoon, the third highest single-game total in school history. Soren Pelz-Walsh was second on the team with 22 receiving yards on two catches.
Junior Drew Frenette orchestrated the Gull offense with efficiency as the team total 272 yards through the air and 173 more on the ground for 445 total yards of offense. Frenette threw for 272 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Spencer Walsh led the rushing attack with 138 yards and one touchdown on 26 carries. Kicker Dylan Rushe outscored the Spartans all by himself on the afternoon, kicking five field goals, two over 40 yards, and four extra points for 19 total points.
Castleton held the Gulls scoreless on their opening drive as Mick Wong and Ethan Macura combined to sack Frenette on fourth down at the Castleton 49-yard line. Following a Spartan three-and-out Endicott drove to the 25-yard line of Castleton in eight plays before a third-down incompletion halted their momentum and Rushe gave the Gulls a 3-0 lead with a 42-yard field goal at the 8:05 mark.
The Spartans brought the ball back out to the 25 on the ensuing kickoff and two plays later, Higley found Alberque over the middle for a 30-yard catch and run in which he broke multiple tackles. Following a false start, Higley hit Kyle Machia for a six-yard gain and then from the Endicott 46 on second down he found Alberque once again and the wideout broke a few more tackles on his way to the end zone. Robert Line Berger made the extra point to give Castleton the 7-3 lead with 6:26 left in the quarter.
Endicott drove down from its own 25 to the Castleton 10-yard line, but was again stalled by the Spartan defense as Eric Mimnaugh broke up a pass in the end zone on third down. Rushe closed the Castleton lead to one, 7-6 with a 25-yard field goal at 3:31.
Both teams stalled on each of their next two drives. However, on their third try the Gulls drove the ball down to the Castleton eight-yard line but couldn't punch the ball in and settled for another Rush field goal to take a 9-7 lead with 8:59 left in the second quarter.
After forcing a Castleton three-and-out, Endicott scored four plays later on a 35-yard touchdown pass by Freest to Dellorco for the 16-7 lead. The Gulls added a 42-yard field goal with 1:24 left in the half for a 19-7 lead at the break.
The second half was all Endicott as Frenette connected with Jamison Craft for a 19-yard touchdown with 9:51 left in the quarter to make it 26-7 and then just over five minutes later got a one-yard touchdown rush by Walsh to extend the lead to 33-7.
Two minutes into the fourth quarter Rushe booted his fifth field goal of the game, a 44-yard attempt and the Gulls capped off their scoring when Kyle Connolly picked off freshman Steve Wutzer and took it 22 yards to the house for the 43-7 Endicott lead with 4:31 remaining in the contest.
Mick Wong and Todd Carr led the defense with 14 tackles apiece, while Wong also added 0.5 sacks, one tackle for a loss and one fumble recovery. Jay Morgan was third on the team with 12 tackles while Nick Romeo, Brett Denning and Jeremy Stevens all recorded sacks.
Nick Kozlowski led the Gull defense with seven tackles and forced a fumbles, while Jake Cox picked off two passes and recorded three tackles. Craig Anderson added six tackles and one sack.
Castleton returns to action next Saturday when the team travels to face RPI at 12 pm while Endicott hosts Kean at 1 pm.
