CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University football team dropped its final non-conference game of the season on Saturday, falling 34-6 to St. Lawrence at Dave Wolk Stadium.
 
The Spartans sit at 1-3 overall entering Eastern Collegiate Football play next Saturday, while St. Lawrence sits at 2-2 going into conference action of its own. SLU outgained Castleton 429-263 in total yardage, including a 215-97 margin on the ground. The Saints also won the turnover battle 2-0, scoring 10 points off those two miscues. St. Lawrence won the possession battle 33:40 to 26:20.
 
Evan Smith completed 12-of-22 passes for 153 yards and an interception. Evan Keegan and Wyatt Jackson had three catches each, while Saijon McIntosh had a team-high 33 yards receiving. Devin Wollner carried the ball five times for 29 yards while Lucas Morse had 25 yards on six carries. Simon Davis Jr. collected 21 yards on six carries. Jackson Brand scored Castleton's only touchdown on a six-yard carry.
 
Defensively, Quinten Asiedu led the team with seven tackles, including one for a loss. Jacob Griggs, Kevin McDonough and Jordan Wright had six tackles each, with Wright collecting 1.5 sacks on the day. Andrew Genier had five tackles and 0.5 sacks.
 
Quarterback Daniel Lawther had a big day for St. Lawrence, rushing for 117 yards and two touchdowns while throwing for 214 yards on 20-of-26 passing. Peyton Schmitt added two touchdowns on the ground as well while rushing for 72 yards. TJ Cornacchia caught nine passes for 54 yards, while Daniel Greene caught five for 80 yards including a 48-yard completion.
 
Brian Casazza had seven tackles and a forced fumble for the Saints, while Bennett Cheer had six stops, a sack and a forced fumble. Daniel George had four tackles and an interception.
 
The Saints opened the scoring early, marching down the field 67 yards in 12 plays on the first drive of the game to take a 7-0 lead. Schmitt punctuated the drive with three straight rushes, culminating in a three-yard touchdown run.
 
Castleton answered quickly, needing just four plays to go 70 yards and score a touchdown of its own on the ensuing drive. Smith connected with Keegan for 14 yards to open the drive before finding McIntosh for 17 yards and Brand for 26 yards down to the SLU 13-yard line. After a holding penalty on the Saints, Brand took an end-around handoff across the line six yards for the score. Noah Crossman's extra-point was blocked, however, leaving Castleton trailing by a point, 7-6.
 
St. Lawrence matched Castleton's score almost immediately on the following drive, as Schmitt carried for four yards to start the action before Lawther snapped off a 71-yard keeper down the right sideline. Lawther was sprung by strong blocking downfield by his receivers for a 14-6 lead midway through the first quarter.
 
Neither side got on the board again until the final minute of the second quarter, when St. Lawrence drove the ball deep into Castleton territory thanks to a 27-yard completion with less than 20 seconds left that put the ball on the Castleton 2-yard line. After a 1st-and-Goal incompletion, Schmitt again scored from close range to extend the lead to 21-6 going into halftime.
 
Castleton was driving well after receiving the ball out of halftime, pushing the possession down to the St. Lawrence 5-yard line. Smith spun away from a sack and rolled to his right, looking towards the end zone. He fired on the run, but George came away with it for SLU. The Saints marched 83 yards in 11 plays on the ensuing drive before Lawther punched it in on a quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line to make it 28-6.
 
Castleton's defense buckled down from there, bending but refusing to break while holding St. Lawrence to two short field goals—20 and 21 yards, respectively—when the Saints were threatening touchdowns in the fourth quarter. SLU's field goals made it 34-6, a score that held to the final horn.
 
The Spartans open ECFC play next Saturday at 5 p.m. when they host Dead College at Dave Wolk Stadium.