CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University football team scored 29 points in the fourth quarter en route to a 36-33 win over Maritime (N.Y.) in Eastern Collegiate Football Conference action on Saturday afternoon, erasing a 13-point deficit in the final 15 minutes of action.
 
Evan Smith led Castleton to a game-winning drive in the final minute-plus, as the Spartans got the ball down 33-29 with 1:46 to play. Smith hit Lucas Morse in the middle of the field for 12 yards and a first down, moving the ball to midfield. An incompletion stopped the clock and gave Castleton a 2nd-and-10 from the 50-yard line. Smith then connected with Jackson Brand for 15 yards and Caezar Williams for 11 yards, gaining back-to-back first downs and moving the ball to the Maritime 24-yard line. On the ensuing play, Brand ran under a perfectly-lofted pass from Smith in the right side of the end zone for a touchdown and a 35-33 lead. Noah Crossman's extra point put Castleton up 36-33 with just 48 seconds to play.
 
Castleton still had to get one more stop to seal the game. A solid return gave Maritime the ball at its own 40-yard line, needing just a field goal to tie the game. The Privateers gained 22 yards on first down to the Spartans' 38-yard line and called a timeout with 29 seconds remaining. A first-down incompletion was followed by a sack for a loss of two yards, as Andrew Genier and Mark Howland stopped the Privateers' progress for negative yardage, causing Maritime to call a timeout with 17 seconds remaining. On 3rd-and-12, Castleton put the final nail in the Privateers' coffin, when Kevin McDonough picked off a pass to give Castleton possession with 10 seconds remaining. One kneel down was all it took to start the celebration on the come-from-behind win.
 
The Spartans improve their record to 3-4 with the win, and now sit at 2-1 in ECFC play. Maritime falls to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in ECFC action. Castleton was out-gained 500-355 in total offensive yardage on the day, but topped Maritime 188-146 in the rushing department. Castleton was penalized 10 times for 61 yards, while Maritime had just two penalties for 10 yards in the game. Castleton came through in the clutch, converting on 2-of-3 fourth-down attempts, while Maritime was 0-for-1 in the same category despite being 8-of-15 on third down. Both defenses registered four sacks.
 
Smith finished the day 15-of-23 passing for 167 yards and the game-winning score. Morse amassed 93 yards on the ground on just 11 carries, including a 40-yard run for a touchdown as part of a two-score day. Devin Wollner chipped in with 70 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown. Williams was the top target with four catches for 23 yards, while Brand caught three passes for 43 yards and the go-ahead touchdown. Williams also returned a punt for a touchdown, his second special-teams score of the year. Wyatt Jackson caught just one pass in the game, but it went for 50 yards to put Castleton deep into Maritime territory.
 
McDonough led the team with 10 tackles to pair with his game-sealing interception. He had 1.5 tackles for a loss as well. Jacob Griggs added eight tackles while Genier and Jordan Wright had seven tackles and two tackles for a loss each. Genier added 1.5 sacks while Wright had one sack. Damiyr Martinez also had seven tackles and a TFL. Kristopher Carroll had three tackles and blocked a punt for the defense. Crossman was good on all four of his extra-point attempts in the win.
 
Steven Stassi completed 32-of-45 passes for 354 yards and three touchdowns in addition to his final-drive interception. He added 30 yards rushing as well. Tate Neiderer totaled 144 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns rushing, while catching three passes for 11 yards. Pat Quinn hauled in nine catches for 155 yards and three touchdowns, while Ian Derda had six receptions for 82 yards. Tim Gasparik had a team-best eight tackles for the Privateers, while Vinny Fandaro had two tackles for a loss. Four different Privateers recorded sacks.
 
After a scoreless first quarter, Maritime opened the scoring with a three-yard touchdown run by Neiderer. The score capped a nine-play, 80-yard drive that took only 3:19 seconds.
 
Two drives later, Castleton answered with a touchdown of its own to tie the game at 7-7. After the defense forced a three-and-out, Maritime hit a short punt that was fielded by Williams at the 48-yard line and returned all the way to the end zone for a touchdown. It was his second punt return touchdown of the season. Crossman's extra point leveled the score with 4:24 to play in the first half.
 
Maritime wasted no time in regaining its lead, taking just 2:10 to go 78 yards and move ahead 14-7. A 17-yard completion to start the drive got the Maritime offense moving, and Neiderer added a 21-yard carry later in the possession to get into the red zone. Stassi found Quinn for a 14-yard touchdown strike on second down, giving the visitors the one-score lead going into the locker room.
 
Castleton was held off the board on its first possession of the second half, and Maritime took advantage by adding another touchdown to the lead on its first try of the new half. The Privateers took 11 plays to go 76 yards and bleed more than five minutes off the clock, culminating in a 13-yard touchdown catch by Quinn. It was the only score by either team in the third quarter.
 
The final 15 minutes is when the fireworks began, as both sides found their offensive rhythm. Castleton scored less than a minute into the fourth quarter, when Morse punched in a seven-yard touchdown to draw within six, 20-14. Castleton then took its first lead of the day on the next possession, riding Wollner to paydirt and a 21-20 lead. Wollner carried seven times for 39 yards on the drive, capping the series with a three-yard score.
 
Maritime responded with a touchdown of its own, moving down the field in chunks thanks to a pass interference call against Castleton, a 14-yard completion to Derda and a 38-yard touchdown run by Neiderer. The Privateers went for the two-point conversion but came up empty to keep the score at 26-21.
 
Castleton countered with its third touchdown of the quarter, leaning on the legs of Morse on the ensuing drive. The fifth-year back rushed five times for 60 yards on the drive, the last of which was a 40-yard touchdown run on 4th-and-3. Morse took the handoff left and slipped a tackle before racing down the sideline into the end zone. Castleton went for two and converted on a pass to Evan Keegan, giving the Spartans a 29-26 lead with 3:26 to play.
 
Maritime brushed off the score and once again responded with points of its own, with Stassi converting a crucial 3rd-and-7 with a 12-yard completion to Eric Borchert. The following first-down play was a 63-yard touchdown to Quinn, who caught the ball over the middle and beat his defender around the corner and up the field for a go-ahead score and a 33-29 lead with just 1:46 to play.
 
Castleton triumphed from that moment, scoring the touchdown on the ensuing drive and closing the game out with an interception on defense.
 
The Spartans return to action next Saturday at Keystone in their first trip to the Pennsylvania institution. Keystone had a stunning victory over Anna Maria on Saturday, 41-39, for the first win in the program's history.