Paxton, Mass. – Castleton put on an offensive display once again Saturday afternoon, scoring four touchdowns in the second quarter on their way to a 54-33 victory over Anna Maria at AMCAT Stadium.
The Spartans finished with 514 total yards of offense jumped out to a 33-3 halftime lead before finishing a 54-33 victory. The Spartans improve to 5-2 with the victory and remain atop the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) standings with a perfect 4-0 mark.
Senior quarterback Shane Brozowski (Rensselaer, N.Y.) tossed four touchdowns to four different receivers in the first half before finishing with five TD's and 393 yards on the afternoon. Keeping the defense honest was running back senior Tyler Carpenter (Fort Edward, N.Y.), who rumbled for a season-high 111 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns.
Junior wideout Brandon Boyle (Springfield, Vt.) once again led the receiving corps, catching 10 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns. Eight different receivers finished with a reception, including Kevin Alberque (Ridgefield, N.J.), who had five catches for 79 yards, as well as an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the third quarter.
Castleton took the ball to start the game and marched 75 yards in 12 plays to grab a 7-0 lead. The final three came on the ground from Carpenter just 10:46 into the contest.
The Spartans forced Anna Maria to punt on its first drive and received the ball on the 10-yard line. Castleton drove all the way to the Anna Maria 18-yard line on 14 plays, before back-to-back incompletions on third and fourth down ended the scoring opportunity.
No one scored again until the second quarter. With the AMCATS driving, Keith Schneider (Benson, Vt.) picked off a pass at Castleton's 15-yard line and returned it back 47 yards. The Spartans took advantage and Brozowski eventually found Boyle for the six-yard touchdown reception with 9:11 left in the quarter.
The Spartans forced a 3-and-out on Anna Maria's ensuring possession and Brandon Bergeron (Hartford, Vt.) returned the team's punt to the AMCAT 24-yard line. Two-plays later Brozowski connected with Tyler Combs (Colchester, Vt.) for his first career touchdown reception. The extra point was blocked for the second consecutive time to make it 19-0.
Leading 19-0, Castleton gave up a field goal before scoring twice in the final four minutes of the half. The first score came on a 26-yard pass to Zack Howe (Bellows Falls, Vt.) with 1:44 left and the Spartans concluded the scoring with a 23-yard toss from Brozowski to Carpenter with only 25 seconds left.
Anna Maria opened the second half with a field goal to cut the Castleton lead to 33-6 with 11:29 left in the quarter. After an empty possession by both squads, Carpenter found paydirt once again, scoring from 20 yards out with 5:23 remaining in the quarter.
The AMCATS countered with their first touchdown of the game, as Santino Simone found Robert Small for the eight-yard touchdown with just under four minutes left to make it 40-13. However, Alberque pushed the lead back to 34, returning the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for the touchdown.
In the fourth quarter, Anna Maria hit another field goal early, but Brozowski and Boyle connected one more time to extend the Spartan lead to 54-16 with 12:51 left in the contest.
The AMCATS tacked on 17 points in the final ten minutes, but it was too little much too late as Castleton finished with the 21-point win.
