CASTLETON, Vt. – The Vermont State University Castleton football program suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday, falling 28-14 to in-state rival Norwich University in the annual Battle for the Maple Sap Bucket Trophy.
 
Castleton sits at 2-1 after three weeks of action while Norwich is now 1-2 on the season. The Castleton defense held firm for much of the contest, keeping Castleton within one possession of Norwich with less than three minutes to play. An interception returned by the Cadets for a touchdown put the game out of reach, however, sealing the two-score win for Norwich.
 
Castleton's first touchdown of the day came on a 24-yard strike from Evan Smith to Jackson Brand. Brand caught the ball over the middle and dashed for the end zone, outrunning multiple Norwich defenders on his way to making it 7-6. Noah Crossman knocked through the extra point to level the game at 7-7, a score that held through halftime.
 
The Spartan defense got a quick stop to open the second half, but an interception on the first play of the drive for Castleton gave the Cadets the ball in advantageous field position at the Spartans' 26-yard line. Five plays later, the Cadets were in for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead. Norwich tacked on another touchdown later in the third quarter for a 21-7 lead when Trevor Chase caught his second touchdown of the day, splitting the seam and racing 48 yards for the score.
 
Trailing by two touchdowns entering the fourth quarter, Castleton finished an 11-play drive with a touchdown to pull within one possession. On the first play of the final quarter, Caezar Williams reeled in an over-the-shoulder catch while tiptoeing the sideline to put Castleton inside the Norwich 10-yard line. Two rushes later, Devin Wollner punched in a touchdown to make it 21-14 Cadets after Crossman's PAT.
 
The Spartan defense forced a turnover on downs on Norwich's ensuing possession, but Castleton's offense faired the same way on its next go-round. VTSU Castleton got the ball back immediately, though, as Cadet quarterback Ryan O'Keefe coughed up a fumble on the very first play that was recovered by Kevin McDonough. After Wollner caught a 23-yard swing pass on the first play of the drive, Norwich held firm and forced another turnover on downs to get the ball back.
 
After stopping Norwich's offense once more, Castleton received the ball at its own 27-yard line looking to tie the game with 3:48 to play. A pair of incompletions led to 3rd-and-10, where Smith hit Christian Keeling for five yards. Forced to go for it on fourth down trailing by a score, Smith dropped back and threw right, but was intercepted by Ethan Amburn who ran it all the way back for a 36-yard touchdown.
 
Smith finished the day with 179 yards passing with a touchdown and three interceptions. Wollner was the leading rusher with 34 yards and Williams had a team-best 56 yards receiving. Brand caught five passes for 51 yards. Noah Crossman hit both point after attempts and boomed a 73-yard punt: the second longest punt in program history.
 
Kevin McDonough led the defense with 15 tackles—the most any Spartan has recorded in a single game since 2017. He also had a sack and a fumble recovery. Joshua Peters and Tyler Buxton made eight tackles apiece, with Buxton notching an interception in the end zone right before halftime to keep Norwich off the board. Jordan Wright collected a pair of sacks and batted a pass down at the line of scrimmage.
 
Norwich was led by 100 yards rushing from Justin Bryant, who also had a touchdown. Chase had two scores and 65 yards through the air. Three players made seven tackles apiece for the Norwich defense: Amburn, Jeremy Henault and Eli Leblanc.
 
The Spartans begin a lengthy stretch away from home next week with a contest at St. Lawrence at 2 p.m.