CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University football team pulled off a thrilling, last-minute victory over Anna Maria on Saturday, scoring the game-winning touchdown with just 1:04 to play to complete the 38-31 win in Eastern Collegiate Football Conference play at Dave Wolk Stadium.
 
After Anna Maria wiped out Castleton's two-touchdown lead with less than five minutes remaining in the game, the Spartans got the ball back at their own 31-yard line with 1:37 to play in a 31-31 deadlock. After a first-down incompletion, Jacob McCarthy tossed a screen pass to Simon Davis Jr., who maneuvered his way 47 yards down the field, carrying the ball all the way to the AMCATS' 22-yard line. McCarthy spiked the ball to stop the clock, and Castleton gained only one yard on second down to bring up a 3rd-and-9 with 1:09 remaining. After an Anna Maria timeout, McCarthy found Anthony Martinez down the seam for a 21-yard touchdown and a 37-31 lead. Noah Crossman's extra point put the final scoring of the game on the board, and an interception by Ian DeTulleo on 4th-and-26 for Anna Maria put the finishing touches on the 38-31 win.
 
The Spartans now sit in a four-way tie at 3-1 in ECFC play, joining the AMCATS, Gallaudet and Alfred State atop the standings. Castleton is 5-3 on the year while Anna Maria sits at 5-2 overall. The difference in the game came on turnovers, as Castleton scored 14 points off four Anna Maria turnovers in the contest. The AMCATS outgained Castleton 540-391 in total yardage, though the Spartans dominated in the ground game 126 yards to 29. Anna Maria gained 511 yards through the air to Castleton's 265, and earned 27 first downs to the Spartans' 17. Time of possession was split evenly, with Castleton controlling play for 30:35 and Anna Maria 29:25.
 
McCarthy connected on 19-of-35 passes on the day, throwing for 265 yards and a touchdown. He had three pass plays go for more than 45 yards, connecting with Martinez for 49, Davis Jr. for 47 and Chance Fee for 46. Martinez caught the lone receiving touchdown, and finished with 120 yards on eight receptions. Devin Wollner was a force out of the backfield, carrying the ball nine times for 70 yards and two touchdowns—one of which was a 35-yard score that featured five broken tackles on his way to the end zone. Lucas Morse added two touchdowns of his own, amassing 38 yards on 12 carries. Noah Crossman was 1-of-2 on the day in field goal attempts, drilling a 40-yarder in the first quarter. He made all five of his point-after attempts. His 40-yard field goal was the longest Castleton field goal since the program's inaugural season in 2009 when Lucas Robitaille made a 42-yarder vs. Husson.
 
Defensively, Castleton was led by eight tackles each from Ethan Palazetti and Jayson Gilsinger. Jacob Griggs added seven stops, as did Kyle Ford. Ian DeTulleo picked off a pair of passes, including the game-sealing interception to put an end to Anna Maria's final drive. Andrew Genier had three pass breakups, swatting a pair of passes at the line and hitting the quarterback's arm as he threw another time. Chris Rice and Jordan Wright registered sacks in the contest, and Ford and Spencer Kozlak added tackles for a loss as well. Mike Morgan kept the AMCATS pinned all day long, downing a pair of punts inside the 10-yard line and averaged 39.0 yards per punt.
 
Anna Maria's pass-heavy offense saw Alex Cohen toss for 511 yards while completing 38-of-64 attempts. He threw three touchdowns, but was also intercepted four times and sacked twice; he was also charged with a pair of intentional grounding penalties. Hayden Braga was his primary target, hauling in 12 balls for 158 yards. David Robinson caught seven passes for 142 yards and a touchdown, while Justin McMillian caught seven for 119 and a score. Deandre Wallace—a frequent feature in the ECFC's Rookie of the Week category—was held to five catches for 47 yards, but his late touchdown tied the game at 31-31 for the time being. Anna Maria rushed for just 29 yards as a team, with Johnathan Gomez accounting for 15 of them. Ryan Kent was 1-of-2 kicking field goals as well, hitting from 33 yards and having another attempt blocked just before halftime.
 
The AMCAT defense had Armstrong Antoine lead the way with 10 tackles. Alvin Martin contributed nine of his own. Antoine, Lamar Wilkes and Anthony Olenechuck forced fumbles on the day, but only one was recovered for the AMCATS. The team had six tackles for a loss, led by 1.5 from Jude Sampson.
 
Anna Maria received the opening kickoff in the game, picking up a first down on the game's first play. Three straight incompletions followed by a punt gave the ball to Castleton for the first time, but the Spartans' offense stalled out quickly and forced a punt back to Anna Maria. Morgan pinned the AMCATS deep, as Castleton downed the ball inside the 10-yard line at the Anna Maria 7-yard line.
 
The long field ahead didn't fluster the AMCATS, as Anna Maria went to work on what turned into a 16-play, 93-yard, 7:25 touchdown drive. The AMCATS converted three third downs on the drive to keep the ball moving, eventually ending up inside the Spartans' 10 at the 6-yard line. Castleton held firm defensively for the first three downs, forcing a 4th-and-Goal from the 1-yard line. The AMCATS kept the offense on the field, and Cohen snuck the ball in for the score and a 7-0 Anna Maria lead.
 
Castleton responded with a scoring drive of its own, picking up seven yards each on each of its first two plays after starting in prime field position thanks to a 47-yard kickoff return by Saijon McIntosh. A second-down gain of six yards gave Castleton a 3rd-and-5, but a pass fell incomplete to bring on the field goal unit. Crossman lined up for the 40-yard field goal and pummeled it through the uprights with plenty of distance to spare, getting Castleton on the board, 7-3.
 
Castleton got the ball back to start the second quarter, as the opening stanza ended with an emphatic 13-yard sack of Cohen by Castleton's Wright, forcing a fourth down for the AMCATS. The drive again went nowhere, forcing a punt and keeping the deficit at four points. Castleton was then able to force a three-and-out by Anna Maria defensively to keep pace. The AMCATS considered going for the fourth-down conversion on 4th-and-2, but a false start backed the ball up and brought on the punt team.
 
The defensive stand led to immediate points for Castleton, as the team took the ensuing drive to march down the field in eight plays covering 75 yards and using 3:55 of clock. Facing a 3rd-and-7 from their own 28-yard line, Martinez reeled in a pass from McCarthy and took off down the field for a 49-yard gain, putting the Spartans back into scoring territory. Three straight rushes by Castleton moved the ball within a yard of the end zone, but a fumble on the ensuing play pushed Castleton back to the 5-yard line. The ball was popped out of Morse's arms, but landed right in tight end Evan Keegans hands to keep Castleton possession. The Spartans went right back to Morse on the next play, powering the ball in for a touchdown and a 10-7 lead after the Crossman PAT.
 
After empty drives by both teams following the Spartan touchdown, Anna Maria leveled the score at 10-10 when a 6-play, 55-yard drive culminated in a 33-yard field goal by Kent. The score was set up by the first two plays of the drive, as Cohen found Robinson for 32 yards to start the drive before connecting with Braga for 15 on the very next play. After another eight-yard completion to Braga, Cohen missed on two straight passes to bring up fourth down.
 
Castleton's final drive of the half came up empty, and Anna Maria responded by marching the ball inside the red zone. Facing 4th-and-2 at the 11-yard line, the AMCATS elected to kick the field goal, but Kozlak got a hand on it and blocked it down, keeping the game deadlocked at 10-10 heading into halftime.
 
Castleton received the second-half kickoff and quickly took advantage of the possession. On 3rd-and-2 from just shy of midfield, McCarthy found a wide-open Fee for a 46-yard connection down the left sideline. The play pushed the ball all the way down to the Anna Maria 4-yard line. After a negative rush and an incomplete pass, brought on 3rd-and-Goal, Morse took a handoff and powered his way in for his second touchdown of the day and a 17-10 Spartan lead following the Crossman extra point.
 
The lead extended to 24-10 on the next Spartan drive, as Cohen was intercepted by Seth Gewanter to give Castleton prime field position. Davis Jr. broke off a 12-yard run to start the drive, and a later completion to Martinez converted a third down for Castleton. With 1st-and-10 at the AMCAT 35-yard line, Wollner took the handoff and bounced off a multitude of defenders on his way to paydirt and a two-touchdown lead for the home team.
 
Castleton had a chance to continue building on its lead when Cohen was intercepted yet again, this time by Kris Carroll. Carroll returned the ball 57 yards down to the Anna Maria 13-yard line, giving the Spartan offense the ball on the doorstep. Two short rushes and an incomplete pass quickly brought on fourth down, however, and Crossman's 29-yard attempt sailed wide right to keep the lead at 14 points.
 
Anna Maria took advantage of the break it received, promptly marching down the field and into the end zone. The big play of the drive was a 56-yard strike from Cohen to McMillian for the score. McMillian beat his defender on the right side of the field and snagged the rainbow pass with the tips of his fingers before taking off to the races for the touchdown. The extra point made it a 24-17 game in favor of Castleton, a score that held into the fourth quarter.
 
Anna Maria's first drive of the final frame ended with an interception as well, as Cohen was victimized by DeTulleo for the first time to give Castleton the ball at its own 37. The turnover turned into points for the Spartans, as Castleton used 14 plays to cover 63 yards and milk more than seven mintues off the clock. The drive featured three third-down conversions for Castleton, and ended with a four-yard touchdown run by Wollner—his second TD of the day. The extra point made it 31-17 Castleton with just 4:45 remaining.
 
Anna Maria picked up the pace knowing it needed two quick scores, converting on a third down and a fourth down on the ensuing drive before a 26-yard completion put the AMCATS inside the red zone at the Castleton 19. On the next play, Cohen found Robinson in the left corner of the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown, bringing Anna Maria within seven, 31-24, after the PAT.
 
The AMCATS elected for the onside kick after the touchdown, and recovered at their own 48-yard line to retain possession and keep their hopes alive. The hopes were quickly realized, as the first play from scrimmage after the recovery was a 44-yard completion to Robinson down to the AMCAT 8-yard line. Cohen was then tagged with an intentional grounding call, throwing the ball away inside the tackle box trying to avoid a sack by Rice. The play ended up making little difference to the drive, as Cohen found Robinson for six yards before finding Wallace in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown and a tie game, 31-31, with just 1:39 to play.
 
Castleton was backed up to its own 31-yard line to start the final drive, but a big play from Davis Jr. was the spark the offense needed to move down the field and win the game. A screen play to the running back gained 47 yards to get the team into field goal range, but a third-down completion for 21 yards and a touchdown to Martinez was the difference maker in the contest, giving Castleton its 38-31 lead.
 
The AMCATS had one final shot to level the score once again, beginning on their own 31-yard line with 1:04 to play. Cohen found Braga for back-to-back completions totaling 22 yards, moving the ball across midfield to the Castleton 47. A six-yard completion following a timeout put the ball at the 41-yard line, but back-to-back incomplete passes brought up 3rd-and-10. Castleton brought the pressure on third down, as Rice had Cohen in the grasp when Cohen attempted to throw the ball away. He was flagged for intentional grounding for the second time in the contest, pushing the AMCATS back to a 4th-and-21. A false start made it 4th-and-26, and Cohen lofted a hail mary to try and get a fresh set of downs, but it careened off the hands of another player into the waiting arms of DeTulleo for the game-sealing interception.
 
Castleton is back in action next Saturday on the road at Alfred State. The Pioneers are currently 3-1 in league play and 4-4 overall this year. Game time is slated for noon in Alfred, N.Y.