CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University football team dropped its Homecoming and Family Weekend contest to rival Norwich University on Saturday afternoon, falling by a final score of 28-12 to the Cadets in front of a crowd of 3,890 at Dave Wolk Stadium in the Maple Sap Bucket Game.
 
The Cadets (1-2) retain control of the Maple Sap Bucket for the third consecutive season after wins in 2019 and 2018. Castleton suffered its first loss of the season in the game, falling to 2-1 after opening the season with back-to-back shutout victories against Plymouth State and Fitchburg State.
 
The Spartans were outgained 401-328 in total offense, with Norwich holding a 113-87 edge in rushing yards and a 288-241 edge in passing yards. Castleton was also tagged with nine penalties totaling 112 yards, while Norwich was penalized seven times for 64 yards. Both teams collected 18 first downs on the day, and Castleton created the only turnover on a forced fumble late in the contest. Castleton also held a 33:51-26:09 edge in time of possession.
 
Jacob McCarthy hit on 20-of-33 pass attempts on the day, finding Anthony Martinez seven times for 105 yards, including a 50-yard catch and run that nearly resulted in a touchdown. McCarthy had the Spartans' only touchdown—a one-yard rush on a quarterback sneak in the fourth quarter. Evan Keegan, Chance Fee and Wyatt Jackson all caught three passes, with Keegan racking up 49 receiving yards. Simon Davis Jr. was the leading back for Castleton, carrying the ball 15 times for 49 yards. Lucas Morse added seven carries for 34 yards.
 
Chris Rice was all around the ball in the contest, amassing 13 total tackles, including four tackles for a loss and 0.5 sacks. Rice also recovered the fumble for Castleton. Seth Gewanter had his best game of the season statistically, making 11 tackles with three stops in the backfield. Spencer Kozlak had six tackles and a forced fumble, while Dawson Pierson and Andrew Genier had five tackles each.  Noah Crossman was 2-for-3 on field goal attempts on the day, hitting from 38 yards and 25 yards. Mike Morgan had two punts for an average of 33.5 yards.
 
For Norwich, Mitchell Theal completed 12-of-15 passes for 288 yards and three touchdowns, finding Haleola Thomas, Trevor Chase and Tristan Johnson for scores. Chase's score was a 56-yard catch-and-run. Both Chase and Thomas finished with 104 yards receiving on the day. Nate Parady finished the afternoon with 65 rushing yards and a score on 13 carries, while Justin Bryant added 58 yards on 17 carries.
 
Ethan Amburn led the Cadets' defense with 11 stops, while Zev Motew and Patrick Keefe added eight tackles each. The Cadets as a team combined for one sack and six tackles for a loss against Castleton, while the defensive backs broke up three passes in coverage.
 
Norwich received the opening kick-off and promptly marched down the field for a 7-0 lead. After 15 rushing yards by Bryant over two carries, Theal connected with Chase for 15 yards and another first down. Facing third-and-seven just inside Castleton territory, Theal again picked up a first-down through the air with a 36-yard connection to Andrew White that pushed the ball down to the Castleton six-yard line. After a sack by Rice and Kozlak pushed the Cadets back to the 14-yard line, a three-yard rush by Bryant and an 11-yard connection from Theal to Johnson put the Cadets on top 7-0 following the point after.
 
Castleton responded with a field goal on the ensuing drive, getting on the board itself with a 38-yard boot by Crossman. The drive began with 14-yard first down to Keegan before three straight rushes earned the Spartans a first down. Three straight completions to Jackson from McCarthy pushed Castleton into the red zone to the Norwich 18-yard line. The drive stalled from there, as Castleton gained just two more yards before taking a false start penalty and kicking a 38-yard field goal.
 
The score remained 7-3 in favor of Norwich until the second quarter when Theal connected with Thomas on a 35-yard touchdown to push the edge to 14-3. The connection capped a four-play, 55-yard drive.  Castleton put together a strong drive on its ensuing possession, moving the ball 63 yards in 13 plays and eating up more than seven minutes of clock time, but a 30-yard field goal try by Crossman into the wind ended up wide-right as Castleton came up empty-handed and both teams went into the locker room with Norwich on top, 14-3.
 
The Spartans got the ball to open the second half, and cut the Norwich lead back to one possession on its first drive of the quarter. Castleton picked up positive yardage on five straight plays to get inside the red zone at the Norwich 11, but a strong defensive stand by Norwich from there forced another Castleton field goal—this one good from 25 yards by Crossman.
 
The one-possession deficit was short-lived, as Norwich struck quickly on its ensuing possession. After a one-yard carry to open the drive, Theal found Rashawn Fraser for 21 yards and a first down. On the next play, Theal connected with Chase for 56 yards down the right sideline, and Zach Buchy made the point after for a 21-6 Cadet lead.
 
After a three-and-out by Castleton, Norwich extended the lead once more to 28-6 with a three-play, 50-yard drive that was capped by a 35-yard touchdown scamper by Parady. Buchy was good again on the point after.
 
Castleton got into the end zone for the only time on the day with 9:57 remaining in the game when McCarthy capped a 10-play, 49-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown sneak. The drive began just inside of midfield when Kozlak forced a fumble that was recovered by Rice to give the Spartans the ball back after just two plays by Norwich. The key play to set up the score was a fourth-and-23 conversion from McCarthy to Saijon McIntosh for 30 yards, putting the ball at the Norwich two-yard line. After a one-yard rush by Devin Wollner, McCarthy kept it himself and pushed his way into the end zone for the touchdown. A missed extra point kept the Spartans with just six on the possession, cutting the lead to 28-12.
 
Neither side found the end zone again on the day, as Norwich worked to run out the clock and Castleton received just one more possession following its touchdown score.
 
The Spartans are back in action next Saturday, September 25, at St. Lawrence. Kick-off is slated for 4 p.m. in the first-ever regular-season meeting between the two programs.