CASTLETON, Vt. – The Vermont State University Castleton football team played in front of a raucous crowd of 3,700 fans on Saturday afternoon for Homecoming and Family Weekend, but Mass. Maritime came away with the win in a 20-14 MASCAC battle at Dave Wolk Stadium.
The Spartans (2-1, 1-1 MASCAC) suffered their first loss of the season, while the Buccaneers (1-2, 1-1 MASCAC) earned their first victory of 2024. VTSU Castleton outgained MMA 190-73 through the air, but the Buccaneers ran for 178 yards while holding the Spartans to just 27 yards on the ground.
Despite the discrepancy on the ground, Spartan defense was stout in the contest, holding the Bucs to just 4.0 yards per play over the course of the game.
Kevin McDonough was in the mix all day long, stacking up 19 tackles to tie for third most in a single game in program history. It was the most tackles in a game by any Spartan defender since Darren Callan made 21 stops against Mount Ida in 2016.
Isaiah Oufiero logged a career-high 15 tackles and
Mike Morrissey hit double-digits with 10 tackles—3.5 of which were for a loss. Morrissey also forced a fumble on special teams, hitting the punter who attempted to scramble after collecting an errant snap.
The Spartan special teams unit continued to be a bright spot for Castleton, with Ayden Linares hitting both field goal attempts in the game and
CJ Childs blocking two kicks—one PAT and one punt. For the second week in a row,
Ian DeTulleo returned a blocked PAT for a two-point conversion for the Spartans. Childs is now just the second player in program history to block to kicks in the same contest, joining Mick Wong, who did so in 2012 against Gallaudet.
Offensively,
Wes Cournoyer completed 21-of-32 passes for 190 yards.
Caezar Williams was on the receiving end of seven catches for 69 yards, while
Leonard Brice hauled in five passes for 55 yards. Cournoyer was the leading rusher for Castleton on the day with 11 yards, while
Christian Keeling had 10 yards and
Josh Colegrove added six for a Spartan running game that couldn't find an answer for the Buccaneers' front-seven.
Mass Maritime's Evan Pierce completed 6-of-10 passes for 73 yards and a score, his lone touchdown coming on a 30-yard strike to Declan Van Nest. Van Nest finished with 45 yards on four catches. Zach Proctor was a workhorse for the Buccaneers, going for 84 yards. James Cassidy had 46 yards and a touchdown while Pierce added a score on the ground as well.
Demetri Boozer and Liam Hines had eight tackles each to lead the defense for MMA. Liam Clayton and Mac Kromenhoek each had two tackles for a loss, a sack and a forced fumble. Connor Garland picked off a pass on a last-second have by Cournoyer to end the first half for the Bucs.
The Bucs scored on their first drive of the day, using 11 plays to cover 70 yards in 5:28. Cassidy snapped off a 21-yard gain on third-and-short, and Pierce found Brooks Moss for 24 yards on fourth down to keep the drive alive. Cassidy plunged across the goal line on the next play for a 7-0 lead after the PAT.
Castleton was scoreless until the second quarter, when Cournoyer extended a play with his legs and dove across the goal line for a six-yard touchdown run. Linares' kick was no good, making it a 7-6 score. The Spartans gained the ball in good field position thanks to Childs' blocked punt that ended the previous MMA drive.
The next drive gave Castleton prime field position, as a poor snap on a punt attempt by MMA led to a turnover on downs. Morrissey leveled the punter, forcing a fumble that was recovered by the Bucs well short of the line to gain. The Spartans took over at the 35-yard line, and used seven plays to cover 27 yards before nailing a 25-yard field goal for a 9-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
With 2:28 remaining, Mass Maritime got the ball on the outskirts of the red zone after an unfortunate bounce on a punt put the Spartan defense in a tough spot. The Buccaneers wasted no time, scoring on the first play. Pierce hit Van Nest in stride at the goal line for a 30-yard touchdown up the seam, giving the visitors a 14-9 lead going into halftime.
The lead grew to 20-9 after a 16-play drive that chewed more than eight minutes off the clock in the third quarter ended in six for MMA. The Spartans stuffed the PAT attempt, with Childs coming off the edge again and blocking the ball into the open field where it was scooped by DeTulleo, who took it back for the conversion and a 20-11 score.
The Spartans continued to claw back into it, needing two scores to tie or regain the lead. The first score with 6:36 to play when Linares banged through a 30-yard field goal for a 20-14 deficit. On the ensuing drive, it appeared that Castleton had stopped Mass Maritime on third down to force fourth-and-four, but a flag against the Spartans gave the Bucs a first down. That was enough to extend the drive and eventually kill the remaining clock for MMA, as Castleton never got the ball back offensively.
VTSU Castleton returns to action next Saturday, September 28, at UMass Dartmouth. Kick-off is slated for noon.
