NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Vermont State University Castleton football team brought the Maple Sap Bucket Trophy home to Castleton on Saturday, outlasting Norwich in a 14-12 victory in the season opener.
 
Leading 14-6 with less than a minute to play, the Spartans had Norwich facing 4th-and-15 after a third-down sack by Mark Howland and Tyler Buxton. The Cadets converted, tossing a 40-yard touchdown to pull within a two-point conversion of tying the game with only 38 seconds on the clock. Norwich opted to throw on the two-point try, but CJ Childs and Max Fair converged on the intended receiver, forcing an incompletion and keeping the Spartans ahead.
 
Ian DeTulleo recovered the ensuing onside kick for VTSU Castleton and returned it 25 yards to the Cadets' 17-yard line. A kneel down by Spartan quarterback Wes Cournoyer sealed the victory, Castleton's first win against Norwich since 2017. Not only did DeTulleo scoop the onside that sealed the contest, he prevented a Cadet touchdown earlier in the game with a goal-line interception in the third quarter. The pick led directly to Castleton's second touchdown of the game.
 
Backed up at their own four-yard line after DeTulleo's interception, the Spartans went to Tyson Hall at quarterback. Hall ran a keeper on the first play of the drive, turning around the corner on the right sideline and sprinting 96 yards to the end zone for a 14-6 Castleton lead. The rush was the longest in program history for Castleton, breaking Moe Harris's previous long of 92 yards from the 2018 season.
 
The Spartans got on the board first in the contest after a field-flipping 77-yard catch and run by Caezar Williams set them up inside the 10-yard line. Williams caught another pass for seven yards down to the one-yard line, setting up Josh Colegrove's short touchdown run. Eydan Linares tacked on the extra point for a 7-0 Spartan lead with 4:10 to go in the first quarter.
 
The Cadets threatened to score a number of times, but the Spartan defense held firm on nearly all occasions, holding Norwich to just a pair of field goals until late in the contest. The Spartans forced three turnovers on downs in the game and blocked a field goal. Spartan pass rushers logged a total of five sacks with the defense registering a total of 10 tackles for a loss. On six red zone trips, the defense held the Cadets to only six points. Norwich attempted four field goals on those six trips, with two sailing through the uprights, one blocked and one hitting the right upright. Another trip resulted in a turnover on downs, with the remaining trip ending on the goal-line interception.
 
Hall's 96-yard run put him atop the rushing leaders for the Spartans in the contest. Williams logged 111 total yards receiving on five catches, while Leonard Brice and Jacob Calabro hauled in two receptions each. Cournoyer finished 9-of-17 passing for 144 yards with an interception.
 
Defensively, Kevin McDonough racked up 14 tackles and Buxton added nine. Buxton and Howland each had two tackles for a loss, with Buxton notched 1.5 sacks and Howland adding one sack in the game. Mike Morrissey swatted away a pair of passes, as did DeTulleo in the defensive backfield. Childs picked up where he left off a season ago on special teams, blocking a kick in the opening game after racking up for blocked field goals last season.
 
Aidan Sullivan completed 26-of-44 for Norwich for 276 yards, a touchdown and an intereption. Jehric Hackney rushed for 58 yards on 12 carries, while Mike Cascarano added 46 yards on nine attempts. Will Thornton was a top target, hauling in 11 passes for 125 yards. Connor McFarland had the Cadets' only touchdown as part of a three-catch, 62-yard performance. Shayne Leddy topped Norwich's defense with eight tackles, four of which were for a loss.
 
The Spartans hit the road again next Saturday with the first MASCAC game of the season at Framingham State at 1 p.m.