Castleton Defeated Anna Maria 39-34

PAXTON, Mass. –  Castleton State's quarterback Shane Brozowski (Rensselaer, NY) threw for 452 yards and 4 touchdowns en-route to a non-conference 39-34 comeback victory over host Anna Maria College at AMCAT field on Saturday evening. The win improves the Spartans record to 3-4 (2-2 ECFC) and Anna Maria remains winless at 0-7 (0-4 ECFC)

 Santino Simone (Worcester, Mass.) and Ken Wood (Walpole, Mass) starred on offense for the AMCATS, as Simone passed for 209 yards and three touchdown through the air, while also running for 75 yards and two more touchdowns.  Wood was also exceptional, as he ran for 123 yards on the day.

Brandon Boyle (Springfield, VT) and Zack Waitkus (Stafford Springs, Conn.) led the high octane air attack for the Spartans, as Boyle and Waitkus had 98 and 96 receiving yards, respectively and both added touchdown receptions.

Castleton got on the board first, marching 65-yards on their first possession. After converting a 2^nd and 21, running back Tyler Carpenter finished off the scoring drive with a 3 yard rush for the touchdown. Kicker Luis Robitaille (Poughkeepsie, NY) had his point after attempt blocked by AMC's David Marsh, for the 6-0 lead.

The lead didn't last long as Anna Maria put together a 13-play, 70-yard drive that was capped off with a Santino Simone 1-yard rush and a Jamal Mitchell extra point and the AMCATS had a 7-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Castleton battled back with a long drive of their own, to start the second quarter. Quarterback Brozowski threw back-to-back completions to Mick Wong (14-yards) and Brandon Boyle (7 yards) to get into AMCAT territory. Wong then broke free for a 37-yard scamper to the AMC 14 yard line. On the next play Brozowski hit Zack Waitkus for a 14-yard touchdown, this time Robitaille hit the PAT and the Spartans had a 13-7 lead.

Brozowski threw his second touchdown of the day when he hit Brandon Boyle from seven yards out at 8:14 mark of the second increasing the Castleton led to 19-7. The Spartans possession was set up by an interception of AMC quarterback Simone by linebacker Chris Mooney (Hazlet, NJ) at midfield.

Anna Maria didn't back down and scored 14 unanswered points and took a 21-19 lead into halftime. After Anna Maria had gone three and out, Castleton had the ball on their own 35 yard line. AMCAT defensive back Tim Ray (Lynn, Mass.) then forced a fumble by quarterback Brozowski and sophomore Patrick Driscoll (Lawrence, Mass.) recovered the ball for Anna Maria.

On first down running back Ken Woods rushed for 16 yards to the Castleton 18 yard line. Santino Simone then picked up 13 yards on the ground for a 1^st and goal. Two plays later Simone crossed the goal line and a Mitchell extra point made it Castleton 19 Anna Maria 14.

The AMCATS next score was once again set up by a fumble by Castleton. Sophomore Mike Joseph forced a fumble by Zack Waitkus on the Castleton 16 yard line. Tony Valente recovered the fumble on the Castleton 22 yard line for the AMCATS.

On first and 10 Ken Woods rushed for 5 yards up the middle to the CST 17 yard line. Simone then hit Dom Concepcion (Middlebury, Conn.) in the end zone for a 17-yard score and an Anna Maria 21-19 lead.

On their first possession of the second half, Castleton put together a 76-yard drive. On 3^rd and 3 on their own 31 yard line Castleton's Brozowski hit Kevin Alberque (Ridgefield Park, NJ), his only reception on the day, for a 57 yard pick-up and 1^st and goal from the AMC 10-yard line.

Brozowski completed a 4 yard pass to Mike Patterson (Jackson, NJ) for a 25-21 lead.

Castleton made it a 32-21 game on an 11-yard Tyler Carpenter touchdown run at 6:40 of the third quarter.

After a missed 33 yard field goal by Castleton, Santino Simone and his offensive unit refused to quit, spanning 80-yards over 5 plays on their next possession and scoring on a 23 yard Dom Concepcion pass reception from Simone to bring the score to 32-28 heading into the fourth quarter.

The teams traded touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Brozowski threw his fourth touchdown to his fourth different receiver just :30 seconds into the quarter. He hit Chris Minor-Dorman (Bloomingdale, NY) from 10 yards out for the score and a 39-28 lead.

Anna Maria didn't go quietly, responding just two possession later  with an 10-play, 65-yard drive, finished by a Simone 20 yard pass completion to John LaMothe (Lynn, Mass.) into the end zone. AMC tried for the 2-point conversion but failed.

Once again Castleton missed a 30 yard field goal that would have sealed the game, but AMCATS comeback attempt was then cut short after Simone was intercepted by Brandon Bergeron.

Defensively the AMCATS were led by freshman Kevin Card (Deer Park, NJ) who finished the game with 13 total tackles, 6 tackles for a loss and a sack. Sophomore Tony Valente (Lawrence, Mass.) chipped in with 12 tackles, and interception and a fumble recovery. Kevin McCoy (Springfield, Mass.) had a two interception day along with 12 tackles.

Anna Maria returns to action next week when they travel to Norwich for a 1:00 pm tilt with the Cadets.