Football: Anna Maria 33 Castleton 54

PAXTON, MA – AMCAT Field was jam packed with tailgating fans, students, and Anna Maria Alumni alike for today's conference battle between the Anna Maria AMCATS and the Spartans of Castleton State College. The two teams' defenses initially held firm, but unfortunately the AMCATS defense started to falter, giving the Spartans a 54-33 victory.

The Spartans' record goes to 5-2 overall, and 4-0 in the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference while the AMCATS fall to 1-6 and 0-4 in the conference.

The Spartans started their first drive on their own 25 after AMCATS Jamal Mitchell (Shelton, CT) booted the ball in to the end zone for a touchback. The Castleton State offense surgically ran twelve plays and covered 75 yards on this drive, which ended when senior running back Tyler Carpenter (Fort Edward, NY) ran three yards for the score.

The AMCATS' defense picked it up the next time that they took the field, forcing the Spartans to turn over the ball on downs. The offense for Anna Marian took over and drove 29 yards before Spartans' senior defensive back Brandon Bergeron (Hartford, VT) picked off AMCATS' senior quarterback Santino Simone (Worcester, MA) and ran the ball 35 yards before being brought down.

The AMCATS defense stood their ground again, only giving up 11 yards and forcing Castleton State College to punt. On the ensuing drive Simone was picked off again, this time by Keith Schneider (Benson, VT), the Spartans' senior linebacker. Schneider ran the ball back 47 yards and nearly broke the last tackle he would've needed to secure a touchdown.

Shane Brozowski (Rensselaer, NY), the Spartans' senior quarterback took advantage of the excellent field position and drove the ball 38 yards, finishing it off with a six yard strike through the air to junior wide receiver Brandon Boyle (Springfield, VT). This time, the Spartans' would only have six points go up on the scoreboard. Sophomore defensive lineman Keagan Gorman (Newburyport, MA) busted through the Spartans' offensive line and blocked the kick attempt. The score at this junction was 13-0.

Anna Maria's offense continued to struggle on the next drive, which ended in a punt. Brozowski took his place behind the center and led the Spartans down field to another touchdown. This trip saw sophomore wide out Tyler Combs (Colchester, VT) as the recipient of a 10 yard touchdown pass from Brozowski. Matthew Piazza (Bristol, CT) of the AMCATS exploited the same weakness Gorman found on the PAT, getting the AMCATS their second consecutive blocked kick of the game.

The AMCATS put their first points up on the board when Mitchell nailed a 21 yard field goal with 3:47 left in the third.

Castleton State scored once again when Brozowski connected with junior receiver Zach Howe (Bellows Falls, VT) for a 27 yard touchdown. The Spartans went for a two point conversion and completed it, bringing the score to 21-3 in favor of Castleton State.

Brozowski threw his third TD of the game, completing a 23 yard pass to Carpenter for his second score. The AMCATS' Piazza broke the line again and, for his second time this game and the third time for the AMCATS, blocked the PAT. The Spartans ended the half with a commanding 33-3 lead.

The second half saw much of the same for Castleton State. Brozowski ended the day throwing for a remarkable 403 yards and 5 touchdowns. Boyle caught two TDs, while Carpenter and Howe each caught one. Carpenter also had quite the day on the ground, running for another two scores.

The AMCATS didn't go down without a fight, though. Mitchell kicked four field goals, the longest from 40 yards out.  Simone threw for 171 yards and 2 touchdowns, and added another 121 yards on the ground. Freshman wide out David Meuse (Hudson, MA) and junior running back Robert Small (Sleepy Hollow, NY) each caught a touchdown pass. Small also ran for an incredible 200 yards and a touchdown.

The AMCATS travel host Norwich University on Saturday, October 27^th at 1:00 PM.