CASTLETON, Vt. – Every one of Castleton's eight seniors played a roll as the Spartans outscored Maritime 17-7 over the final 22 minutes of play to earn a 30-24 victory over the Privateers on a cold senior day at Spartan Stadium.
Trailing by six with just minutes, left, Maritime received the ball looking for the game-winning score. However, they wouldn't get it as senior safety Eric Mimnaugh tipped a pass intended for a Privateer wide receiver and Derek McAdoo snatched the ball out of the air with just 1:23 left to secure the win. Castleton was able to run out the final 83 seconds to improve to 5-3 on the season and 3-2 in conference play. Maritime dropped to 3-5 and 2-3 in the ECFC with the loss.
Kevin Alberque put on a show in his final game at Spartan Stadium, totaling 217 all-purpose yards on just 13 touches with five of his touches going for at least 20 yards. Defensively, Ryan Stanekstood out among his fellow seniors, recording a career-high 16 tackles.
As a team Castleton recorded 388 yards of total offense, with 156 through the air and 127 on the ground. Maritime recorded 336 yards of offense, rushing for 219 yards though needing 60 attempts to reach that total.
George Busharis had his best game of the year going 21-for-33 for 261 yards with one interception and a pair of touchdowns. Alberque was his primary target with six catches for 110 yards and one score while senior Tyler Combs had five receptions for 35 yards and Zachary Howe made three catches for 34 yards. Corey Brimmer rushed for 85 yards on 27 carries with a pair of scores.
Kyle Gardiner led the Privateer attack with 158 yards rushing and one touchdown on 38 carries. Quarterback Zack Chilcott went 9 of 17 for 117 yards one touchdown and one interception while also rushing 16 times for 43 yards and a score.
The Spartans were stuffed on their opening drive and Maritime took over on its own 45-yard line. The Privateers relied on their ground attack to get into Castleton territory and all the way to the 18-yard line for a third and six. Hopes for a first down were dashed as Jelani Williams-Beckett broke through the line and took down Chilcott for a loss of two yards. Diogo then gave Maritime a 3-0 lead on his 31-yard attempt with 8:01 left in the first.
Busharis hit Alberque for a 20-yard gain on the first play of Castleton's next drive to move all the way to its own 45-yard line. The team mixed up the rush and the pass, and Brimmer eventually brought it down to the one-yard line on a ten-yard scamper up the middle. Two plays later he followed his blockers into the endzone and the extra point was good for the 7-3 advantage.
Maritime drove to the Castleton 35-yard line on its next drive and Dietrich attempted 52-yard field goal that was wide right and slightly short.
The Spartans took over on their 35-yard line and Busharis connected with Alberque on third down to get into Privateer territory at the 40-yard line. Three plays later Busharis found Alberque across the middle at the 20-yard line and he broke a tackle before taking it the final 15 yards to the endzone for the 14-3 lead with 13:40 left in the second quarter.
Neither team could do anything on its next drive and Maritime eventually took over on its own 18-yard line with 8:13 remaining in the half. The Privateers used a punishing rushing attack to keep the clock going and move methodically down the field. They rushed it down to the three-yard line before taking a timeout with 31 seconds left in the half. Gardner then went the final three yards for the touchdown to cap an 18-play drive and cut the Castleton lead to 14-10.
Maritime took the ball to start the second half and continued where it left off. The Privateers went 62 yards in 14 plays and used the opening 7:48 of the quarter before a Chilcott one-yard plunge put them up 17-14.
Late in the third quarter Castleton offense started clicking, jumpstarted by a 34-yard punt return by Alberque and a personal foul penalty to get to the Maritime 28. Brimmer eventually gave the Spartans back the lead with a seven-yard scamper around the left side for the 27-17 lead.
Just 36 seconds into the fourth quarter, Nick Romeo recovered a Privateer fumble at their 40-yard line. On the next play Busharis found a wide-open Soren Pelz-Walsh and he caught the ball just inside the ten before diving into the endzone to avoid a tackle for the 27-17 lead. The snap on the extra point was bad and it remained a 10-point lead.
Maritime came back with a strong drive, going from its own 30 inside the Castleton 10-yard line in seven plays. Chilott then connected with Vincent Jones for a four-yard score to draw within three, 27-24 with 11:08 remaining.
Castleton added a 21-yard field goal on its next drive from Bobby Lineberger push the lead to 30-24. The defense allowed just 38 yards over the final seven minutes with the interception and the offense moved the ball well on the ground to clinch the victory.
Darren Callan was second on the Spartans with 12 tackles while Mimnaugh and Romeo each had nine tackles. The line combo of Brett Denning and Mitch Bouton both has eight stops while seniorMike Perrone recorded a sack and five stops in his final game at Spartan Stadium.
Nick Coffiey led the Privateer defense with 11 tackles while Hugh O'Brien made nine stops with 0.5 tackles for a loss. Chris Klass added five tackles and his fifth interceptions of the season
The Spartans travel down to Washington D.C. for a 12 pm game at Gallaudet on Saturday.