Football Falls at Castleton State, 24-10

CASTLETON, Vt.  –    Turnovers proved costly as Vermont State - Castleton downed Westfield, 24-10 in a MASCAC football game at Dave Wolk Field on Saturday afternoon.

Westfield is 2-3 overall and 2-2 in the MASCAC.   Castleton is 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the MASCAC.

Castleton bookended the win with a pair of defensive touchdowns, the first on a fumble recovery and a 30-yard scoop and score with 6:55 left in the first half.

The Spartans' CJ Childs capped the scoring with a 50-yard interception return with 1:31 left in the game.

Westfield's offense couldn't get momentum all afternoon.

Westfield was limited to 82 yards of total offense (on 55 plays) on the afternoon and just 12 yards in the second half.  

TJ Kiley made his first start at quarterback for the Owls. (His father Todd was a starting QB for the Owls in the early 1990's). Kiley handled the first couple series for the Owls before being replaced by Gabe Fernandez, with Kiley coming back in late in the game.

Castleton got on the scoreboard first when the Owls mishandled the center snap, and Ian DeTulleo picked up the fumble at the 30 and rambled to the end zone to give the Spartans a 7-0 lead with 6:55 left in the first quarter.

Westfield got a 35-yard kick return from Curtis Dion on the ensuing kickoff, but another bad snap gave the ball right back to the Spartans, and another fumble return set the Spartan up 1-and 10 at the Westfield 12-yard line.

The Westfield defense held on three plays, and the Spartans led 10-0 after a 27-yard field goal from Walter Luendstrom.

On the next series, Fernandez found Dylan Disbella for a big gainer (38 yards) down the middle to the Spartan 18-yard line.

Westfield's Sean Willis plunged in from 3 yards out to trim the lead to 10-7 with 14:13 left in the second quarter to cap a 10-play, 67-yard drive.

Andrew Lovell picked off a pass at the four yard line to thwart a Spartans drive.

A short punt set the Owls up 1^st and 10 at the Castleton 32.  The Spartans had been pinned back on their own two-yard line after a third-down sack from Justyn Gardener.  Cooper Harvey added a 25-yard field goal for the Owls with six seconds left in the half to send the game to halftime tied at 10-10

Castleton marched down the field sharply to open the second half, completing five straight passes to march 80 yards, QB Wes Cournoyer found Wyatt Jackson on a 33-yard bomb down the left side to fuel the drive, which was capped by an 8-yard scoring strike to Caezar Williams to give Castleton a 17-10 lead.

From there, both teams largely stalled.

Westfield dodged several bullets, getting pinned back inside the five-yard line after a mis-communication on the kick return, then the Owls turned the ball back over to the Spartans on an interception, then the Owls defense forced a field goal miss to keep the lead at seven points.

Despite the miscues, Westfield still had several possessions with a chance to tie in the fourth quarter. 

A Castleton punt from their own end zone gave Westfield 1^st and 10 on the Castleton 38 with just over 8 minutes left in regulation time.   A sack and forced fumble by the Spartans' Mike Morrissey  gave the ball back to Castleton as Ian DeTulleo recovered at midfield.  Off the sudden change, Cournoyer hit the big hitter with a 37-yard completion to Leonard Brice at the Owls' 13 yard line.

But Westfield's D came up with another big play as Budder Ferriera and Eric Lovell combined to force a fumble from Christian Keeling at the goal line, Andrew Lovell recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback, giving Westfield a 1^st down at their own 20 with six minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Owls went 3-and-out on that series, and with one last chance with less than two minutes left in the fourth

Castleton capped the game with the 50-yard interception return for a touchdown from CJ Childs for a 24-10 final.

Westfield's defense was led by six tackles and 2.5 sacks from Budder Ferreira, with Justyn Gardener adding six tackles and a sack.  Andrew Lovell came up with three turnovers on the interception and a pair of fumble recoveries.

Willis carried 18 times for 56 yards.  Owls qb's completed just one of 11 passes on the day.

Castleton was led by Cournoyer, who completed 20 of 29 passes for 206 yards.  Brice finished with five catches for 84 yards.   Westfield limited the Spartans to just 17 yards rushing on 27 carries.

Kevin McDonough led the Castleton defense with 16 tackles.

The two teams combined for eight turnovers on the day, five by the Owls and three by Castleton.

This was the first ever meeting between the two schools and the Owls first-ever game in Vermont.  Castleton joined the MASCAC for the 2024 season.  Through a quirk of conference re-alignment, the Spartans are slated to only be in the conference for this season, as the MASCAC and other Division III league's re-align for 2025.   Anna Maria and Dean will join the MASCAC football slate next season.

The game started 15 minutes late due to a transportation issue for the Owls.

Westfield will be back in action on October 19, hosting Framingham State in Westfield's homecoming game.