CASTLETON, Vt. – Husson's defense scored the game's first nine points and then the team relied on its punishing rushing attack to take the Eagles the rest of the way as they took down the Spartans 47-26 at Spartan Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Castleton defense wasn't able to contain Husson's duo of John Smith and Logan Seward as they helped the Eagles total 348 yards on the ground and 521 yards of total offense to improve to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference.
The Spartans, meanwhile, dropped to 4-3 on the season and 2-2 in ECFC action.
Husson came into the game allowing just 245 yards per game, but Castleton did put up 465 yards of total offense, including a season-high 398 passing yards. Junior George Busharis threw for all 398 yards with Zachary Howe and Kevin Alberque as his primary targets. Howe caught eight passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns, while Alberque had a career-high 205 receiving yards on 10 catches. Corey Brimmer added 48 yards rushing and one score.
Smith led the Husson rushing attack with 179 yards on 29 carries and a pair of touchdowns while Steward averaged 7.1 yards per rush on his 17 carries for 120 total yards with a pair of scores. Joe Seccareccia was cool under pressure, going 13 of 24 for 173 yards and one touchdown without throwing an interception. He also rushed nine times for 31 yards. Josiah Hartley was Seccareccia's primary target, catching four passes for 73 yards and a touchdown.
Castleton kept the Eagles at bay on their first two drives, as they were unable to drive past the Spartan 39-yard line. However, a punt by Ryan Stroud was downed at the Castleton one-yard line and two plays later Jeff Turcotte caught Brimmer in the endzone for the safety and the 2-0 lead at 9:35.
On the next Castleton drive, Parker Asselin read Busharis and picked off a pass at the Spartan 37-yard line, taking it all the way back for the touchdown and 9-0 lead with 7:21 left in the first.
Busharis came back firing on the team's following drive and tossed a 43-yard pass up the seam to Alberque on third down to get to the Husson 17-yard line. The next play he found Howe in the far corner of the endzone to cut the lead to 9-6 with 6:24 remaining in the first.
Husson added to its lead 2:21 into the second quarter on a nine-yard run by Smith right up the middle to make it 16-6. However, the Spartans needed just four plays to go 70 yards and stay within three on their next drive. On third down and scrambling, Busharis found Howe for a 56-yard catch and then hit him again for the 10-yard score to trim the deficit to 16-13 with 11:21 left in the half.
The Eagles countered with back-to-back touchdowns, just under four minutes apart to stretch their lead to 30-13 with 4:32 left in the half. Seccareccia found Hartley for the 25-yard score and then Steward plunged over the top on fourth and goal from the one.
Bobby Lineberger connected on a 27-yard field goal with 2:20 left on the clock to made it 30-16 but Husson used just over one minute to go 92 yards and tack on another score before the half. Smith accounted for 53 yards on the drive including the 4-yard rush for the touchdown with 1:01 left in the second quarter.
Castleton received the ball to start the second half and put together its most impressive drive of the day. The Spartans went 73 yards in 13 plays, highlighted by an Alberque 22-yard reception and subsequent Husson personal foul to get to the 22-yard line. Castleton reach the nine, but was forced to go for a field goal on fourth down. Lineberger connected on the 26-yarder to make it 37-19 with 11:36 remaining.
The Spartans forced a fumble on their ensuring drive but came up empty on offense as a fourth down reception by Howe was just inches short of the first down. The Eagles took over and marched 74 yards in eight plays to take control, 44-19 on a two-yard run by Steward.
Castleton received its first possession of the fourth with 14:17 left. On first down Busharis found Alberque going up the middle and the senior made a leaping catch for a 43-yard grab to the ten. Brimmer scored two plays later to cut the Husson lead to 44-26.
The Eagles kept grinding out yards and the Spartans were unable to get into Husson territory on their final two drives. The Eagles added a 22-yard field goal from Josh Gray in the final minutes to earn the 21-point victory.
Ellis Throckmorton was all over the field for Husson as he recorded 12 tackles, including nine solo stops. Bryant Wade and Alonzo Conner each added seven tackles. Marquis Jiminez was impressive on the outside with four solo tackles and six pass break ups.
For Castleton, Darren Callan and Brett Denning led the team with 11 tackles apiece. Safety Nicholas Romeo added 10 stops along with two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble. Vince Sorcechipped in with six tackles and 0.5 stops for a loss.
The Spartans return to action and look to halt their two-game skid when they host SUNY Maritime on Saturday at 12 pm.