Box Score   

CASTLETON, Vt. - Sophomore RB Andrew Fulford racked up 154 yards and three touchdowns on the ground to lead the Norwich Cadets past the Castleton State Spartans, 48-27, in an Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) contest in front of 3,400 fans Saturday afternoon at Spartan Stadium.

Norwich was awarded the inaugural Maple Sap Bucket Trophy as the winners of the first-ever "Vermont Maple Sap Bucket Championship" that will be played annually between the two teams. The contest was the first-ever gridiron clash between the in-state rivals, as it is Castleton's first year fielding a team. 

The Cadets finish the regular season with an overall record of 7-3, and went undefeated in the first year of ECFC play (6-0). The Spartans end their season at 3-6 (1-5 ECFC).

Castleton jumped out to an early 7-0 lead when the Spartans marched 56 yards off the opening kickoff for the game's first score. Shane Brozowski hit Tyler Carpenter with a 14-yard TD pass to with 12:06 remaining in the first quarter to finish the drive. Luis Robitaille added the extra point to give the hosts an early seven-point lead. 

The Cadets answered with a six-play, 59-yard drive of their own to get on the board and tied the score at 7-7. Fulford capped the drive with a seven-yard run for his first touchdown of the day at 9:23 of the opening frame.

Fulford found the end zone again for his second touchdown with 2:33 to go in the first quarter when he plunged in from one yard out.

Castleton was set up with a chance to score when Norwich freshman QB Kris Sabourin fumbled at the NU 40-yard-line early in the second quarter. On a fourth-and-five  pass play Brozowski evaded pressure and rolled to his right to hit Evan Cassidy for a tough catch to extend the drive. A fake field goal pass was intercepted by Norwich's Mike Ohrenberger to end the Spartan threat.

Norwich went up 19- 7 when senior RB Kyle Mazeoti ran it in from the one-yard line. The two-point conversion try fell incomplete, however. The Cadets picked up a big fourth-and-one on the drive, when Marzeoti got loose on the right side.

Freshman RB Danny Tripplet opened the second half scoring at 10:21 of the third quarter, as the big back plowed in it into the end zone on a short yardage situation.

With 5:33 remaining in the third quarter, Carpenter scored to cut into the Cadets' lead making it 26-13.  The Spartans tried for the two-point conversion, but came up short. 

The Cadets pushed their lead to 32-13 when Fulford added his third score of the game. Orwin Etkins ran in the two-point conversion to make it 34-13. Sabourin had a long completion to senior WR Alan McCarthy on the drive to put the Cadets inside the CSC red zone.

A fumble recovery by junior DE Chris Roberto led to a TD pass from Sabourin to freshman WR Chris Denton to extend the Cadets' lead to 41-13.

Marzeoti rounded out the Norwich scoring when he ran it in with 4:10 to play in the fourth quarter.

The Spartans added two touchdowns in the final 2:53 to make the final score a bit more respectable. CSC was led by Brozowski, who completed 23-of-32 passes for 306 yards and three touchdowns.

Ohrenberger led the NU defense with a team-high eight tackles, one quarterback sack and the interception. Junior DE Zach Sucharski added three tackles-for-loss and a fumble recovery.

The Cadets close out their 2009 campaign on Saturday, Nov. 14, when they host Mount Ida in the inaugural ECFC Championship Game at Sabine Field. Kickoff for the contest is still to be determined. The Cadets and Mustangs met in late September, with NU taking a 28-6 decision at Sabine. Full audio and videostream coverage of the game will be available on Northeast Sports Network (www.nsnsports.net).