The Dean College football team fell to Castleton University 21-13 on Saturday afternoon. (Photo courtesy: Emily Wallace)
The Dean College football team lost a close game to the Castleton University Spartans by a score of 21-13 on a cloudy Saturday afternoon at Dale Lippert Field.
Dean quarterback David Curry played a strong game and finished 23-38 with 331 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Curry was also the Bulldogs leading rusher with 51 yards.
Bulldogs’ wide receiver Errol Breaux led the receiving group with 15 catches for 241 yards and a touchdown. Breaux had an amazing game and was targeted often right from the start of the game.
Dean sophomore linebacker Dre Kidd led the defense in tackles with 12 as well as a forced fumble, interception, and a pass break-up.
Castleton quarterback Jacob McCarthy finished 12-26 for 209 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Castleton also gained 197 yards on the ground, led by Devin Wollner’s 84 yards rushing. Senior wide receiver Anthony Martinez also had a good game as he led the Spartans pass catchers with five receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown.
The scoring started with Mason Dill kicking a 38-yard field goal on Dean’s first drive of the game to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead with 6:25 remaining in the first quarter.
After Curry fumbled as he was scrambling and going out of bounds, Ethan Palazzetti of the Spartans recovered at Dean’s 28-yard line. However, the Bulldogs were able to hold Castleton to a 25-yard field goal which tied the game at 3-3 with 2:01 remaining in the first quarter.
After a big completion by the Spartans to make it first and goal at the one-yard line, the Bulldogs forced a fumble as Dre Kidd knocked the ball out of Simon Davis Jr’s hands and Malachi Reeves recovered the ball for Dean.
However, Castleton made up for it as Dustin Rick sacked Curry in the endzone for a safety to make it 5-3 Spartans with 6:56 left in the second quarter.
Castleton added onto their lead with a 40 yard touchdown reception by Anthony Martinez to make it 12-3 with 5:49 left in the second quarter.
The Bulldogs answered late in the second quarter as Curry connected with Errol Breaux for an 11-yard touchdown reception to cut the deficit to 12-10 at the half.
In the third quarter Curry got sacked in the endzone for a safety for a second time which made it 14-10 Spartans with 7:12 left in the quarter. It is very unusual for a quarterback to get sacked for a safety twice in one game. From there, everything went downhill for Dean.
The Bulldogs started the fourth quarter with a 22-yard field goal from Mason Dill which cut the deficit to 14-13 with 14:56 left in the fourth quarter.
A big point in the game was when the Spartans opted to go for it on 4th and 10 in the fourth quarter from around Dean’s 35-yard line. Castleton converted the fourth down play, which later led to a Castleton touchdown, thanks to a 1-yard McCarthy run into the end zone to extend their lead to 21-13 with 6:03 left in the fourth quarter.
Dean got the ball back and started what they thought would be a late game tying drive, Curry quickly led Dean with his arm and his legs down to the Castleton five-yard line with just under four minutes remaining, but then got caught trying to force a pass on first down, resulting in an interception in the end zone.
However, the Bulldogs defense came up with a big stop, which gave the offense the ball back with 21 seconds left in the game. However, the Spartan’s punt by Mike Morgan went out of bounds at the Dean five-yard line backing the Bulldogs deep in their own territory and they were unable to advance the ball before time expired.
Castleton improves to 3-3 and 1-1 in conference play. The Spartans are off next weekend but will play on October 23rd when they host Keystone. The Bulldogs drop to 1-5 and 0-2 in conference play. Dean will be on the road next weekend when they play Keystone College and try to snap their five game losing streak, including two close losses in a row.
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