Battle for the bucket
Norwich and Castleton to meet on the gridiron
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Castleton and Norwich will be playing for the Maple Sap Bucket trophy today when they square off at Spartan Stadium at 1 p.m. PHOTO PROVIDED |
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By Tom Haley STAFF WRITER - Published: November 7, 2009
Norwich University starting quarterback Kris Sabourin was watching film on Castleton State with head coach Shawn McIntyre this week and began pointing out kids in the Spartan green that he had played with on the Vermont Shrine team.
That's what today's Maple Sap Bucket Game is all about: a celebration of Vermont football wrapped in a spirited Division III college game destined to become a ritual in the mold of the former Middlebury-Norwich game. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. at Spartan Stadium in Castleton.
"It's very exciting for football in the state of Vermont," McIntyre said.
Norwich and Middlebury ceased playing after 100 games, meeting for the last time in 1991. Middlebury and the teams in the New England Small College Athletic Conference are now allowed only eight games, all in their league.
Something very special has been missing from the Vermont sports landscape for 18 years, but now it's back with the first-year Castleton program being a member of the first-year Eastern Collegiate Football Conference, along with Norwich.
A very unique trophy, an old sap bucket mounted on a piece of tree, will be the prize at the end, replacing the Wadsworth Trophy that the Cadets and Middlebury used to fight over.
Norwich and Middlebury first met in 1893 and played a hundred games before the series ended with Middlebury holding a 49-44-7 edge.
It became a great Vermont autumn tradition played in front of huge crowds.
The Castleton-Norwich game not only replaces that annual rite, but the Maple Sap Bucket replaces the Wadsworth Trophy, still on display at the entrance to the Norwich University football office.
The Cadets would love to have the Maple Sap Bucket to put next to it and they have to be a prohibitive favorite to take it back to Northfield.
The Cadets bring a 5-0 league record into the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference game and are 6-3 overall. The Spartans are 1-4 in the ECFC and 3-5 overall. They are coming off a thrilling, 49-44 league victory over Becker.
The Cadets have been playing outstanding defense. They had two goal-line stands and forced six turnovers in the 15-3 victory over New York Maritime last week that clinched the No. 1 seed in the ECFC Championship Game on Nov. 14.
They will have to deal with a much different offense today as Castleton throws the ball more than other teams in the ECFC.
"They have a very good passing scheme and have done very well with it," McIntyre said.
Spartan quarterback Shane Brozowski is 128 of 230 for 1,571 yards and eight touchdowns.
The Cadets know they must put pressure on him and they are tied for the league lead in sacks with 15. They also have an outstanding secondary led by senior captain Donovan Brown, who has four interceptions.
Brozowski's main target is South Burlington's Evan Cassidy, who has 31 catches for 532 yards and three touchdowns.
Brozowski's passing is complemented by Tyler Carpenter, who has rushed for 816 yards, including 298 in last week's win over Becker.
Norwich's run-oriented offense spreads the ball around to a lot of backs. Five of them have at least 250 yards. They are led by Andrew Fulford with 541. Sabourin has rushed for 468 himself.
Castleton coach Rich Alercio sees a stark contrast in the quarterbacks.
"Shane will sit back there and sit back there, go through all his reads, looking at all his receivers," Alercio said. "Sabo will look once and if he's not open, he will take off and run and he is a very effective runner. And they'll call a lot of quarterback draws for him."
Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union Superintendent John Castle was the captain of the 1987 Middlebury team and remembers the rivalry with Norwich fondly.
The North Country Union graduate said having grown up in Vermont and following it made it even more special for him.
"The differences in the institutions accentuated the rivalry," Castle said. "Norwich is a very different place from Middlebury and that served to heighten the rivalry."
The same thing could be said to be in place for the new model with Castleton the state school and Norwich the oldest private military college in the country.
"That it was the last game also heightened it. It was the last chance to leave everything out on the field," Castle said. "It was always a very tough, hard-fought game.
"I think it's great that Castleton and Norwich are playing," said Castle, who plans to attend today's contest.
Middlebury, 3-3, has its own trophy game this week. The Panthers host Hamilton in the battle for the Old Rocking Chair.
Middlebury has the momentum of a 31-24 victory over Trinity last week, ending the Bantam's 15-game winning streak, the second-longest win skein in Division III at that point.
The Panthers ride the arm of Donald McKillop who was 35 of 50 for 342 yards and two touchdowns in that victory, earning New England Small College Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors.
tom.haley@rutlandherald.com
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