The Spartans celebrate an interception vs. Ana Maria
Christopher Williams / Castleton Spartan

 The Spartan football team was off to its best start in team history taking a record of 4-1 into the Saturday matchup against Mount Ida College.

     Players were confident going into the game and were hoping to continue the momentum.

     “It is a great feeling that we are winning, but we don't want to think too far ahead. We are all working as hard as we can in practice to reach our potential and there's always room for improvement,” said Kevin Alberque, when asked about their success this season.

     But while the Spartans rolled onto the campus of Mount Ida College riding high after two big wins the previous weeks, that high was quickly extinguished as the Mustangs came out ready to play, jumping out to a quick 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. By the end of the game, they were on the short end of a 26-21 final score.

     “We got beat up little today in the first half,” said coach Tony Volpone after the game. “ We couldn’t capitalize on some red zone chances and we had a lot of missed opportunities”

     The bad luck continued for the Spartans in the second quarter when quarterback Tyler Higley went down with an apparent injury. He will be getting an X-ray early this week according to Volpone. Backup quarter George Busharis came into the game and played well, going 17-40 for 206 yards and three touchdowns.

     Castleton receiver Soren Pelz-Walsh would add a late first-half touchdown from Busharis to get the Spartans on the scoreboard and cut the lead to 26-7 at the break.

     In the second half, the Spartans looked like a totally different team, mainly on defense, which totally shut down the Mustangs offense.

     “We made some defensive adjustments at halftime, but some late turnovers on offense put us in a bad position,” said Volpone.

     The Spartans would add two touchdowns by Tyler Combs and Troy Dane, but the late turnovers Volpone spoke of would cost the Spartans the game, leaving them short by five points.

     “We shut them out in the second half going 14-0, but unfortunately there are no moral victories. Tomorrow is another week and time to prepare for another opponent,” said defensive lineman Brett Denning.

     This tough lost comes after the Spartans set some new records from the previous weeks. They got the first shutout in program history, beating Becker 24-0. They also scored the most points in program history in a rout against Anna Maria 65-9.

     The Spartans next game is against Husson at home on Oct. 25.