Fitchburg State Rolls Past Castleton, 31-10

Lastra hauls in pair of TD's in Falcons non-conference victory

Castleton, Vt. – The Fitchburg State University football team returned to action this evening, defeating the Spartans of Castleton University, 31-10 in non-conference action at Spartan Stadium.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 31 | Castleton 10

Records: Fitchburg State (1-1) | Castleton (0-2)

How It Happened 

Fitchburg State opened the scoring with 4:20 remaining in the first quarter as freshman kicker Geoffrey Reichert (Northbridge, Mass./Northbridge) connected on a 21 yard field goal for the 3-0 lead. The Falcons upped its lead late in the second frame when junior wide out Herbert Acosta (Los Angles, Calif./Los Palisades) hauled in a 26 yard pass from sophomore quarterback Nelson Valerio (Lawrence, Mass./Lawrence) to make the score 10-0 going into the half.

Castleton cut the lead to 10-7 midway through the third quarter as freshman tailback Matthew Hesford (Colchester, Vt./Colchester) rumbled in from 14 yards out for his first collegiate TD, before the Spartans knotted the score (10-10) early in the fourth on a 24 yard field goal from senior kicker Ryan Payne (Andover, Mass./Andover).

The Falcons regained the lead with just over seven minutes remaining in regulation as Valerio found junior receiver Jesse Lastra (Fort Myers, Fla./Lehigh) with a five yard strike for the 17-10 margin. Fitchburg State quickly made it a two score game minutes later when Valerio and Lastra hooked up again, this time from three yards out (24-7).

The Green and Gold capped the scoring with just over one minute left in the contest as senior wide receiver Jonathan Charles (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) pulled down an 11 yard touchdown reception from Valerio for his first collegiate TD, resulting in the 31-10 final.

Inside the Numbers

This is the just the second meeting between the two teams, Falcons improve to 2-0 against the Spartans.

First collegiate touchdown reception for Jonathan Charles.

Fitchburg State's passing attack was led by Nelson Valerio, who finished 19-for-26 passes for 289 yards and four TD's.

Senior Jevon Brown-Simpson (Lynn, Mass./Lynn English) paced the Falcons ground game, rushing for 49 yards on 16 carries.

Herbert Acosta and Jesse Lastra paved the way for Fitchburg State's receiving corps, combining to catch ten passes for 191 yards and a trio of TD's.

On the defensive side of the ball, senior linebacker Dylan Woods (Townsend, Mass./North Middlesex) finished with a team-best six tackles on two solo stops and four assisted tackles.

Up Next

The Falcons travel to Worcester State to take on the Lancers next Saturday at 12:00pm to open up conference play.