EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ football team got a little more than it bargained for in Saturday's NJAC clash with Castleton, but the Lions had enough big plays in the hopper to treat a massive Homecoming crowd to a 38-23 victory.
The Spartans (2-3, 0-2) had absorbed a 79-0 drubbing at the hands of Rowan last week but came out inspired with a new quarterback, taking three different first-half leads before TCNJ reeled off 21 unanswered points to pull away.
Grant Lorentzen scored a pair of long touchdowns – one on the ground, one through the air – and
Michael Strachan ran in two more touchdowns of his own to pace the pride, which got a monster effort from linebacker
Noah Croutch at the head of its defense.
Castleton took the opening kickoff and methodically marched 78 yards in 12 plays, picking up a pair of third downs and Chase Viana-Negron's 1-yard score.
After the Spartans failed to convert a 2-point conversion,
Max DiPietro (14 yards) and
Walker Bailey (19) broke off chunk plays on the ground before Strachan scored from 8 yards out on an option pitch from Bailey, and
Tim Willever's extra point gave the Blue & Gold a 7-6 lead at the 3:17 mark of the first quarter.
The lead was short-lived, however. The Lions fumbled an end-around on their next possession, setting up the Spartans at the plus-32, and quarterback Will Coon took it himself for a 14-yard touchdown, the ensuing two-point conversion putting Castleton up, 14-7, with 11:58 to go before half.
After narrowly misfiring on a couple of deep shots to Lorentzen last week, Bailey finally hit a big play to his speedy rookie target, who caught a pass at the Castleton 45 and sprinted untouched into the end zone for a 69-yard touchdown, the first of his career.
The Spartans got another gift a few minutes later, when their punt from inside their own end zone bounced off a Lion's toe and was recovered by Castleton all the way at the TCNJ 25. Croutch and
Sam Mueller combined for a tackle for loss on third-and-goal – one of five TFLs for Croutch on the afternoon – to force the visitors to settle for a 24-yard field goal.
Strachan gave the Lions the lead for good with an 18-yard touchdown run, going untouched on an option play down the left side to make it 21-17 with 1:22 to go until half.
Taking over midway through the third quarter, Bailey ripped off a 21-yard keeper before
Sam Dech rumbled through tackles and down the right sideline for a 20-yard touchdown, extending the advantage to 28-17.
Croutch took over from there, notching a tackle for loss to set up third-and-long before sacking Coon for a 7-yard loss to force a Castleton punt. TCNJ fumbled on its next play from scrimmage, but the defense stood tall to get the ball back with another three-and-out.
Another three-and-out by the Lions defense on Castleton's next possession gave the home side the ball back at its own 37 early in the fourth quarter, and TCNJ hit a trick play to put the game to bed. Bailey took the snap and faked a hand-off before handing to Lorentzen on an end-around, and the freshman phenom sprinted down the left sideline before shaking off a hit at the 15-yard line, tip-toeing along the sideline band diving into the corner of the end zone for an electrifying 50-yard score.
Castleton went 65 yards in 13 plays to get within 35-23, but the drive consumed over seven minutes of game time. After
Brayden Kelly recovered an onside kick at the Castleton 38, Willever booted a 37-yard field goal to cap the scoring with 1:36 remaining.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- TCNJ held a 388-254 advantage in total yards, with 313 of those yards coming on the ground, despite holding the ball for just 19 minutes and 10 seconds of game time
- The Lions averaged 9.2 yards per play while holding the Spartans to just 3.6 yards per play
- Castleton scored on all four of its trips to the red zone
- TCNJ fumbled five times, losing three, and threw an interception
FOR THE FOES
- Coon finished 11-of-18 for 118 yards through the air while rushing for 54 yards and two touchdowns
- Ryan Freund had 20 carries for 69 yards
- James Colzie finished with five catches for 63 yards
- Josh Cormier had nine tackles (3.5 for loss) and forced two fumbles
STANDOUT LIONS
- Croutch racked up 10 tackles and a remarkable four tackles for loss to go with his 2.5 sacks
- Remy Feniello had six tackles, including a half-sack, and added a pass breakup
- Jason Hall had two tackles for loss
- Tyler Van Cleef picked off his second career interception
- Dech (8 carries) and Jordan Morrell (6) each rushed for 54 yards
- Bailey threw for 86 yards and a touchdown while rushing seven times for 50 yards
- DiPietro finished with seven carries for 49 yards
- Strachan carried twice for 26 yards and a pair of touchdowns and added a 17-yard reception
- Willever was a perfect 5-for-5 on extra points and made his 14th career field goal
- Gavin Drown had four tackles and recovered a surprise onside kick by Castleton in the first quarter
NOTES
- Dech extended his touchdown streak to five consecutive games; he is the first TCNJ player to score a rushing TD in five straight contests since Justin Doniloski did it in the first five games of the 2012 campaign
- Croutch's 2.5 sacks are the most by a Lion since Brandon Kuse did it against F&M in 2024, while the 4 tackles for loss mark the most since Nick Celli racked up that amount against Christopher Newport in the 2022 season finale
- Bailey's long TD pass to Lorentzen was the first of his career
- The Lions defeated Castleton for the second year in a row in what might be their final meeting with the Spartans headed to the MASCAC next fall
UP NEXT
- The Lions head to William Paterson next Saturday for a reunion with former DC Edwyn Edwards and his Pioneer squad
