The post on the Minisink Valley Booster Club’s Facebook page about Josh Peguero proved to be prophetic in his Vermont State University Castleton football debut on Saturday. The post: “Josh is what is referred to as a catalyst. He makes things happen. Every time he touches the ball whether it’s a kick return, punt return, reception or interception, Josh is a threat to take it to the house.”
Peguero caught the winning touchdown pass from quarterback Mitch Chaves in VTSU Castleton’s 16-12 victory over Westfield State. He had two catches for 47 yards and that earned him the New Jersey Athletic Conference’s Rookie of the Week honor.
Saturday, Peguero will play in the Maple Sap Bucket Game.
The Maple Sap Bucket, the football rivalry between Norwich University and Vermont State University Castleton, transcends sports, It has become a tradition on the state’s calendar in the mold of Northfield’s famous Labor Day Parade or Rutland’s celebrated Halloween Parade.
The next edition of the rivalry kicks off on Saturday at noon at Dave Wolk Stadium and one hour later Middlebury College opens its football season at Wesleyan.
The Maple Sap Bucket produces pageantry, a vibrant tailgating scene and bragging rights for the year.
Last season, it was VTSU Castleton’s turn to hoist the unique trophy.
It looked as though Norwich quarterback Aidan Sullivan and Connor McFarland had a chance to be heroes. They hooked up for a 40-yard touchdown pass with 38 seconds remaining to cut Castleton’s lead to 14-12.
But then Castleton’s CJ Childs and U-32 graduate Max Fair snatched the hero mantel with an outstanding defensive play that denied the pass for the two points.
There will be new heroes this season and the Cadets hope a different outcome.
There are not only heroes on the field, but folks off the field and far from the limelight who have a lot to do with this storied tradition.
One is a man named Bill Bunker.
Bunker was a maintenance man on the Castleton campus living in Poultney when the idea of the Maple Sap Bucket trophy was hatched. Dave Wolk, then the Castleton president, knew that Bunker had a talent.
“He could do anything with wood,” Wolk said this week while looking forward to attending the game in the stadium that bears his name.
He told Bunker about his vision of a Maple Sap Bucket trophy. Bunker went into the woods on campus, found a maple and fashioned part of it into the base for the trophy.
Many alumni then submitted designs for the hardware that would be affixed to that base and the result was one very distinct reward for the game’s winner.
A couple of years ago Castleton had a pregame scrimmage against Hudson Valley Community College and Peguero was playing for Hudson Valley. He also had a connection with someone on the Castleton team and decided to make the move to Vermont’s first college.
“He is a very talented player, very athletic,” Castleton coach Tyler Higley said.
Norwich fell 19-3 at St. Lawrence in its opener but the Cadets, who were winless last season, looked solid on defense, shutting out SLU in the first and fourth quarters. NU also led 3-0 after the first quarter.
“That was an encouraging sign. A lot of the kids were making their first appearances on that side of the ball,” Norwich coach Bill Russell said.
Sophomore inside linebacker Ben Primich led that defense with a game-high 15 tackles.
“He was all over the field,” Russell said. “He had a really good spring.”
Norwich’s defensive tackle John Dixner received a national honor when D3football.com named his to its Team of the Week for his performance against SLU — eight tackles, including three for a loss of 12 yards and a sack.
“They have a tough team and some veterans on defense. They are strong kids,” Higley said of that defense his team will need to contend with on Saturday. “They are a solid team in all three phases.”
Higley’s own defense was led by Deacon Schneide with 11 tackles and Tyler Buxton with six tackles along with a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
Buxton was standout on defense for the Spartans in the past but Schneide was relegated mainly to special teams play last year where he performed very well.
Schneide won his spurs as a fulltime linebacker in preseason.
Chaves got the opportunity to throw the winning TD pass because starter Jhai Vellon went out with an injury.
Higley said that Vellon will start against Norwich and that he was held out by the injury against Westfield with “an abundance of caution.”
Sullivan completed 12 of 20 passes for 110 yards against St. Lawrence and was interception free.
The Maple Sap Bucket has great meaning to the players on both teams and to the state’s football fans.
“It is a big deal,” Higley said of the game. “The Vermont players have grown up hearing about it but the non-Vermont players have really embraced the game too.
“It is definitely a great in-state rivalry for both programs but it is also important for the people of the state,” Russell said. “It is important for expanding the game in our state.”
Norwich has not won a football game since Sept. 16, 2023 when the Cadets defeated Castleton 28-14 in Castleton.
It is difficult to overstate the importance of this year’s Bucket game for the Cadets’ psyche.
“I always tell the players that winning is a skill just like any other skill. This would be big mentally for us,” Russell said.
When the ball goes in the air at Wesleyan, Middlebury will be trying to build on last year’s 6-3 season. The Panthers are gunning for their third New England Small College Athletic Conference championship in six years.
Pulling the trigger on Middlebury’s offense will be senior Brian Moran who threw for 1,978 yards with 16 touchdowns against six interceptions in 2024.
The NESCAC champion will be eligible for the NCAA playoffs for the first time in 2026.
QUICK KICKS: There are some familiar faces on the Union College coaching staff. Assistants Kevin Trigonis is a former offensive coordinator at VTSU Castleton and Mike Perrone is a former baseball coach at Proctor High and football player at Castleton. … Bowdoin opens its season at home Saturday with two former Vermont Gatorade Players of the Year on the team. Rutland’s Slade Postemski is a wide receiver for the Polar Bears and CVU’s Jackson Sumner a wide receiver/running back.
