Boyle eyes big finish at Castleton

Castleton State College receiver Brandon Boyle has been collecting preseason awards the way some kids collect baseball cards.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20130822/SPORTS02/708229880

Published August 22, 2013 in the Rutland Herald Boyleeyes bigfinish atCastleton By Tom Haley STAFF WRITER Castleton State College receiver Brandon Boyle has been collecting preseason awards the way some kids collect baseball cards. The two most recent All-American teams he has been named to are by College Football America and Cutting Edge Sports Management. But don’t think the senior is content or resting on any laurels. Instead of going home to Springfield this summer he worked at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Rutland so that he could live near campus and work out. He wants to make this last year his best. That would be something as last fall he averaged 139.4 receiving yards per game and caught 18 touchdown passes. He and quarterback Grant White helped lead a Springfield High team to a state championship in football and basketball. White went to Bowdoin where he is a senior this season, but has decided not to return to the football team for his last year. He has endured several injuries in football since arriving at the Brunswick, Maine campus. White will play basketball for the Polar Bears this season. Defenses might key on Boyle, but they will do so at their peril. The receiving group on this Castleton team is deep with the likes of Kevin Alberque, Zack Howe and Kyle Higgins. All of them are coming off big seasons in their own right. But the position just got a lot deeper this month when Rutland’s Mark Comstock decided to come out for football. Comstock has played his four years of basketball at Castleton where he earned North Atlantic Conference Player of the Year honors. He has not played football since he caught a touchdown pass from White in the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl, the annual high school all-star game. But the hiatus from football has not fazed Comstock. “It came back just like that,” he said after Tuesday’s practice at Spartan Stadium. Comstock is taking classes and pursuing a second major as he plays football for a year. Fair Haven’s Keith Schneider followed the same path last year, playing football at Castleton after playing four years of basketball for the Spartans. ——— Nick Tubolino is doing something similar in reverse. He played football four years at Castleton and this fall will be running for coach John Klein’s Spartan cross country team. Another member of the Spartan harriers is Brattleboro’s Daniel Rivers, son of Brattleboro boys varsity basketball coach Joe Rivers. Castleton will be hosting the Vermont State College Cross Country Meet for the first time on Sept. 28. Klein said about 300 trees have been taken down and the course should be beautiful. ——— Boyle said it was always about Castleton when he was a senior at Springfield. He said he liked the atmosphere, the coaches and the new stadium. No interest in Gallaudet University? Boyle has little hearing but reads lips extremely well. Gallaudet is a school famous for educating the deaf and hearing impaired. “I never even heard of Gallaudet until we went down there and played,” Boyle said. Gallaudet and Castleton are both members of the eight-team Eastern Collegiate Football Conference and many coaches are pointing at Gallaudet as the team to beat this season. ———