A young Castleton University football team didn’t have the successful season it envisioned on the field, but that certainly wasn’t the fault of the Gewanter brothers.
Seth Gewanter and Kade Gewanter, twins from Deerfield who graduated from Frontier Regional School in 2017, had stellar seasons on the Spartans defense in their junior seasons.
In nine games this season, Seth finished with 66 tackles, the most on the team. He also added half a sack, a forced fumble and four tackles for loss to earn the linebacker a spot on the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference All-Conference First Team.
“I’ve put a lot of hard work into it so it was nice to see it all pay off,” Seth said. “I’m also a captain of the team so to represent our team on defense is cool for me.”
Kade also had a strong season on the defensive line. He finished with 10 tackles in eight appearances to go along with two and a half tackles for loss and a sack.
It was only the second year Kade had been a part of the Castleton program, as he began his collegiate career at Westfield State.
Kade spent his freshman year with the Owls, but didn’t feel like it was a school he’d enjoy spending four years attending.
“Being from this area, I was definitely not a fan of being around the city with a ton of people around,” Kade said. “Going to Castleton, where there’s farms and all that stuff was a lot better fit for me.”
Kade also made the decision knowing he would once again be able to play football with his brother, who he had been teamed up with since the youth ranks.
After Kade watched a couple of Spartan games, he knew it was a program he wanted to be involved with.
“At Castleton we get people to come to our games,” Seth said. “It’s crazy, we get a couple thousand people to show up at each game. My brother came up over his bye weeks and watched a couple of games and he wanted to come up and join the team.”
One thing Kade prides himself in is his versatility. Earning minutes on your first year with a new team isn’t an easy task, but being able to play all over the defensive line allowed him to get on the field right away.
“Being versatile is a key to getting on the field,” Kade said. “It’s a long season. People get hurt and banged up all the time so if you can play any spot, you’re going to find yourself playing more. I’ll play anywhere on the line, but I prefer playing in the middle.”
Making the adjustment to Castleton was also easier having his brother there to help him learn the playbook and system.
“I would say he was a very well-respected member of the team when I got there,” Kade said. “He played a little bit his freshman year so people knew who he was. We have the same kind of work ethic. The coaches always say ‘Having two Gewanters is better than one.’”
The biggest adjustment for Seth in his first year with the Spartans was learning an unfamiliar defense.
Once he got that down, he was able to play fast and instinctive, leading to a 66-tackle sophomore season.
“Initially, the defense we ran at Frontier was very similar to what we do at Castleton,” Seth said. “The biggest learning curve for me was learning the playbook and what adjustments need to be made.”
With their junior campaigns now in the rearview, both brothers’ top priority is winning more games in 2020. Castleton dropped its first seven tilts this fall and wound up just 2-7. That was not the fault of the defensive unit, however.
Playing under new defensive coordinator Anthony Marsella, the Spartans surrendered 23.4 points-per-game, but the offense posted under 20 points a game on the season. If the offense can find more ways to score points and the defense takes strides forward, the sky is the limit for Castleton.
“We’re hopeful for next year,” Seth said. “New D-Coordinator was awesome, changed our whole defense around. If we keep improving, we’ll be a tough team next year.”
Seth hopes to continue making strides and showing improvement each season.
In a pass-happy conference, he hopes to get his hands on a few more balls, with one interception in his college career thus far.
“I want to pick up where I left off last year,” Seth said. “I’d like to improve my pass coverage game a little bit. The teams in our conference like to throw the ball, so I want to build on that and keep the same attitude and go into next year.”
For Kade, the goal is to have a season in which he is recognized for his play similar to the way his brother was this year.
“I want to lead the D-Line in sacks,” Kade said. “I think that’d be cool. I don’t think I’m too far off but I want to be on the All-Conference team. Guys like me who had good years but can develop our game a little bit. We had the best defense in the league last year. We have a great bunch of guys. If we step it up, we should be looking to compete in a lot more games.”