By Riley Crowell Asst. Sports Editor The Framingham State Rams lost their home opener to the Vermont State-Castleton Spartans 32-13 Sept. 14. Framingham’s loss drops their record to 0-2 after a 56-14 loss to Husson University Sept. 7. Vermont State-Castleton entered the matchup 1-0, following a 14-12 victory over Norwich University Sept. 7. The Rams came out of the gates hot, stopping the Spartans on their first drive. Framingham’s offense then put together a 61-yard drive, capped off by a 25-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Treyvon Fields to wide receiver Elijah Nichols, to take the lead 6-0. Unfortunately for the Rams, the momentum from the touchdown immediately swung Castleton’s way, as they blocked the extra point attempt by kicker Matthew Farley and returned it to the end zone, cutting the Framingham lead to 6-2. The Spartans took that momentum and ran with it, scoring a touchdown on a pass from quarterback Wes Cournoyer to wide receiver Caezar Williams to take a 9-6 lead over the Rams in the first quarter. The second quarter was uneventful for Framingham, as they were forced to punt on all three of their offensive drives. Vermont State-Castelton took advantage of the quiet effort from the Rams’ offense, finding the end zone once again on a pass from Cournoyer to Williams, to extend their lead over the Rams to 16-6 at halftime. Halftime proved to be a needed reset for Framingham. They received the ball to start the second half and Fields connected with Nichols once again on a 29-yard touchdown pass, cutting the Spartans lead to 16-12. Farley converted the extra point, bringing the score to 16-13. It was all Spartans the rest of the way. The remaining Rams offensive drives resulted in two punts, a fumble, and an interception. A 30-yard field goal by Vermont State-Castleton kicker Eydan Linares extended their lead to 19-13 with 3:04 remaining in the third quarter. Cournoyer and Williams connected on a 7-yard pass for their third touchdown of the game, extending the Spartans’ lead to 26-13 with 8:34 remaining in the fourth quarter, following a successful extra point from Linares. The final points of the game were scored by Castleton with 3:33 remaining in the fourth quarter, as running back Christian Keeling found the end zone on a 10-yard rush, bringing the final score to 32-13. Framingham’s head coach, Thomas Kelley, said, “I thought it was a game we could have won. “That was a team that had a lot of grad students, a lot of seniors and juniors, so there’s a lot of experience there,” he added. The Rams have shown promise in both games so far, but have struggled with consistency. Kelley said, “We still haven’t played 60 minutes of football in the first two weeks. “We’ve got to coach harder. Players have to pick up the intensity a little bit. We just haven’t played a full game yet, and it’s not going to get any easier,” he added. Penalties were a massive difference maker in the game. The Spartans were only penalized twice, for a total of six yards, whereas the Rams were penalized nine times, for a total of 84 yards. Kelley said, “They played mistake-free football, while we’re still getting our nine to ten penalties a game. So we’ve got to clean that up. And that’s my fault and my responsibility. “We’ve got to mature. Hopefully sooner rather than later, because we don’t have time to be young. We have to figure it out, or it’s going to be a long month,” he added. The Rams travel to University of Massachusetts Dartmouth for a MASCAC matchup Sept. 20.