CASTLETON, Vt. – The Gallaudet University offense pounded out 532 yards on the ground, and the Bison defense forced three key turnovers to earn a 59-40 win over Castleton State College in Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) action Saturday afternoon at Spartan Stadium.
Bison starting quarterback Quentin Williams (Chesapeake, Va.) led the way with 234 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns, while Michael Hantge (Hutchinson, Minn.) added 164 yards on a game-high 26 carries and a score. Nick Elstad (Colorado Springs, Colo.) added 56 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries and Ryan Bonheyo (Frederick, Md.) rounded out the Bison runners with 50 yards and a touchdown on 4 carries. Anthony Palmer (Unadilla, N.Y.) relieved Williams in the second half, and finished 5-for-6 with 142 yards and two touchdowns. Ryne Worsham (Chicago, Ill.) caught four balls for 142 yards and two scores.
Shane Brozowski (Rensselaer, N.Y.) led the Spartan offense, completing 30-of-42 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns. Brandon Boyle (Springfield, Vt.) proved to be his go-to receiver, hauling in 13 catches for 129 yards. Michael Patterson (Jackson, N.J.) caught six balls, including two that went for touchdowns, finishing with 90 yards. Tyler Carpenter (Fort Edward, N.Y.) led the Castleton ground game with 50 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries.
Castleton took the opening drive down to the Gallaudet 19 yard line, with Brozowski orchestrating a series of passing plays, including a 31-yard strike to Patterson. On second-down-and-one, Brozowski once again looked in Patterson's direction, but AJ McCrea (Decatur, Ga.) jumped the rout and came up with an interception at the seven-yard line.
On the ensuing drive, Castleton appeared to have the Bison boxed in on a third-and-three, but Williams broke free for an 86-yard touchdown run.
A Spartan three-and-out gave The Bison the ball back at their own 27, and 14 plays later Jeremy Cormier (Mehuen, Mass.) booted a 21-yard field goal to make it 10-0. Castleton's Dustin Young (Dunnellon, Fla.) and Josh Osborne (Island Heights, N.J.) combined to make three huge stops with the Bison threatening for a touchdown inside the Castleton five.
Castleton got on the board on its ensuing drive, going seven plays and 60 yards, capped by a Borzowski-to-Patterson six-yard touchdown.
The teams went back-and-forth in the second quarter, trading touchdowns over five-straight drives. A blocked extra point by Gallaudet's Adham Tallaat (Springfield, Va.) gave the Bison a 24-20 edge before pushing it to 31-20 on a Palmer-to-Worsham touchdown pass. Castleton appeared destined to score before halftime, but Tony Tatum (Gardendale, Ala.) came up with an interception in the end zone and Gallaudet entered halftime with the 11-point margin.
Palmer and Worhsam hooked up once again to open the scoring in the second half, and Castleton answered with a Carpenter plunge from two yards out to make it 28-27. Hantge pushed the lead to 45-27 with a 12-yard rush, and after a Spartan punt, Palmer capped a 10-play 70-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run with one second left in the third period.
Another Carpenter touchdown run and a Brozowski-to-Zack Waitkus (Stafford Springs, Conn.) touchdown pass sandwiched am 18-yard Bonheyo touchdown to wrap up the fourth quarter scoring.
Tom Pangia (Hammontown, N.J.) led the Bison defense with 14 tackles and a forced fumble, while Shelby Bean (Arvada, Colo.) added 11. Matt Harris (Lynchburg, Va.) spent plenty of time in the Spartan backfield, harassing Brozowski with three sacks, four hurries and a huge forced fumble that Gallaudet recovered at midfield.
Osborne ended the day with 13 tackles and a half sack, while Ethan Macura (Granville, N.Y.) added 11 and Josh Sparveri (Coventry, Conn.) chipped in with a career-high 10.
With the loss Castleton falls to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in ECFC play. The Spartans will wrap up their home slate next Saturday when they play host to Husson at 12 noon. The win ups Gallaudet's marks to 5-3, 4-1.