THROGGS NECK, N.Y. - Gallaudet University celebrated for the first time at Reinhart Field in nine years as the Bison spoiled homecoming for the Privateers here Saturday with a 23-9 victory between the two Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) rivals before 1,472 fans.

Gallaudet (5-0, 3-0 ECFC) is off to its best start since the 2013 season and sit atop the ECFC standings with a 3-0 record halfway through conference play.

SUNY Maritime (1-5, 1-2 ECFC) had its seven-game winning streak against Gallaudet snapped as the Bison triple-option offense rolled up 322 yards on the ground and 405 total in the game.

The Bison set the tone early as they scored touchdowns on back-to-back drives that took six and five minutes, respectively. Gallaudet used 12 plays to go 96 yards on the first possession that ended with a Timel Benton (Columbia, S.C.) two-yard touchdown run. GU's second possession lasted nine plays and covered 74 yards, the last four came on Joseph Mendis' (Brook Park, Ohio) touchdown run. Gallaudet held the ball for 11 minutes in the opening quarter of play.

Gallaudet's defense stepped up and stopped the Privateers three times on fourth down and limited them to converting two of its 13 chances on third down. Junior defensive back Jack Gray (Atherton, Calif.) picked off Keogh twice, once on fourth down. This was the third time in Gray's career he had two interceptions in a game, second time this season, and now 10 in his career. 

SUNY Maritime got down to the Gallaudet 2 on its third possession in the first half but got stopped when freshman linebacker Jacob Hartman (Petersburg, W.Va.) came up with a five-yard loss tackle to turn the ball over on downs at the 10:23 mark in the second quarter. Gray picked off Keogh on the next Privateers possession at the Gallaudet 22-yard line. 

The Privateers finally got on the scoreboard late in the second quarter, on its fifth drive, when quarterback David Keogh (12-for-31, 153 yards) connected with Caden Bennett on a nine-yard touchdown pass with 50 seconds left before halftime.

On the ensuing kickoff, SUNY Maritime kicker Joseph Gagliardi booted it out-of-bounds to give Gallaudet the ball at its 35-yard line. Benton completed three passes and ran for one first down to get the Bison in field goal range, at the Maritime 25-yard line, with two seconds left. Sophomore kicker Jonathon Waterman (Fruita, Colo.) came on and kicked a 42-yard field goal as time expired to send Gallaudet into the locker room up 16-6. Waterman's 42-yarder was a career-high and the second longest in modern Gallaudet football history (2007 to present) right behind Justin Wilson's 43-yarder set at Becker College on Oct. 23, 2010.

It was a rough third quarter for the Bison as they went three-and-out on the first possession before back-to-back fumbles on the following possessions. The first fumble led to a Privateer field goal as Gagliardi hit from 21 yards out to cut the Gallaudet lead to one score, 16-9. 

The Bison were very methodical on their next drive that took 14 plays (13 rushes) and chewed up eight minutes and 15 seconds of clock. Gallaudet rushers ran behind its offensive line of senior Daniel Tanielu (Federal Way, Wash.), freshman John Scarboro (Austin, Texas), senior Cress Fisher (Boyertown, Pa.), sophomore Jay Waters (Cape Coral, Fla.) and junior Mitch Dolinar (Las Vegas, Nev.). GU was on the goal line before Benton fumbled and gave new life to the Privateers.

That new hope was snuffed out by the Bison defense as they forced a three-and-out and Gallaudet scored on the next possession to go up 23-9. Freshman Mikka Harvey (Prince Frederick, Md.) capped off the 67-yard drive on seven plays with an 8-yard run with 7:23 left in the game.

SUNY Maritime had its final possession of the game end on Gray's second pick as the Privateers went for it on fourth down and two at the Gallaudet 40.

The Bison salted away the game and ran down the final six minutes of the game. GU converted twice on fourth down, which included a Benton to Harvey 28-yard pass that ended on the SUNY Maritime 6-yard line.

Benton, the senior quarterback, finished the game 7-for-11 for 83 yards and ran the ball 19 times for 79 yards and one score. Mendis tallied 54 yards on six carries while Harvey finished with 60 all-purpose yards. 

Sophomore linebacker Stefan Anderson (Faribault, Minn.) led the Bison defense with 11 tackles while Hartman finished with nine tackles, three tackles for a loss of seven yards and one forced fumble. 

BISON TRACKS

• GU held the ball for 37 minutes, 47 seconds
• The Bison were a perfect 3-for-3 on fourth down
• Gallaudet is now 6-10 vs. SUNY Maritime since 2005 and 4-5 at Reinhart Field
• This is the earliest in a season that these two teams have played since 2008 (Oct. 10)
• Gallaudet and SUNY Maritime routinely met in the final game of the season for the past decade
• GU is averaging 33.8 points per game

UP NEXT
Gallaudet returns home to celebrate Homecoming and Senior Day as the Bison host Alfred State College (2-4, 1-1 ECFC) next Saturday, Oct. 23, at 1 p.m.