CASTLETON, Vt. - Gallaudet University came up a point short against Castleton University, 31-30, here Saturday on a chilly and wet day at Dave Wolk Stadium between the two Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) foes.

Gallaudet (5-3, 3-3 ECFC) scored points on six of its 10 possessions but two of those possessions ended with a missed field goal including the final drive which would've won the game for the Bison.

Castleton (6-4, 4-2 ECFC) took its first and only lead of the game in the waning seconds of the game. The Spartans had to march 80 yards to take the lead and only needed five plays in two minutes and 35 seconds. Spartan Lucas Moore (23 carries, 247 yards, two touchdowns) broke free on a 33-yard run to get into the red zone. Castleton continued to feed Moore the ball and three carries later he ended up the end zone on a 3-yard score to tie the game at 30. Castleton kicker Noah Crossman converted the extra-point to take the one-point lead.

GU had a short amount of time to rally but the buff and blue did their best to get in scoring position. Bison senior quarterback Timel Benton (Columbia, S.C.) completed a 15-yard pass to freshman Brandon Washington (Citronelle, Ala.) to get to midfield. After a Benton 5-yard rush the Bison broke out a trick play. Washington threw a 35-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Kylar Sicoli (Austin, Texas), who rumbled down to the Castleton 17-yard line and had a chance to score a game-winning touchdown if he didn't step out of bounds. There were only seven seconds left on the clock and sophomore kicker Jonathon Waterman (Fruita, Colo.) came on to attempt the 34-yard field goal. Waterman had made three field goals from (27, 39 and 27 yards) in the game but missed one field goal from 44 yards in the second quarter. Waterman lined up and missed the kick wide right as Castleton's bench celebrated the win in the rain.

Benton completed 6 of 11 passes for 115 yards and ran the ball 12 times for 46 yards and one touchdown. Junior D'Mitri Lofton (Gaithersburg, Md.) ran the ball six times for a career-high 130 yards. 

Freshman linebacker Jacob Hartman (Petersburg, W.Va.) led the Bison defense with 12 tackles (eight solo) which included one sack for six yards and three tackles for loss for 14 yards and one quarterback hurry.

Castleton quarterback Evan Smith went 12-for-16 for 137 yards while Devin Wollner carried the ball eight times for 77 yards and two touchdowns. 

BISON TRACKS

• GU ran for 325 yards on the ground
• Castleton held the ball for over 35 minutes
• Neither team went for it on fourth down
• GU lost two of three games this season on last-second field goal attempts
• The Bison won their first five games of the season before they lost the final three
• Gallaudet finishes tied for fourth-place in the ECFC
• Anna Maria won the conference championship with a 5-1 ECFC record

UP NEXT
This concludes the 2021 season for the Bison. Gallaudet finishes with a winning record for the first time since 2013.