BIDDEFORD, Maine - Sophomore slot Brandon Washington (Citronelle, Ala.) did a little bit of everything for Gallaudet University on the road Saturday against University of New England in a non-conference football game. Washington caught, ran and passed for touchdowns (four combined) as the Bison rallied to stun the Blue Storm Stadium crowd of 1,446 with a 34-31 victory over the Nor'easters.

Washington had 304 total yards as he ran the ball 28 times for 160 yards and one touchdown, he completed 3 of 5 passes for 84 yards and two scores and he caught two passes for 60 yards and one touchdown. 

Gallaudet (2-1) trailed 31-27 midway through the fourth quarter and faced a 4th down and 8 at the UNE 20-yard line. The Bison, already 2-for-2 on fourth down plays, rolled the dice and went for it. Junior quarterback Nicholas Maccini (San Diego, Calif.) dropped back to pass and lofted a high pass into the end zone and found Washington, who came down with the 20-yard touchdown pass. GU regained the lead up three, 34-31, with 7:59 left in regulation.

New England (2-1) tried to answer but came up short on a fourth down pass from the Gallaudet 34. The Bison took over with four minutes left as the buff and blue tried to grind out the win and run down the clock. The Nor'easters used their timeouts to save time for a future possession and forced GU into a 4th and 5 situation from its own 39-yard line. Junior punter Jonathon Waterman (Sebastian, Fla.) came out to line up and punt but he never kicked the ball. Waterman instead received the snap and bolted right and scampered 25 yards into New England territory to convert the fourth straight 4th down for the Bison. GU was able to take another three minutes off the clock and turned the ball over on downs, it's first failed fourth down attempt in the game, with 52 seconds left.

Washington got Gallaudet on the scoreboard in the first quarter with a 32-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Jaylen Johnson (Dublin, Calif.) at the 5:29 mark as the Bison led 7-0.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Nor'easters muffed the kick and turned the ball over to the Bison. Six plays later, Waterman came out to attempt a 44-yard field goal but missed it. He later avenged that miss with a career-high 45-yard field goal to send GU into halftime up 13-10.

New England muffed a second kickoff to begin the third quarter as Gallaudet recovered the ball at midfield. On their second play the Bison found the end zone as Washington ran 45 yards up the middle for the score as GU led by 10 points, 20-10.

The Nor'easters responded with a nine play, 69-yard drive as quarterback Jarrett Henault (15-for-28, 208 yards, two touchdowns) connected with Mikey Brennan for the 22-yard score to cut the lead to three.

The teams continued to exchange blows as Washington and company went on their own impressive drive that started at the Gallaudet 5-yard line. Washington hit Johnson for a 24-yard pick up. Sophomore Dre'Vaughn Mackall (Prince Frederick, Md.) ran for 26 yards and added another 10 yards on two additional carries to get the Bison down to the 28-yard line of the Nor'easters. Washington then hit Johnson with a deep pass down the leftside of the field for the 28-yard touchdown as the Bison regained the 10-point lead, 27-17, at the 6:21 mark in the third quarter.

New England scored on its next two possessions to take a 31-27 lead with 14 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore linebacker Jacob Hartman (Petersburg, W.Va.) led the Bison with eight tackles (six solo) with 4.5 tackles for a loss of 11 yards which included one sack for six yards.

Gallaudet finished the game with 456 yards of offense which included 312 yards on the ground behind the starting offensive line of Mitch Dolinar (Las Vegas, Nev.), John Scarboro (Austin, Texas), Jay Waters (Cape Coral, Fla.), Calder Nicholson (Toronto, Ontario) and Kyle Albertson (Pierre, S.D.).

BISON TRACKS

• Waterman was a perfect 4-for-4 on extra-point attempts
• Senior Eric Gregory (Metairie, La.) returned six kickoffs for 152 yards (25.3 average) with a long return of 57 yards
• GU's defnese finished the game with 11 tackles for a loss of 35 yards which included three sacks for a loss of 17 yards
• Gallaudet was 80 percent on fourth down but just nine percent on third downs (1 of 11)
• The Bison held the ball for 34 minutes and 20 seconds

UP NEXT
GU is off next week and will prepare for conference play as the month of October begins with the Bison at Keystone College on Saturday, Oct. 1, at noon. It will be the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference opener for both teams.