WASHINGTON – The drumbeat rang out from Hotchkiss Field late on a picturesque Saturday afternoon in the nation's capital as the Gallaudet University football team celebrated a 39-34 Homecoming victory over Anna Maria College.

The Gallaudet players danced to the beat of the Bison Song and yelled in jubilation as the buff and blue won its third straight game and the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) opener.

In addition to Homecoming the game marked Senior Day for 18 Bison players, who were honored before the game with their families and friends on the field. The senior class had a major hand in the outcome Saturday in their final home regular-season game.

"This was a great Homecoming/Senior Day win for our football team. We wouldn't be where are without the contributions from our alumni and we wanted to win this for them," said Gallaudet football coach Chuck Goldstein. "It was fitting our senior class had a major impact on the outcome of this game. This is the biggest senior class we have honored before a game and being able to celebrate this day with their families and friends is meaningful and an important part of Senior Day."

Senior quarterback Brandon Washington (Citronelle, Ala.) ran for 151 yards and four first-half touchdowns to lead all-scorers. Fellow senior superback Dre'Vaughn Mackall (Prince Frederick, Md.) rushed for 139 yards and one touchdown as the Bison finished the game with 372 yards on the ground.

Senior offensive linemen Billy Haynes (Pasadena, Texas) and John Scarboro (Austin, Texas) along with juniors Kyle Albertson (Pierre, S.D.), Christian Begani (Chesapeake, Va.) and Fernando Jimenez (Compton, Calif.) were tasked with opening up running lanes for the Bison rushers.

On the defensive side of the ball, senior cornerback Antonio Mendoza (Waco, Texas) finished with a team-high 11 tackles all but one were solo. Mendoza also forced a fumble that led to a big return to set up GU's fifth touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter. Mendoza broke up three passes and recovered a fumble at the Gallaudet 1 to begin the game as the AMCATS were on their way for a score.

That fumble recovery set the stage for the Bison to march 99 yards on 13 plays and chew up over seven minutes of clock and take an early 6-0 lead on a Washington plunge into the end zone from the 1-yard line.

Tempers began to flare in the second quarter as 18 penalties were called with the bulk being assessed to the visitors. Anna Maria got flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct 10 times over the final eight minutes of play. One of the flags led to the ejection of an AMC defensive player.

Washington scored touchdowns on runs of 7, 11 and 27 yards in the second quarter as GU led 26-17 at the half.

In the third quarter, things were more in control (only one penalty) as the players were very mindful, very demure.

Anna Maria (2-4, 0-1 ECFC) scored the only points in the quarter when Davie Atkinson ran in from 13 yards out to cut the GU lead down to two points, 26-24, at the 9:45 mark.

The peace didn't last as the game shifted to the fourth quarter and 11 more flags came out to slow the game to a near halt.

Junior Zack Parsons (Reading, Pa.) scored on a 14-yard run early in the fourth quarter and Mackall helped to put the game out of reach of the AMCATS with a 10-yard touchdown run at the 4:25 mark.

AMC kicker Ryan Kent made a 38-yard field goal and quarterback Ryan Russell (29-of-41, 370 yards, two touchdowns) found Kevin Acosta Jr. for a 16-yard score with 48 seconds left. The Bison secured the on-side kick attempt by the AMCATS to end the three hours and 32-minute marathon game.

GU (3-3, 1-0 ECFC) finished the game with 432 yards of offense compared to 528 for the AMCATS. The Bison dominated the time of possession as they held onto the ball for nearly 38 minutes (37:35). Anna Maria racked up 23 penalties for 255 yards while GU had 10 fouls for 90. The 255 yards of penalties is one of the most in Division III history. The most penalty yards by one team in a game came on Oct. 31, 1981, when 26 penalties on Cal Poly led to 293 yards.

Bison junior defensive back Zefan Nathanson (Manor, Texas) was second on the team with five tackles, which included 1.5 tackles for a loss of 12 yards (0.5 sacks for six yards). Fellow junior defensive back Carter Johnson (McCall, Idaho) matched Nathanson with five tackles.

The victory will go a long way for the Bison and their senior class, who hope they get to play one more time at Hotchkiss Field for a championship in November.

UP NEXT
Gallaudet will travel to Dean College (0-6, 0-1 ECFC) in Franklin, Mass., next Saturday, Oct. 26, for a conference game at noon.