LA PLUME, Pa. - There were moments in Saturday's Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) opener that Gallaudet University could had given up against Keystone College but the Bison rallied around each other, played for one another, and pulled through with a 52-44 victory to spoil the Giants' homecoming weekend.

Gallaudet (3-1, 1-0 ECFC) took advantage of several big plays and capitalized on great field possession throughout the game against Keystone (0-5, 0-1 ECFC). The Bison rolled up 433 yards of offense with 376 coming on the ground. Sophomore superback Dre'Vaughn Mackall (Prince Frederick, Md.) led the way with a career-high 17 carries for 142 yards and two first-half touchdowns as the Bison led 24-15 at intermission.

In the second half, GU took advantage of two Keystone turnovers on back-to-back possessions and scored two touchdowns to break open a 24-22 game. Freshman Andrae Green (Washington, D.C.) picked off Keystone quarterback Tom Roach (15-for-32, 160 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions) and returned the ball 34 yards to the Giants' 30-yard line. Three plays later, junior quarterback Nicholas Maccini (San Diego, Calif.) scored the first of two rushing touchdowns in the second half with a one-yard plunge. 

Keystone then mishandled the kickoff as freshman Zack Parsons (Reading, Pa.) forced the fumble and recovered the ball for the Bison at the Keystone 38-yard line. GU's six-play drive ended with a 11-yard touchdown run by junior superback DeMichael Shelbon (West Monroe, La.) to give the Bison a 38-22 lead with 5:11 left in the third quarter. 

The game momentum switched on the next two Bison possessions as Maccini fumbled the ball away at the Gallaudet 30- and 38-yard lines in back-to-back possessions. The Giants took advantage of the Bison miscues and turned those two fumbles into two touchdowns. Roach threw two touchdown strikes to Da'Juan Vales for 20 yards and Javier Tazza for 35 yards as the Giants trailed by two, 38-36.

GU was on the ropes early in the fourth quarter but senior defensive back Eric Gregory (Metairie, La.) threw the team on his back and returned the kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown. Gregory, a two-time All-American sprinter and NCAA Division III national champion in the 400-meter dash, put his speed to great use on the kick return. Gregory fielded the ball at the Gallaudet 11-yard line as he found the seam and dodged Keystone defenders and got out to the sideline. Gregory then used his national-champion speed to run away from the special teams defenders and into the end zone. The score took the air out of the Keystone sails and quieted the rowdy homecoming crowd for a few moments. 

The Bison defense led by senior defensive back Laron Thomas (Orlando, Fla.) and sophomore linebacker Jacob Hartman (Petersburg, W.Va.) forced a four-and-out possession as Gallaudet regained the ball at its own 28-yard line. GU then used its running attack 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 Iopu Vaimauga (Federal Way, Wash.) to score its seventh and final touchdown. Maccini ran in from 14 yards out to cap a seven-play, 72-yard drive that only took four minutes off the clock. 

Keystone responded with its own lengthy drive as the Giants used 12 plays to cover 65 yards and score a touchdown as Mujaheed Muhammad (22 carries, 106 yards) ran in from four yards out. The Giants converted the two-point conversion to cut the Bison lead to eight points, 52-44, with 4:12  left in regulation.

Gallaudet tried to add some insurance points on the next possession but junior kicker Jonathon Waterman (Sebastian, Fla.) had his 31-yard field goal attempt blocked. The Giants fumbled the ball away on the next drive to seal the victory for the Bison.

In the first half things looked bleak for the Bison after sophomore quarterback Brandon Washington (Citronelle, Ala.) went down with an injury after he scored on a 21-yard run to put the Bison up 14-12 as the second quarter got underway. Washington did not return to the game and the Bison rallied around their injured teammate. 

GU scored on its opening drive behind a 44-yard run by Washington to set up Mackall's 13-yard touchdown as the Bison led 7-0 just three minutes into the game. Keystone responded with a 32-yard field goal, a safety and a 22-yard touchdown run by Damir Green (six carries, 88 yards) as the Giants led 12-7 late in the first quarter.

Washington tallied four carries for 61 yards and a touchdown to go with one catch for 27 yards before he left the game. Maccini completed three passes for 27 yards and ran the ball 12 times for 16 yards and two scores. Junior slot Preston Garrett (Georgetown, Texas) ran well and finished with a career-high five carries for 70 yards.

On defense, Thomas made a game-high 13 tackles (eight solo) while Hartman finished with 11 tackles and made one interception. Parsons added eight tackles while Green had two pass breakups. Junior linebacker Stefan Anderson (Little Falls, Minn.) added seven tackles and one tackle for a loss of four yards. 

BISON TRACKS

• Waterman was a perfect 7-for-7 in extra-point attempts and made a 27-yard field goal right before the half
• In the high-scoring game, each team only punted once
• GU finished with 224 return yards
• The 52 points scored is the most by GU since it scored 62 against Alfred St. on Oct. 19, 2019
• Gallaudet is 2-0 all-time against Keystone
• This is the fourth season GU has won its first conference road game on the schedule
• The Bison are averaging 39 points scored in the last three games (all wins)

UP NEXT
Gallaudet returns home to host conference foe Castleton University (2-3, 1-0 ECFC) on Saturday, Oct. 8, at noon.