CASTLETON, Vt. – Gallaudet utilized a punishing rushing attack to control the clock and the scoreboard, while also keeping the Castleton offense at bay as the Bison finished with a 38-12 victory over the Spartans in an Eastern Collegiate Football Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon. 

The two teams combined for 623 yards on the ground, as Gallaudet ran for a season-high 480 yards on 72 attempts to improve to 6-0 on the year and 3-0 in the ECFC. Five different players ran for at least 68 yards, led by BJ Flores, who had 168 yards on 27 attempts. Ryan Bonheyo rushed for two touchdowns and 70 rushing yards while quarterback Quentin Williams added two scores and 68 yards. The Bison attempted just one pass, which was intercepted at the end of the half. 

Castleton ran for a season-high 143 yards and passed for 149 as the team dropped to 0-3 in the ECFC and 1-5 overall. Tyler Higley finished 12-for-30 for 144 yards with no interceptions while freshman Doug Saffo led the rushing attack with 50 yards on 11 carries. Sophomore Michael Toczko added 47 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Tyler Combs led the receiving corps with 59 yards on four catches while Kevin Alberque added four receptions for 54 yards. 

Defensively for the Spartans, linebacker Todd Carr set a new program record with 20 tackles on the day while Mick Wong and Nick Romeo each reached double figures with 11 and ten tackles respectively. 

Castleton received the opening kickoff, but was forced to punt after three plays from its own 19-yard line. The kick was partially blocked and returned to the Castleton 17 as Gallaudet took over. On the Bison's first play, Bonheyo went around the right side for the 17-yard score as they took a 7-0 lead just one minute into the contest. 

Neither team scored again in the period, though Gallaudet made it 14-0 on a Braxton Baker 5-yard rush just 12:04 into the second. 

Castleton responded on its next drive as Higley led the Spartans from their own 42-yard line to the Gallaudet 36 in four plays. A three-yard rush and two incomplete passes later, Castleton faced a fourth down and seven. Rolling to his right Higley fired a pass to Combs and the junior made a leaping catch on the one-yard line and got both feet inbounds to secure the first down. Three plays later Toczko went in from seven yards out, but the extra point was blocked with 8:52 left in the half. 

A solid kickoff and a personal foul penalty by Castleton gave the Bison great field position on their next drive. They needed just six rushing plays to go from the 30-yard line to the endzone as Williams earned the touchdown on a two-yard plunge with 5:58 left. 

The Spartans came back with a drive of their own, starting at their own 27-yard line and marching 11 plays in 4:34 to cut the Gallaudet lead to 21-12. Toczko got the call for the two-yard score, but the extra point was once again no good. 

The second half was all Bison as they extended their lead to 24-12 with 11:13 left and then after stuffing a Castleton drive, went 13 plays in 78 yards to push the advantage to 31-12 at 3:23. 

Gallaudet added a final score, this one from Williams, just 43 seconds into the fourth to put the Bison in front 38-12. 

Castleton received the ball on its own 23-yard line and put together its best drive of the day. The Spartans moved all the way down to the Gallaudet four-yard line, however, back-to-back incompletions on third and fourth down ended the their hope of drawing closer. 

Jaris Alleyne led the Gallaudet defense with 12 tackles, including one for a loss. Gregg McConville was also in double figures with ten tackles, while AJ McCrea added three tackles and two pass breakups. 

Castleton returns to action next Saturday when the Spartans travel to face SUNY Maritime at 12 pm.