WASHINGTON, D.C. – Mount Ida College won their first Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) game of the season by executing a two-point conversion in the final seconds.
On Saturday afternoon against Gallaudet University, they earned their second win of the year by stopping the Bison from doing exactly the same thing, holding off Gallaudet for a 13-12 victory at Hotchkiss Field.
Senior kicker Tyler Rogers (Bridgewater, Mass.) broke a school record by making a 48-yard field goal, the longest successful attempt of any Mustang placekicker.
Travis O'Brien (Portsmouth, R.I.) rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown, and Mount Ida held a 13-6 lead to the late stages of the game.
The final offensive drive by the Bison (1-5, 0-3 ECFC) was capped off with a 35-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Timel Benton (Columbia, S.C.) to sophomore wide receiver Dylan Mento (Hammonton, N.J.) with 23 seconds left in regulation. The score cut the Mustang lead to one, 13-12 and Gallaudet, who doesn't have a reliable place-kicker on its roster, opted to go for the win in the closing seconds.
However, the Bison lost track of the play clock in lining up for the point after attempt. Gallaudet was hit with a delay of game penalty and forced back five yards to the eight-yard line to try a two-point conversion. Benton scrambled out and tossed the ball up to the end zone but the ball was batted down for an incomplete attempt.
GU tried an onside kick in the waning seconds but Mount Ida (2-4, 2-1 ECFC) recovered the ball and ran out the clock as the Mustangs escaped with the 13-12 win.
In the first half, the two teams were scoreless through one quarter of play. The Mount Ida defense, led by eleven tackles apiece from Chris Medeiros (Pelham, N.H.), who also forced a fumble and Sean Chinova (Watertown, Conn.), backed up the Bison on their own 27 on fourth down and forced to punt.
A bad snap led punter Jonathan McCrea (Washington, D.C.) to run helplessly in the backfield where he was dropped for a loss of 19 yards on the Gallaudet 8 by Dwayne Hunter Parker (Waterbury, Conn.). Two plays later, O'Brien plunged in from three yards out to get on the scoreboard 7-0.
The Mustangs took the seven-point lead into halftime.
Gallaudet kicked off to start the third quarter and opted to kick on sides and recovered at its own 49. The Bison marched into Ida territory but the drive stalled and McCrea punted 44 yards into the end zone for a touchback.
Mount Ida responded with a 10-play, 49-yard drive that ended with Rogers booting a 48-yard field goal to increase the margin to 10-0.
The Bison responded with their own scoring drive. Freshman Spencer Maples (Kempner, Texas) returned a kick for 53 yards to the Ida 34. GU ran the ball seven straight times, picking up two first downs in the process, and capped the drive with a Benton seven-yard touchdown run. Gallaudet tried to run in the ball for two points but Maples was stuffed on the attempt as the Bison trailed by four, 10-6, at the 3:28 mark in the third quarter.
Rogers added a 23-yard field goal at the 8:18 mark in the fourth quarter as the Mustang lead grew to seven, 13-6.
The Bison found themselves in a troubling situation as they were forced to go back on defense with only 4:20 left in the game and down by seven. A strong defensive stand led by Bison freshman defensive tackle David Bradley (Miami Gardens, Fla.), senior linebacker Ryan Santana (Palm Bay, Fla.) and senior linebacker Sean Fenton (Chicago, Ill.) forced the Mustangs to punt.
The Bison retained possession of the ball on their own 27-yard line with 3:02 left and no timeouts, which were used during the defensive stand.
Benton helped to march the Bison down the field as they converted on fourth down, twice, before reaching the Ida 35 with seconds left on the clock.
Benton found Mento, who was wide open, down the middle of the field. Mento made the catch and willed his way into the end zone as he shed tackles from would be defenders with 23 seconds left in regulation.
Sophomore quarterback Jack Sheehan (St. Petersburg, Fla.) threw for 92 yards, completing 9 passes, including two apiece to Matt Greenman (Portsmouth, R.I.), Michael Watson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Faouzi Talabi (Brewster, Mass.).
Mount Ida returns home to host Becker College this Saturday afternoon at 12:00 pm, part of a busy Fall Fest weekend at Alumni Field.
The Bison hit the road as they head Northfield, Vt., to Norwich University to take on the Cadets in a conference game on Saturday, Oct. 22, at noon.