Oct 14, 2017
BANGOR, Maine – The Husson University football team picked up its 12th straight victory at home dating back to October 3, 2015 with a 49-0 shutout win over Castleton University on a warm Saturday afternoon in Eastern Collegiate Football Conference action at the Dr. John W. Winkin Sports Complex.
Husson (5-1, 3-0 ECFC) wins its tenth straight ECFC game dating back to November 14, 2015, while Castleton (3-3, 2-1 ECFC) drops its fifth consecutive game to the Eagles and falls to 3-6 in the all-time series.
FOR HUSSON:
- John Smith carried the ball 16 times for 95 yards and three rushing touchdowns.
- Smith became the first Eagle in program history to surpass the 6,000 yard rush and total offense mark in one's career.
- Cory Brandon completed 15-of-17 pass attempts - an 88.2 completion percentage, breaking the previous single-game mark of 84.6 held by David Chase (vs. Becker - Oct. 30, 2005) - for 183 yards and four touchdown passes.
- Brandon started the game by completing his first 14 passes before throwing an incompletion, setting a new single-game record for most consecutive passes completed.
- Brandon also became the school's all-time career in passes completed with 267 when he completed an 8-yard pass to DJ Allen with 11:20 remaining in the 2nd quarter.
- Kyle Gaudet led all receivers with six catches for 99-yards and a touchdown.
- Aidan Hogan added three receptions for 40-yards with a score.
- Kyree Calli had two catches on the afternoon both for touchdowns.
- Devin Pickett converted all seven of his extra points on the afternoon.
- Antonio Rocha finished with a game-high eight tackles (four solos) and a quarterback hurry.
- Elvin Suazo, Jr. also recorded a game-high eight tackles (eight solo and a tackle-for-loss) and a fumble recovery.
- Jake Dobos and Luke Washburn tallied six tackles, while Dobos added a tackle-for-loss.
- Jean Gabriel was everywhere today as he collected six tackles (four solo), a sack, a tackle-for-loss, an interception, a pass breakup and two blocked punts with one quarterback hurry.
- De'Wayne Smith and Quan Soyini each had an interception on the afternoon.
FOR CASTLETON:
- Mitchell Carron went 6-for-19 for 56 yards with three picks.
- Matthew Hesford carried the ball 15 times for 60 yards.
- Defensively, Chris Rice registered a team-high six tackles (five solos).
- Jakob Trautwein notched five tackles (three solos and 1.0 TFL) and a pass breakup.
GAME REVIEW:
- Husson struck for the game's first touchdown at the 11:51 mark of the first quarter, when Brandon completed a 5-yard pass to Calli.
- The Eagles went up 14-0 less than five minutes later, as Castleton's ensuing possession ended in Caron's first interception of the game, and Brandon found Calli for the second time seven plays later.
- Gabriel's first blocked punt of the game set up Husson's third touchdown of the first quarter, when J. Smith found the end zone for the 60th time in his career on the ground at the 1:58 remaining the opening quarter.
- The Spartans threatened to score on the ensuing drive thanks to a 43-yard kickoff return by Moe Harris and a 23-yard completion from Caron to Ryan Barry, but Lionel Guillaume forced Harris to fumble the ball at the Husson 22, where Suazo, Jr. recovered it, and returned it 70 yards - the second longest fumble return in program history - to the Castleton 8-yard line. After a loss on first down, Brandon found Kyle Gaudet for an 11-yard touchdown pass, extending the Eagle lead to 28-0 nine seconds into the second quarter.
- After a couple of three-outs by both teams, Caron once again found the hands of an Eagle defender, this time it was Gabriel who picked him off. Seven plays later, on a fourth and goal, Brandon through his third touchdown pass when he found a jumping Hogan with, 5:44 remaining in the first half.
- Caron once again ended a Spartan possession by throwing an interception, this time D. Smith returned it 29 yards to the Castleton 29 to set up J. Smith's second touchdown of game. The 5-yard run gave Husson a 42-0 lead going into the intermission. The 42 points scored in the half ties the single-game record for most points scored in the first half.
- Gabriel's second blocked punt of the game, gave the Eagles the ball back deep inside Spartan territory. A 38-yard dash by J. Smith gave Husson the 49-0 shutout victory.
TEAM STATS:
- Husson piled up 360 yards of total offense, averaging 6.0 yards per play.
- Husson finished with 206 yards of passing (10.3 per pass) on 17-for-20 attempts, which was good enough to set the single-game team record for completion percentage with a 85.0, and 154 yards of rushing on 40 carries (3.9 per rush).
- The Husson defense, which surrendered just 150 yards of total offense (56 pass, 94 rush) to Castleton (2.9 yards per play), was particularly tough on third down, allowing the Spartans to convert on just four of their 14 attempts (29%), while forcing four turnovers.
UP NEXT:
Husson will travel to Gallaudet for the final time as conference foes next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.
Castleton returns to Spartan Stadium for its third and final night game of the season, hosting Dean College next Saturday, Oct. 21, for a 6 p.m. kickoff.