The home win on Family Weekend brings the team's record to 5-1, the first time ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ has hit that mark since 2009.
In yet another tight contest, the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ football team ran its winning streak to five games by downing the William & Mary Tribe by a 25-17 margin at Rhodes Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
In front of a Family Weekend crowd of 10,137, ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ improved to 5-1 for the first time since that 2009 campaign and is now 3-0 in CAA Football play. William & Mary fell to 2-3, 0-2 on the season.
The Phoenix defense recorded seven sacks, including one for a safety. It marked the most sacks by an ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ team since posting eight in a win over Georgia Southern in 2009.
“It’s a great team win. Tremendous effort. I’m really happy for the guys,” said Coach Curt Cignetti. “5-1, we’ve got a bye week, we’ve got a chance to rest up and heal a little bit, with the goal being to have a strong second half to the season. We had a nice lead at halftime. We wanted to come out and play one play at a time and kind of impose our will, but that didn’t really happen.”
With the Phoenix holding a 23-17 lead, the Tribe ate up nearly 7:30 of clock in the fourth quarter only to see a promising drive end with a missed field goal at the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ 14-yard line. ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ would be forced to punt on the ensuing possession, the kick being downed at the three with 4:26 to play.
Facing third-and-10 from the three, Warren Messer was able to break through the line and elude the running back to get to the Tribe quarterback for a safety.
William & Mary got the ball back one last time, starting a drive at its 43 with just 18 seconds to play. After an 18-yard completion moved the ball to the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ 43, the Tribe faced second-and-10 with two seconds remaining. Brandon Battle dropped back to pass and had to run away from Phoenix defenders before Willoughby brought the quarterback down to end the game.
ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ jumped on top in the first quarter. After forcing a Tribe punt, the Phoenix took over at its own 17-yard line. On ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s first play of the game, Davis Cheek connected with Cole Taylor for a 50-yard pass to get to the William & Mary 33. From there, Malcolm Summers carried the ball three times, the last one a 20-yard run to the end zone to give the Phoenix a 6-0 lead.
After the Phoenix made it a 9-0 game thanks to an Owen Johnson 22-yard field goal, Dondre Howell sacked the Tribe’s quarterback and forced a fumble that was recovered by Johnathan Jackson. Jackson returned the ball to the W&M 25-yard line. After moving to the one, Summers plunged in again for his sixth career rushing touchdown against the Tribe, this one upping the lead to 16-0.
William & Mary got on the board thanks to a Kris Hooper 40-yard field goal with exactly five minutes left in the half before ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ would take over at its 35 with 51 seconds left after a Greg Liggs, Jr. interception. On the third play of the possession, Cheek scrambled and picked up a block from De’Sean McNair that allowed him to race 18 yards to the end zone as ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ built a 23-3 edge at halftime.
The Tribe chipped away in the third quarter, scoring once on a one-yard pass from Brandon Battle to Riley Wilson before pulling within six points when Nate Evans capped a 67-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run with just over a minute to go in the period.
ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s next game is at Rhode Island on Oct. 21 at noon after a bye week.