Tribe Froze Out of the Playoffs With a 55-7 Loss to Montana State (12-9-22)
Headline Photo Credit: William & Mary Football
When you enter the playoffs only one team will come out with a victory in their last game. If we broke down the season based on this last loss, then you would have not been following this William and Mary football team throughout the year. Montana State who is everything a playoff opponent would be brought a taste of medicine from what the Tribe has been doing all year long. Great defense and a dominant ground attack. As I have mentioned earlier in the year where in Williamsburg the rain was always a factor well, in Montana the snow is a big factor, and when you are playing the coldest game of the year that will have an impact on your execution.
The Bobcats ran for 344 yards with 5 touchdowns on the ground and managed to hold the Tribe to only 176 yards rushing with Bronson Yoder having 131 on 26 carries. Nate Lynn was the other tribe member with a decent game registering 2 sacks, 6 tackles with 3 tackles for loss. This is one of those games where you look back at the Elon loss and say we had no business traveling to Bozeman for a quarterfinal game however that’s how tough it is to secure home-field in the playoffs. To think although setting a school record with 11 wins, the Tribe will finish this season reflecting on the lead they blew at home versus Elon and wondering what could have been. You only get one or two chances at opportunities like that so hopefully with a sound program and the culture seeming to be faith family and football, maybe this is the welcome-to-the-party run as we just might start to expect this coming out of Williamsburg every year. With some key senior departures come opportunities for London’s recruiting class to step right in and continue the engine to say. Players like Ethan Chang (Kicker), Darius Wilson (Quarterback), JT Mayo (Wide Receiver), Malachi Imoh (Running back), John Puis(Linebacker), and Jalen Jones (Defensive Back) all playing key roles in this year’s season shows that the young talent will take this winning culture and add on to what Mike London is building in Williamsburg.
Mike London has his hands all in the Virginia pool of football players as he continues to bring in home-state talent and proves the depth and skill that comes out of Virginia. With George Mason not having a football program, it appears Mike London took full advantage of a network in Northern Virginia and the talent that comes out of the area from his time at Howard. With previous stints in Richmond and UVA (Charlottesville) and growing up in the tidewater area almost completes his profound knowledge and heartbeat of Virginia prep football. So even in a snowstorm of a defeat, the Tribe appears to be back in the mix and will look to use this in the 2023 season as fuel to avenge this taste of defeat
