William & Mary picks up win #1 of the Season, defeats Lafayette 24-3 (9-11-21)

By: Joe Dillard Jr.

Headline Photo Credit: Robb Johnson-LMS Network

On a night where we honored our fallen countrymen on the 20thanniversary of 9/11, William and Mary came out with a bitter taste in their mouths looking to avenge an opening day lost to UVA as they hosted 0-1 Lafayette Leopards. With Hollis Mathis back under the center, it appeared that the tribe had a little rust to shake off as they walked into a 3-0 halftime lead. So far this season the anchor of this team has been the defense, which came out in the second half to prove just that. With Lafayette driving in Tribe territory, quarterback Rent Montie of Lafayette rolled right and overthrew the running back in the flats where Flint High school graduate Gage Herdman, a 6-3 senior safety took it to the house for the first score of the game with a 78-yard pick 6 to give the tribe a 10-0 lead early in the third quarter. With a little bit of a cushion, the offense came out moving the ball with multiple positive plays led by Junior tailback Donavyn Lester and was capped off by a circus, almost like “The Immaculate Reception” reminiscent of Franco Harris and the Pittsburgh Steelers as Senior wideout Cole Blackman of Atlee out of Glen Allen caught the deflected ball and took it to the house for a 38-yard touchdown catch. Great awareness to say the least as that began the party for Tribe nation.

With Lafayette passing over 49 times, that pinned the ears back on an already dominant defense to rush the quarterback leading to 6 sacks as Redshirt Freshmen John Pius out of Arlington, VA, led the way with 7 tackles and 2 sacks. With so much energy on defense, they were determined to hold that shutout however Lafayette managed to put 3 on the board with 9:05 left in the fourth quarter. After giving up 3 points, the best unit on the field tonight put a stamp on the game as Quinn Osbourne shows great hands as he picks off the Leopards and twinkle-toed up the sideline for an 18-yard pick 6 to cap off a 24 to 3 win for the Tribe as they look to take this momentum up north to take on Patriot League host Colgate for a 1 pm kickoff time next Saturday.