William & Mary at Lehigh

William & Mary at Lehigh

This is Missed It. William and Mary at Lehigh, Saturday, September 12, 81 and clear at Goodman Stadium, with the Mountain Hawks. You missed it? Here's the whole game, as it happened.

Pregame

Two undefeated teams, and only one leaves with the zero intact. William and Mary comes in at two and oh, and so do we. The Mountain Hawks are two and oh, the Tribe are two and oh, and somebody's perfect season has to give today. This is the kind of game that tells you what you're made of, the kind where the first punch matters and the response matters more. William & Mary has the ball first, so our defense gets the first word. Let's see what they say.

Q1

The Tribe takes the field and moves the ball a little, five plays, nothing doing, and they punt it away. Fine. We'll take that. Our turn now. And look at this. First play from scrimmage, no huddle, shotgun, and Yoder takes it left. Eleven yards. Just like that, we're across midfield, and the crowd is already on its feet. That's how you answer. That's how you tell the other undefeated team that you didn't come here to feel them out. Yoder is running angry, running like he knows something. The drive keeps rolling, and then it's Yoder again, middle this time, one yard, and he's in. Touchdown. Poole's kick is good, and it's seven nothing. We came out swinging and landed the first one. William & Mary gets the ball back and it goes wrong for them fast. Two plays, and somehow it's a safety. I don't know exactly how it happened, but I'll take it. Nine nothing. We're not even ten minutes in and we've got a two-score lead and the ball coming back. We push down the field, ten plays, and Johnson finds Harden deep left, caught at the William & Mary twenty-five, twenty-eight yards to the nineteen. First down. That's the kind of throw that changes a defense's math. But the drive stalls, and the field goal misses. Nine nothing, and we leave points out there. It stings, but we're still ahead. William & Mary tries to answer, four plays, and we stop them on downs. Our defense is flying around. Then we go back to work, nine plays, and there's Yoder again, left, two yards, and he's in for his second touchdown. Sixteen nothing. The Tribe hasn't scored, and we're rolling. They get one more chance before the quarter ends, eight plays, and we stop them on downs again. Quarter ends sixteen nothing. This is exactly where we want to be.

The Sequence

This is where the game gets decided. It's settled by the second quarter, and it starts with Yoder's first carry. Fourteen fourteen, no huddle, shotgun, Yoder left for eleven yards to the Lehigh forty-two. First down. That's the moment. That's the first crack in the Tribe's armor. We came out and ran it right at them, and they couldn't stop it. That run set the tone for everything that followed. Yoder again for the touchdown. The safety. The second touchdown. By the time the quarter ends, it's sixteen nothing, and William & Mary looks like a team that doesn't know what hit them. The game is decided right here, in this stretch, and it's decided in our favor.

Q2

The second quarter starts with the Tribe still trying to find their footing, and we make them pay. Morgan drops back, throws deep left to Palumbo, caught at the William & Mary zero, twenty-two yards, touchdown. Twenty-three nothing. The route is on. The Tribe gets the ball back, five plays, and they turn it over. We take over and it takes us three plays. Johnson keeps it himself, rushes right, fifty yards, touchdown. Thirty nothing. Fifty yards. Johnson is gone, and the sideline is losing its mind. William & Mary puts together eight plays and we stop them on downs again. Then we get the ball and go six plays, but we give it right back on downs. Fine. We're up thirty. Let them have a moment. And they take it. Chavis rushes middle, four yards, touchdown. The Tribe is on the board, seven thirty. It's a consolation prize, but it's something. We answer before the half. Eleven plays, and we punch it in. Thirty-seven seven at the break. The Tribe gets one more play, two plays, and they turn it over. Halftime. We're up thirty. This one is over.

Halftime

Thirty-seven to seven. That's the score, and it feels like more. The game turned on that first Yoder run, the eleven-yarder that set the tone and never let William & Mary breathe. They came in undefeated, and we took that from them in the first quarter. Now it's about finishing. We need to keep the foot down, keep the defense hungry, and not give them any reason to believe. Thirty points is a lot, but it's not enough until the clock says zero.

Q3

We get the ball to start the half, and we go six plays before they stop us on downs. Not ideal, but we're up thirty. William & Mary takes over and starts grinding. Seventeen plays. They're eating clock, trying to make this respectable. Chavis rushes middle for twenty-three yards to the Lehigh twenty-eight, first down. They're moving. But we hold. We stop them on downs. Seventeen plays and nothing to show for it. That's a stand. We get the ball back, four plays, and we give it right back on downs. Not great. The Tribe takes over and keeps grinding. Ten plays. Watkins finds Vanantwerp short middle, twenty-seven yards to the Lehigh forty-three, and there's a penalty on us, roughing the passer, fifteen more yards to the Lehigh twenty-eight. That one hurts. They're in business now. Chavis rushes middle, one yard, touchdown. Fourteen thirty-seven. They're not going away quietly.

Q4

We need an answer, and we get one. Morgan rushes right for thirty-one yards to the William & Mary eleven, first down. That's the kind of run that kills a comeback. Then Yoder, right, eleven yards, touchdown. Forty-four fourteen. That's the dagger. That's the one that ends it. The Tribe doesn't quit. Seventeen plays, and Watkins rushes middle for one yard, touchdown. They go for two, and it fails. Twenty forty-four. It's a score, but it's not a threat. We take over with a little over two minutes left, and we're just trying to run it out. Seven plays, and then it happens. The handoff, the fumble at the William & Mary twenty-five, recovered by Echols. They return it a yard backwards to the twenty-four. It's a turnover, but it doesn't matter. We're up twenty-four. They get one more chance. Three plays, and Watkins throws short left to Austin, caught at the William & Mary forty-five, sixteen yards to the Lehigh forty-nine, and Austin fumbles. Yepdo recovers for us at the Lehigh forty-nine. That's the ball game. One play, and it's over. Final. Forty-four twenty.

Wrap-up

Forty-four to twenty. We win by twenty-four. The Mountain Hawks are three and oh. William and Mary falls to two and one. We came in undefeated, they came in undefeated, and we sent them home with their first loss. Three and oh. That's where we stand. That's the story.

By the Numbers

The Mountain Hawks by the numbers. Final score, Lehigh 44, William and Mary 20. 486 yards of offense to their 342, 120 through the air and 366 on the ground. 25 first downs. 6 of 10 on third down. 1 turnover for us, 2 for them. We held the ball for just over 32 minutes.

Outro

That was William and Mary at Lehigh, from the Mountain Hawks side. This has been Missed It. Every game, both sides, at missed it dot net. Produced by James Barrett.