The William & Mary football team was averaging 11 points a game coming into their CAA matchup with Maine Saturday afternoon. The upset minded Tribe more than doubled that, upsetting the #16 Black Bears 27-20 at Zable Stadium in Williamsburg, Virginia on homecoming.
Maine had three leads in the first half, and started out the scoring just 12 seconds into the game when Sterling Sheffield recovered a bad snap that went over the head of W&M quarterback Ted Hefter and into the endzone to make it 7-0. After the Tribe tied it 7-7, Kenny Doak kicked a 25 yard field goal to make it 10-7. W&M took the lead back when Arman Jones picked off Maine quarterback Chris Ferguson, and went 90 yards untouched to make it 14-10. The Bears again had the answer, and a 24 yard touchdown run by Ramon Jefferson had the visitors up 17-14 at the break.
A 36 yard field goal by Kris Hooper of W&M was the lone score of the third quarter tying the game 17-17. A Jalen Christian 30 yard touchdown run and catch early in the fourth gave the Tribe their biggest advantage of the game to that point 24-17. A second Ferguson interception led to another Hooper field goal of 37 yards making it 27-17 with just over 10 minutes to play. Maine (4-3, 3-1 CAA) substained a drive, but had to settle for a 40 yard field goal from Doak cutting it to 27-20. After a defensive stop, Maine once again was driving, but Ferguson was sacked on a big third down play forcing a Bears punt. Punter Derek Deoul backed the Tribe up, as Maine downed the ball at the 1 yard line with 3:36 left. After a three and out and a bad punt, the visitors had a great chance taking over at the W&M 36 yard line with still 2:30 remaining with no timeouts. After two incomplete passes wedged around a two yard completion to Drew Belcher, it came down to a 4th down and 8 play at the 34. Ferguson rolled out and tried to hit Jaquan Blair that would of been first down yardage, but the ball went off Blairs fingertips and up in the air and was intercepted by W&M safety Isaiah Laster to end the game. The Tribe offense killed the clock and hung on for the win.
Ferguson finished 26-46 passing, 278 yards, with no touchdowns, and three interceptions. Jefferson was big in his return to the lineup coming back from injury, carrying 14 times for 80 yards and a score. Earnest Edwards had a career day, catching nine passes for 196 yards. Taji Lowe had 11 total tackles and a fumble recovery to lead the defense, while Deshawn Stevens had 10 total tackles.
William & Mary (3-4, 2-2) used two quarterbacks on the day. Hefter finished 12-27, 170 yards, and a touchdown, while Dean Rotger went 4-6, 65 yards, and a score. Nick Muse had eight receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown. The Tribe was held to just 33 net rushing yards by the Black Bears defense. Josh Dulaney had nine total tackles and an interception to lead the defense. Nate Atkins had eight total tackles, while Jones finished with seven and the big return for a touchdown on the interception.
Maine returns home to Alfond Stadium for their homecoming game next Saturday at 1 pm when they host Albany.
UM 10 7 0 3- 20
WM 7 7 3 10- 27
Total yards- Maine 347 W&M 268
First downs- Maine 15 W&M 11
Turnovers- Maine 3 W&M 2
Time of possession- Maine 35:06 W&M 24:54
