By Chris Estrada
You don’t lead the Colonial Athletic Association in total offense without making at least a few big plays each game. Saturday, the football team found that out the hard way.
No. 14 William ‘ Mary was outgained by 109 yards in the first half by Northeastern, but a trio of key moments pushed the Tribe ahead and helped turn a tight game into a 38-17 beatdown at Zable Stadium in Williamsburg, Va.
After Northeastern went three-and-out on its first possession, punt returner Derek Cox caught the ball at the 11 and returned it 89 yards for a touchdown to give William ‘ Mary a 7-0 lead. The Huskies tied it with a 12-yard run from Alex Broomfield, but the Tribe got the lead back with a three-yard pass from Jake Phillips to Jimmy Hobson that was set up by a 61-yard reception by D.J. McAulay.
Finally, after Northeastern cut the lead to 14-10 with a Mat Johnson field goal, William ‘ Mary got some separation as Phillips hooked up with Chase Hill for another three-yard pass strike to give them a 21-10 lead.
“The youngsters battled very hard, but they just came up on short end of the deal,” said head coach Rocky Hager. “William ‘ Mary is a talented football team, and we matched up reasonably well with them, but the game came down to them making a big play here and there.”
NU tried to cut the lead down to eight at halftime by setting up for what appeared to be a 40-yard field goal try from Johnson with 10 seconds to go in the half. But instead, the fourth-and-8 play was a fake, with holder and receiver Chris Plum taking the ball on the run.
He wound up missing the first down by a very short margin. From there, William ‘ Mary – who had outscored its opponents, 193-76, in the second half heading into Saturday – pulled away.
“There was a [defensive] alignment thing that they showed, and we felt we had a chance to run it in for a touchdown,” Hager said in his explanation of the play. “It was just that one of their young men reacted exceptionally well and kept us from running it in.”
The second half started poorly for the Huskies, as William ‘ Mary scored a touchdown for the third week in a row on their opening second-half drive.
Northeastern chopped the lead to two scores late in the third quarter. Starting out with great field position thanks to a kickoff return to midfield by TJ Jackson, the Huskies eventually scored on fourth-and-goal from the Tribe 3 with a three-yard pass from Anthony Orio to Broomfield with 13 seconds left in the quarter.
It was as close as NU would get, however.
The next chance for Northeastern to snap its losing streak (now at five games) will come Saturday at 1 p.m. in Hempstead, N.Y. against the Hofstra Pride.
