Brookline, MA - William and Mary redshirt freshman Jake Phillips' (Warm Springs, Va.) 8-yard touchdown run in the second overtime gave the 11th-ranked Tribe football team a thrilling, 44-41, come-from-behind victory over Northeastern Saturday afternoon at water-logged Parsons Field.

Box Score

Behind Phillips, who entered the game with just under six minutes remaining in the third quarter with the Tribe facing a 31-10 deficit, W&M (4-2, 2-1 A10) rallied for its third consecutive win, and its second-straight victory over Northeastern in overtime.

Phillips finished the game with 256 yards and four touchdowns, both career highs, on 18-for-20 passing and added 32 rushing yards on nine attempts, including the game-winning 8-yard keeper in the second extra period that ended the game.

Northeastern had the ball first in the second overtime, and Huskies' kicker Miro Kesic gave the home team a short-lived 41-38 cushion with a 20-yard field goal after Northeastern had a first-and-goal at the 4-yard line, but did not find the end zone.

Both teams scored on their first overtime possessions, sending the game into the second extra session even at 38-38. W&M was first on offense in overtime, and after two runs resulted in a gain of five total yards, Phillips found sophomore Joe Nicholas (Sugarloaf, Pa.) down the right sideline for a 20-yard touchdown toss, Phillips' fourth scoring pass of the game, to give W&M a brief 38-31 advantage. Northeastern got the equalizer on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Orio to Corey Parks.

After a fairly evenly matched first half that resulted in a 10-10 tie at the break, W&M found itself facing a 21-point deficit just eight minutes into the third quarter, as Northeastern took advantage of one big offensive play and two costly Tribe turnovers.

On the Huskies' first possession of the second half, Northeastern quarterback Anthony Orio hooked up with Corey Parks for a 70-yard touchdown pass to make it 17-10. On the Tribe's next possession, sophomore quarterback Mike Potts (Middletown, Del.) was hit dropping back to pass on second down, and the ball popped loose and was recovered by Northeastern at the Tribe 10-yard line. One play later, Orio kept on an option play to the left and found the end zone to give Northeastern a 24-10 lead. Huskie linebacker Jamil Young intercepted Potts' on the Tribe's next snap, and tailback Maurice Murray capped the 21-point explosion with a 10-yard touchdown on the next play to give Northeastern a 31-10 lead with 5:47 remaining in the third.

On the Tribe's next series, Phillips entered the game and provided the spark W&M needed, completing 16-of-18 attempts for 231 yards and three touchdowns in little over a quarter and a half to force overtime.

On Phillips' second possession in control, the Tribe faced a fourth-and-14 at the Northeastern 30-yard line. Phillips shook off a defender and delivered a perfect pass to Nicholas in the left corner of the end zone with 11:59 remaining to cut the deficit to 31-17.

Feeding off the Tribe offense's momentum, an inspired defense forced a Huskies three-and-out, and W&M regained control at its 31 after a Northeastern punt.

The Tribe quickly had their backs against the wall once again, facing a third-and-12 from the W&M 33. Phillips dropped back to pass on third down, but tucked the ball and took off up the left side, scrambling to the 46-yard line for a new set of downs. A couple plays later, Phillips found redshirt freshman Elliott Mack (Irvington, N.J.) wide open in the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown pass, capping an eight-play, 77-yard drive that cut the Tribe's deficit to 31-24 with 6:05 left on the clock.

With Northeastern staring down another three-and-out on its next series, W&M senior linebacker Thad Wheeler (Canton, Ga.) pulled down Orio from behind on third down, setting up fourth-and-nine and another Northeastern punt.

From the W&M 38-yard line, it took Phillips only four plays and 1:28 to carve up the Huskies' defense and complete the amazing comeback. The drive was again keyed by an outstanding third-down Phillips' conversion, as the rookie quarterback rolled out on a bootleg and calmly feathered a pass, with a defender in his face, to a wide open Lustig for a 28-yard gain to the Northeastern 27. On the next snap, Phillips and Lustig connected again, this time for a 27-yard touchdown pass-and-catch with 1:43 remaining in the game that knotted the score at 31-31 and sent the game into overtime.

Despite the driving rain and blustery winds, it looked like the weather would have little affect on either team's offensive execution early, as each team scored on its first possession of the afternoon.

Northeastern took the opening kickoff and promptly drove 75 yards on eight plays, opening the scoring on Murray's 1-yard touchdown run 3:56 into the game. The drive was aided Orio's 53-yard toss to Parks on the game's first offensive snap, which gave Northeastern a first-and-10 at the W&M 22.

Unfazed by the Huskies' quick start, the Tribe responded on its first touch with an impressive scoring drive, which coincidentally was set up by a key throw by Potts. Trailing by a score already and facing a third-and-10 on its 40-yard line, Potts connected with Lustig who streaked down the right sideline unnoticed for a 42-yard completion. Potts finished the 10-play, 75-drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to sophomore fullback Matt Otey (Hershey, Pa.), who snuck out of the backfield on a play-action pass on third-and-goal from the 3-yard line.

After answering Northeastern's opening blow, the momentum quickly continued to build in the Tribe's favor, as sophomore William Turner (Wirtz, Va.) knocked the ball out of the Huskies' Alex Broomfield's hands on the ensuing kickoff return, and true freshman Michael Pigram (Hopewell, Va.) pounced on the loose ball at the Northeastern 20-yard line.

Three plays later, senior Greg Kuehn (Potomac Falls, Va.) drilled a 33-yard field goal to give W&M its first lead, 10-7, with 5:11 remaining in the first quarter.

From that point on, the Huskies used a steady, ball-control rushing attack that chewed up over 20 minutes of the first half. Northeastern tied the contest, 10-10, on a 26-yard field goal by Miro Kesic at the 4:59 mark of the second period, capping a 17-play, 64-yard drive that consumed 8:35 off the clock.

Game Notes: Saturday's double-overtime victory over Northeastern improved the Tribe's record to 3-0 in its last three overtime games ? It was W&M's first double-overtime game since the quarterfinals of the 2004 I-AA Playoffs, when the Tribe defeated Delaware 44-38 ? Coincidentally, W&M also faced a 31-10 fourth-quarter deficit before rallying for the win ? W&M also defeated Northeastern in overtime in 2004, winning 38-35 at Zable Stadium ? Phillips entered the game with just under six minutes remaining in the third quarter and completed his first eight attempts for 74 yards ? Phillips' four TD passes were the most by a Tribe quarterback since Lang Campbell threw for four in the Tribe's 2004 regular season finale against Richmond ? Philliips' three TD passes in the fourth quarter tied the school record for TD passes in a quarter (Lang Campbell at Delaware in 2004) ? It was the second time Phillips passed and rushed for at least one score in a game, having also turned the trick against Liberty ? Kuehn's first quarter field goal was the 53rd of his career, which brought him within four of Steve Christie's (1986-89) school record (57) ? Sophomore Joe Nicholas finished with a game-high seven catches for 105 yards, and senior Josh Lustig finished with six grabs for 126 yards, giving W&M two receivers with over 100 yards for the first time since the 2004 game against Northeastern (Nicholas 111, Dominique Thompson 157) ? Nicholas is the first Tribe player to have two receiving TDs in a game this season ? It was Nicholas' second 100-yard receiving game of the season and the fifth of his career ? Junior running back Elijah Brooks led the Tribe ground attack for the sixth consecutive game, churning out 89 yards on 24 carries ? Brooks added five receptions for 34 yards ? Junior tight end Matt Trinkle finished with five catches for 34 yards ? W&M's defense did not allow a third-down conversion in the second half, as Northeastern went 0-for-5 after the break ? Senior Jon Shaw paced the defense with 11 total tackles, including 1.5 for loss ? Senior defensive end Jonas Watson finished with a career-high 10 total tackles, including a game-high 3.0 TFL ? Redshirt freshman linebacker Josh Rutter added 10 total tackles to give W&M three defenders with double-digit tackles ? For the first time this season, the Tribe failed to record an interception.