WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The No. 21 William & Mary football team fell to Fordham, 52-27, at Zable Stadium on Saturday evening.
Fordham (1-3, 1-1) raced out to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter before running back
Andrew King put W&M (2-2, 1-2) on the scoreboard with a 67-yard touchdown run.
After the Rams extended the margin to 31-7 early in the second half, the Tribe found the end zone again when freshman tight end
Jacob Mullins hauled in his first career catch, a 16-yard touchdown pass from quarterback
Winston Watkins late in the third quarter.
Watkins's second touchdown pass – a 27-yard strike to wide receiver
Kai Austin early in the fourth quarter – answered another Fordham score, but the Rams posted two more late touchdowns to pull away for the conference victory.
King finished with a career-high 122 rushing yards on 16 carries with a touchdown, while Watkins completed 19-of-26 passes for a career-best 286 yards with two scores.
Austin continued to add to his outstanding production this season and recorded six receptions for 81 yards with a score, while freshman wideout
Luke Vanantwerp posted five receptions for 80 yards.
Defensively, linebackers
Harrison Johnson (15) and
Christopher Higgins (10) both finished with career high tackle totals, while Johnson added 1.5 TFL and a half sack.
Fordham was led by Yohan-Li Louis (203 rushing yards, TD) and Jamell James (163 rushing yards, 3 TD), as the Rams piled up 428 yards on the ground.
Fordham quarterback Gunnar Smith completed 12-of-21 passes for 141 yards with three touchdown passes – all going to different receivers.
Despite the loss, W&M totaled a season-high 423 total yards and scored at least 20 points for the 13th consecutive game, marking the program's longest stretch since 2007-09.
The Tribe will return to action when it plays at Duke next Saturday.
