VILLANOVA, Pa.—A comeback bid in the fourth quarter gained early momentum but ultimately stalled on fourth down with just over a minute remaining and Villanova (4-6, 1-6 CAA Football) fell to visiting William & Mary (4-5, 3-3) by a final score of 24-17 at Villanova Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Ten unanswered points in the fourth quarter nearly brought the Wildcats back from a 17-point deficit in the team's final home game of the season.
It was Senior Day at Villanova and the football team recognized the 18 members of its graduating class in a pregame ceremony on the field. Once the game kicked off, the Wildcats offense was bolstered by the returns of senior quarterback
Zach Bednarczyk (Wallington, N.J.) and senior tight end
Ryan Bell (Basking Ridge, N.J.), who had each missed significant time due to injuries this season.
Bednarczyk threw for 212 yards and a touchdowns and Bell was the team's leading receiver with seven receptions for 79 yards. Villanova finished the day with 368 yards of total offense while holding the Tribe to just 232 yards despite the final outcome. Senior running back
Aaron Forbes (Newburgh, N.Y.) scored both Wildcats touchdowns in the game, first on a one-yard run in the second quarter and later on a five-yard pass from Bednarczyk which gave legs to the Wildcats fourth quarter rally.
Villanova trailed 24-7 at the start of the final period, but pulled to within 24-14 on Forbes' touchdown reception with 12:20 remaining. Junior kicker
Drew Kresge (Douglassville, Pa.) made a 19-yard field goal with 4:52 left to narrow the deficit to one possession at 24-17. Following a three-and-out by William & Mary, the Wildcats got the ball back at their own 43-yard line with 3:46 remaining.
That drive lasted just three plays before a lost fumble gave the ball back to the Tribe, but with less than two minutes to play the Villanova defense once again forced William & Mary to punt. That punt was blocked by sophomore defensive end
Malik Fisher (New York, N.Y.), and the Wildcats took over at their own 28-yard line with 1:51 to play in a seven-point game.
Bednarczyk completed three straight passes to begin that drive, with junior receiver
Changa Hodge (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) catching two of those passes for gains of 13 yards and 11 yards, respectively. Villanova eventually drove to the Tribe's 36-yard line but was stopped on third-and-four and again on fourth down as the comeback attempt fizzled.
Sophomore linebacker
Amin Black (Philadelphia, Pa.) had a team-high eight tackles, while junior
Drew Wiley (Pennington, N.J.) had six total stops and the Wildcats lone sack. Senior safety
Chucky Smith (Newbury Park, Calif.) and senior linebacker
Jeff Steeb (Sweetwater, N.J.) also had six tackles apiece.
Forbes rushed for 77 yards and a score on 19 carries and also had three receptions totaling 12 yards. With his final carry of the day, a six-yard burst late in the fourth quarter, he moved into ninth place in school history with 2,166 career rushing yards. Forbes began the day in 11
th place and passed both Chris Whitney (2007-10) and Curtis Sifford (1994-97) on his final carry. He needs another 54 yards in the season finale next week to move as high as sixth place among Villanova's all-time leaders.
Tribe quarterback Ted Hefter was 8-of-17 for 141 yards and a touchdown, while Nate Evans ran for 58 yards and a score.
Following a scoreless first period, William & Mary opened the scoring on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Shon Mitchell to Tyler Klaus with 10:31 left in the second quarter. Forbes tied the game at 7-7 on his one-yard run with 3:04 left before the intermission, but Evans found the end zone on fourth-and-one from the goal line as time expired at the end of the half. The Tribe's lead grew to 24-7 in the third quarter on DeVonte Dedmon's 18-yard touchdown catch and Kris Hooper's 37-yard field goal.
Villanova will wrap up the 2018 season when it visits Delaware next Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m.
