VILLANOVA, Pa. – It was a welcome return home for Villanova football on Saturday afternoon, returning to Villanova Stadium for Family Weekend and emerging with a 31-24 outlasting of the William & Mary Tribe.
David Avit (Frederick, Md.) rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns for Villanova (2-2, 1-1 CAA), scoring a trio of times for the second consecutive week and marking his second time ever with back-to-back 100-yard games.
Ja'briel Mace (Somers Point, N.J.) scored his second career touchdown with a 100-yard kick return to open the third quarter, marking the eighth play in Villanova history with that yardage and accounting for 138 all-purpose yards on the day.
Pat McQuaide (Solon, Ohio) passed for 194 yards on 15 completions, spreading the ball around to seven different receivers on the afternoon.
Luke Colella (Wexford, Pa.) went over 1,500 collegiate receiving yards with a team-high six-catch, 88-yard effort while Nolan Clayton (King of Prussia, Pa.) had a pair of receptions with a career-long 25-yard catch and Ralee Stephens (Asbury, N.J.) earned his first career catches with two fourth-quarter receptions.
Shane Hartzell (Perkasie, Pa.) totaled a game-best 10 tackles (seven solo) with a career-high two sacks and four tackles for loss while Turner Inge (Williamstown, N.J.) contributed a career-best seven total tackles and Obinna Nwobodo (Wilmington, Del.) added a career-high six.
"I'm really proud of the team's resilience today, we kept fighting in a very physical game and we're really happy to come out with a victory," head coach Mark Ferrante said. "We needed to play cleaner and we didn't in the first half but we seemed to make some good adjustments in the second half. The opening kickoff in the second half return was the spark we needed to get some momentum. And when you're able to run the ball like that, that really helps and it all starts up front."
Avit got the Wildcats on the board first in the opening quarter after the defense forced a punt and the offense mounted a 10-play, 92-yard drive, using a pair of 20-plus yard passes to get down the field before Avit punched in a one-yard run for a 7-0 edge.
William & Mary scored back-to-back touchdowns to grab a 14-7 advantage before punting on their next drive to let the Wildcats take over from the 47-yard line. The 'Cats moved down the field in less than three minutes with Avit going untouched to the end zone for a 15-yard score and a tied affair.
The Tribe converted on a 37-yard field goal with just under two minutes remaining in the half and a Wildcat field goal attempt sailed wide as time expired, giving W&M a 17-14 lead after 30 minutes.
Mace wasted no time striking to begin the second half, taking the kick from his own end zone and going 100 yards for the first Villanova kick return TD since Nowoola Awopetu's in 2019 to get his side a four-point edge.
VU subsequently forced a three-and-out and then moved down the field with five 10-plus yard gains before Jack Barnum (Southington, Conn.) converted on a 43-yard field goal for a 24-17 Wildcat advantage.
Villanova kept W&M off the board in the next effort and took nearly eight minutes off the clock in their penultimate drive, getting a pair of third-down conversions from Stephens with a fourth-down completion to Colella also moving the chains. Back-to-back Avit runs got the 'Cats within the five and then into the end zone, giving the Wildcats a two-score cushion.
W&M struck back though with a 75-yard drive, scoring on a QB keeper to bring the deficit within a score. VU burned more than three and a half minutes of clock but a field goal to salt it away went wide, giving the Tribe one more chance.
William & Mary completed a few passes and moved up 30 yards to the 50, but with under 10 seconds remaining it was Capri Martin (Harlem, N.Y.) and Hartzell bringing down the quarterback as the clock expired to preserve a 31-24 victory for the home side.
UP NEXT: The Wildcats will travel up to New England next week, heading to Durham for a Saturday CAA battle at New Hampshire.
