WILLAMSBURG, Va. – Gardner-Webb's historic football season came to an end on Saturday afternoon at No. 5 William & Mary, with the Tribe taking a 54-14 win over the Runnin' Bulldogs.
Four first-half turnovers led to 30 points William & Mary (11-1) and Gardner-Webb (7-6) was not able to recover. The Tribe forced six turnovers on the day, taking a 37-point advantage in those.
GWU drove into Tribe territory twice in the second quarter, with a fumble handing the ball back early. William & Mary used a 34-yard pass from Darius Wilson to JT Mayo to push its lead to 14-0 as a result with 13:35 to play before halftime.
Another turnover gave William & Mary the ball at the Gardner-Webb 28-yard line on the ensuing drive and Wilson foud Mayo on another scoring pass to give the home team a 21-0 lead with 12:33 left in the quarter.
Narii Gaither took over on the next drive, darting and dashing for several nice runs as Gardner-Webb pushed all the way down to the Tribe 15-yard line.
Bailey Fisher was hit on a keeper, however, and fumbled at the 13-yard line to give the ball back. Fisher was injured on the play and did not return.
William & Mary went 87 yards on just four plays, with Donavyn Lester's 69-yard run setting things up inside the five. Lester finished the march two plays later with a four-yard run to put the Tribe up 28-0 with 7:49 to play before the half.
Ethan Chang connected on a pair of field goals over the final five minutes to put William & Mary up 34-0 at the break.
Gardner-Webb finally found the end zone to start the third quarter, marching 75 yards in seven plays.
Matthew Caldwell hit
Caleb Borders on a 17-yard touchdown pass with 13:03 to go in the third. Borders sprinted through the defense after catching a slant route for his second career score. It was the first touchdown pass of Caldwell's career.
William & Mary scored twice more over the final 10 minutes of the third quarter to lead 47-7 after 45 minutes of action and added a 48-yard touchdown pass with 10:21 to play in the fourth to go up 54-7.
The Runnin' Bulldogs scored the game's final points when
Xavion Brower sprinted into the corner of the end zone with 1:08 to play for Gardner-Webb's second touchdown.
The Runnin' Bulldogs finished with 200 yards on the ground, led by Gaither's 89 yards on 12 carries. The Rock Hill, S.C., native passed the 1,000-yard mark in the game – finishing his season with 1,019 yards in 10 games played. GWU had 377 yards of total offense. Caldwell came off the bench to pass for 103 yards – with Borders catching a career-high five balls for 69 yards and a score.
William McRainey and
Charlie Jackson led the defense with seven tackles each.
William & Mary finished the day with 608 yards offensively, gaining 306 on the ground and 302 through the air. Wilson completed 14-of-24 passes for 240 yards and three scores, and added 89 yards rushing on eight carries. Bronson Yoder had 72 yards on 16 carries and scored two touchdowns.
The Tribe will travel to Bozeman, Mont., next weekend to face No. 4 Montana State. The Bobcats bet Weber State 33-25 on Saturday afternoon.
Gardner-Webb wraps up a strong season that saw GWU win its first Big South title in 19 seasons and go 5-0 in league play behind a record-setting offense and a hard-nosed defense. It was also GWU's first winning season since 2013.
