ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 17, 1996 TAG: 9611180130
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: STATE
SOURCE: FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS AND STAFF REPORTS
Mike Cook threw for three touchdowns, and Corey Nesmith ran for 122 yards as William and Mary wrapped up its first Yankee Conference Mid-Atlantic Division championship Saturday with a 28-13 victory over Richmond on the Spiders' field.
William and Mary (9-2 overall, 7-1 conference) held the Spiders to 143 yards total offense. The Tribe entered the game second in NCAA Division I-AA defense, giving up 241 yards per game.
Richmond (2-9, 1-7) took a 3-0 lead on a 41-yard field goal by Andrew Slater, but 10th-ranked William and Mary responded with a 67-yard touchdown pass from Cook to Josh Whipple.
Cook and Whipple combined for a 3-yard touchdown with 5:53 remaining in the first half as the Tribe took a 14-3 lead.
The Spiders scored on their first possession of the second half. Steve Quander recovered a fumble at the Tribe 18, and Minoso Rodgers scored four plays later on a 5-yard run.
Nesmith scored on a 14-yard run late in the third quarter before another Slater field goal sliced the Tribe's lead to 21-13 with 7:43 left in the game.
Cook's 10-yard touchdown pass with 29 seconds left sealed William and Mary's victory.
Tailback Alvin Porch, the Tribe's leading rusher with 1,098 yards, left the game early in the third quarter with a leg injury. Porch had 26 yards on 14 carries.
In other games involving Virginia teams:
Washington and Lee 31, Swarthmore 21: Senior quarterback Brooks Fischer threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns in his final game as the Generals closed their season with a victory over the Garnet Tide in Swarthmore, Pa.
Swarthmore (0-10) went in front 13-10 late in the third quarter on a 1-yard keeper by Pat Straub, but John Benazzi returned the ensuing kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown to put W&L in front to stay. Fischer then threw his touchdown passes to Jake Buckner and Nick Hodge as the quarterback became the school's all-time leader in scoring passes (33), completions (476) and passing yards (4,892).
Benazzi, playing offense and defense, caught seven passes for 117 yards, picked off a pass and broke up three other passes.
Villanova 40, James Madison 23: Clint Park threw for 249 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 50 yards and two more touchdowns as the Wildcats (8-3, 6-2) beat the Dukes (7-4, 5-3) in a Yankee Conference game in Harrisonburg.
The victory boosts Villanova's hopes for an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs. JMU lost for the third time in four games as its playoff hopes died.
JMU trailed 21-17 at halftime and turned over the ball four times in the second half.
Park had scoring passes of 4 yards to Josh Dolbin and 4 yards to Anthony Cowsette. Park completed 19 of 27 throws with no interceptions. He had scoring runs of 1 and 7 yards, both in the third quarter.
Willie Gonzalez was 21-of-35 for 259 yards for the Dukes, but threw three second-half interceptions. Gonzalez hit Macey Brooks with scoring passes of 34 and 25 yards.
Georgia Southern 45, Liberty 14: Fullback Roderick Russell rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns as the Eagles (4-7) finished a losing season with a flourish, defeating the Flames (5-6) in Statesboro, Ga.
Quarterback Greg Hill ran the ball 27 times for 136 yards and three touchdowns and completed six of eight passes, including an 80-yard scoring play to Earthwind Moreland, for Georgia Southern, which had a losing record for the first time since 1982.
Stacy Nobles scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter, and Ben Anderson hit Lance Duncan with a 2-yard touchdown pass in the fourth for Liberty.
Norfolk State 14, Hampton 7: DeAngelo Hodges' 10-yard touchdown run was the difference as the Spartans (7-4) beat the Pirates (5-5) in Hampton in a game that included eight turnovers, four in the second half.
Division II Norfolk State took the lead on the opening possession of the second half. Twice the Spartans stopped Division I-AA Hampton on turnovers, and twice on fourth downs deep in Norfolk State territory.
Randolph-Macon 20, Hampden-Sydney 10: Michael Hurt ran for one touchdown, caught a pass for another and returned a kickoff 93 yards for a third as the Yellow Jackets (7-3, 3-2) defeated the Tigers (3-7, 1-4) in a battle of Old Dominion Athletic Conference rivals.
Michael Rhodes rushed 2 yards for a touchdown for Hampden-Sydney.
Clinch Valley 29, Tusculum 3: Greg Thomas ran for a school-record 250 yards and scored two touchdowns as the Highland Cavaliers completed a 10-0 regular season with a victory over the Pioneers (1-9) in Wise. Clinch Valley heads into the NAIA Division II playoffs ranked No.4.
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines KEYWORDS: FOOTBALLby CNB