The men’s football team lost 30-9 against the William & Mary Tribe Sept. 16 in Williamsburg, Va. It was the first time the two teams met in 21 years. Despite their loss, the Bison have stayed optimistic.

“Traveling down to William & Mary was a great opportunity to play against a talented team. It was a fun atmosphere under the lights in front of a nicely sized crowd,” Kyle Kinner ’18 said.

In the first drive of the game, the Orange and Blue took William & Mary to their 24 line. Matt Muh ’18 passed to Andrew Podbielski ’18 for an 11-yard gain and Joey DeFloria ’18 added 11-yards on back-to-back runs. However, after a false start penalty stalled the drive, the Bison were forced to punt.

The Orange and Blue defense had a strong performance in the second quarter, with Mark Pyles ’18 and Colin Jonov ’18 stopping the Tribe close to the end zone. Ben Richard ’18 and Jon Fox ’20 made two big tackles, forcing the Tribe to settle for a 20-yard field goal.

On the following drive the Bison got on the scoreboard. Muh got the ball to Alan Butler ’19 for 13 yards and then passed it to Jack Horan ’18 for a 21-yard play. With 5:24 on the scoreboard, Muh found Podbielski in the end zone. The extra point attempt was blocked, keeping the score at 10-6.

The Bison forced the Tribe to go three and out on their next drive. Kinner finished the second half with a leaping catch for 31-yards and John Burdick ’18 finished the drive with a 33-yard field goal.

At half, the Orange and Blue were behind by a single point. However, the third quarter ending up being the most decisive quarter of the game, as William & Mary scored three unanswered touchdowns. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, Chanse Riley ’19 led the game for the Bison with eight tackles and Pyles finished close behind with seven.

On the offensive side, Muh ended the game with 105-yards and went 12-for-17 on passing. John Chiarolanzio ’20 took the field in the fourth quarter, finishing the game with 48-yards and going 7-for-11. DeFloria and Horan also had impressive games finishing with 62 yards on the ground and 69 receiving yards, respectively.

“Obviously the outcome of the game was not what we had hoped for, but I was proud of the way the guys kept fighting. We have a lot to work on heading into our next game, but we definitely have the right guys here to be a great team going forward,” Muh said.

The Bison will return home Sept. 23rd at 6:00 p.m. to face Sacred Heart University.