Keeping the chains moving and keeping the ball out of Wittenberg's hands was how Drew Dawkins and Denison pulled past the Tigers and ended up on top in Week 4's NCAC matchup. Denison athletics file photo by Jace Delgado

By Joe Sager
D3sports.com

A football field is 100 yards long.

You already know this.

But, down by a score late in a game with nothing behind the defense other than yards and yards of green real estate, it might as well seem like it’s 500.

Little by little, though, teams chipped away at the vast expanse over the weekend and got the football in the opposite end zone for the winning score.

Denison and Washington & Lee are two prime examples. The Big Red marched 88 yards on 19 plays to complete a 21-16 comeback win against Wittenberg in NCAC play, while the Generals went 99 yards, scored on the last play of regulation and added the two-point conversion to stun Randolph-Macon, 25-24, in an ODAC thriller.

Denison storms back

Staring at a 16-0 deficit after the first quarter at home to Wittenberg (1-2), Denison (3-1) needed a jolt and got it in the form of a 12-play, 83-yard drive that got the Big Red on the scoreboard early in the second.

The hosts added another touchdown in the quarter to make it a 16-14 game at halftime. That was the momentum it needed to complete the comeback.

“In the beginning of the game, they scored two unanswered. But, we know football is a long game,” Denison quarterback Drew Dawkins said. “I felt we did a really good job keeping our composure. It feels good to come back in a game like that.”

It wasn’t easy, though. Denison got the ball on its own 12 with 5:25 left in the third quarter. The Big Red moved the ball methodically against the Tigers and kept possession for the next 9:55.

Of the 19 plays the squad executed, 14 came on the ground. The team converted on two third downs and two fourth downs. Its biggest gainer was a 14-yard pass.

 “You start out and it’s like, ‘OK we just have to play it one down at a time,’” Denison coach Jack Hatem said. “Throughout the course of a 19-play drive, there are a million stressful situations. That’s what happens. You tell yourself, ‘One play at a time’ and then you get to third-and-6 and you know you have to convert. Anytime you have a drive like that, you have multiple kids making plays.

“That 19-play drive was a prime example of exactly that.

“When you’re on a drive like that, the belief and energy goes through the roof. It’s a lot of fun. It just gets contagious, too,” he continued. “You get a first down and then another first down and everyone is buzzing and excited and believes.”

The Big Red relied on its two-headed running back attack of Andrew Blanchard and Trey Fabrocini to lead the charge. Fabrocini rushed 20 times for 116 yards, while Blanchard carried the ball 17 times for 72. Blanchard capped the drive with a 2-yard TD run.

“It’s pretty crazy. Looking at the stat line after the game, that’s probably the longest drive I’ve ever been a part of. It’s a testament to our dedication to our offense and trusting our coaching and realizing the end result, if we get four yards per play, eventually, we’ll get a touchdown,” Blanchard said. “We definitely have a lot of trust in our O-line and our running game, in general. We have two running backs that we think are good. We think we can run the ball with just about anybody in the country and we showed that. We have a very veteran o-line and they are the biggest part of this. To ask them to run block 14 times in a drive and have them finish on the 2-yard line is pretty impressive.”

“In general, there’s not a lot of pressure on me,” added Dawkins, who passed for 101 yards and ran for 44 more. “I can always rely on one of those two to get the yardage and get it done somehow. Plus, our whole offensive line is incredible.”

Sure, Denison would have loved to swing for the fences on that drive, but it knew that wasn’t a wise choice against Wittenberg.

“Wittenberg was a really good opponent. We couldn’t send the ball downfield as much as we wanted to,” Dawkins said. “We had to dink and dunk and take what they gave us. We just have to go deep in our playbook and pick our best play call in certain situations. I feel like we did that throughout the game.”

Not only did that drive put Denison on top, but it kept the ball out of the Tigers’ hands for nearly half of the second half. Wittenberg did get two more offensive chances, though. On the team’s last drive, the Tigers reached Denison’s 10, but Francis Fay came up with a key defensive play with a 12-yard tackle for loss on a jet sweep on third down. Wittenberg’s ensuing pass was broken up to essentially seal the verdict.

“Our defense played an unbelievable game. They pretty much shut them out after the first quarter,” Hatem said. “To keep the ball for 10 minutes and kind of wear down their defense and keep their offense off the field is huge.”

The Big Red faces another tall task this week against Wabash (3-0).

“I think the win definitely gives us a boost. Wittenberg is a great program. For us to come back from 16-0 and come together as a team and put our heads down and get the win gives us a lot of confidence,” Blanchard said. “We have known this whole year that we are a good team, but it’s nice to go out and prove it to ourselves.”

W&L goes to the wire

The Generals’ winning drive covered 99 yards, but did so in less time (7:38). That’s because that was all the time left on the clock.

“Coach told us it’d probably be our last possession,” W&L running back Josh Breece said. “Just like with 2020, we know every moment could be our last moment of football. We want to make the most of every opportunity. That’s how we practice because we need to be prepared at all times.

“I can’t even put it into words. It was euphoric to win. It was an absolute team effort to be a part of – just watching everyone contribute and compete with each other. I could look to my left and right and I knew my guys were dialed it. Plus, it means a little more since it was Washington & Lee and Randolph-Macon.”

The team converted on two third downs and one fourth down during its march. It faced some adversity, too, as starting quarterback Jack Pollard was knocked out of the game on the drive with the ball deep in Yellow Jackets territory. No problem, though, sophomore backup quarterback Stephen Murrin entered the game and finished leading the drive for a touchdown. He crashed in from the 1 for the score with no time left on the clock.

Passing out of your own end zone is never the ideal way to start a drive, but it worked for Washington & Lee. Photo by Dan Hunter, d3photography.com

“I am really lucky because I have guys like Jack Pollard and (junior quarterback) Peter Davin who have been good role models for me. To see how they practice and go about things, I think that put me in a good preparation state. I was ready to step in there and do my part,” Murrin said. “I kind of had an idea that Jack was banged up a bit and playing through some stuff. There was one hit that kind of put him out. I was mentally prepared. All the guys did a good job of what we preached all week, which was focusing on the details.”

Breece, a senior, wasn’t worried that a sophomore came in during a pivotal point in the team’s biggest game of the season at that point.

“We have full faith in our roster. Everybody has to get in their work; you just have the confidence. We all looked at him, gave a fist bump and got to work,” he said. “That’s why the system of trust is built upon everyone knowing they have to take care of themselves and have accountability to do the right things at the right times. It’s a lot of personal responsibility and that equals team success. We had complete trust in each other. We knew we were capable of getting it done. It felt natural. These are the moments we live for. We had all seniors in the backfield knowing what it takes to win college football games.”

Still, though, staring at 99 yards with only 7:38 to play can be overwhelming.

“Getting the ball pinned back deep was a tough start,” W&L coach Garrett LeRose said. “Our guys did a good job settling in and executing down the field and making plays when we needed them throughout the drive.”

The Generals were confident they would cash in on what they correctly thought was their last offensive chance.

“I can honestly say I don’t think there was ever a point where we thought we were out of it,” Murrin said. “That long punt pinned us back, but we were confident on what we could do. From top to bottom, the whole roster had a great week of practice. We knew what our roles were and we had to go out there and execute like we did.

“I thought our offensive line did a great job, especially on that drive, really taking over the drive. It made my job easier,” he continued. “To score was something special. In the moment, I’m so focused on my assignment, I don’t realize what is going on. Once that final play happened, I took a step back and appreciated what we had done.”

That set up the Generals for a chance to tie or win the game. They opted to go big and secured the win when Breece cruised into the end zone for the conversion.

“It was pretty incredible. It was definitely something special,” Murrin said. “I thought it was a great decision by the coaches. We had the momentum at that point and were confident we could get three yards on that conversion. We didn’t do anything too crazy. We have such good playmakers like Josh Breece and Alex Wertz; it’s a lot for defenses to think about.”

Breece felt fortunate to get the ball in that scenario.

“It was an amazing feeling knowing our coaches were there to win the game,” he said. “So, after the touchdown, we had to get back in the moment and finish the job. It was amazing watching our coaches and seeing the gears turn in our offensive coordinator’s head. Fortunately, we got it done for him.

“I was able to walk into the end zone and all I could think about was giving every single one of my guys a hug. We were all working together for that. You can’t match a feeling like that. That’s a game I will remember, no matter what.”

The ending wasn’t the only drama for W&L. Earlier, the Generals watched Randolph-Macon go on two big marches of its own. One in the first quarter went for 12 plays, but ended with an interception. The Yellow Jackets had a 14-play, 60-yard drive in the third, ending with a field goal.

“We knew what kind of talent that team has and how well-coached they are. That’s something we preached about all week — we had to value the opportunity of our offense,” Breece said. “We knew we would not get that many opportunities. We had to value our chances every single time we had the ball in our hands.”

“Those are big momentum swings in a game like this, when you understand the value of possessions,” LeRose said. “We were cognizant of it. I think our sideline and coaching staff did a great job staying even keel. We needed to focus on our opportunity and nothing previous that had occurred.”

The Generals (3-1) visit Hampden-Sydney (2-2) for another big ODAC clash.

“Everyone knows that football games and season are full of mountains and valleys. We climbed a big mountain, but we can’t get too down in a valley,” Breece said. “We have to stay motivated and choose greatness in every moment, going forward.”