SPARTANBURG, S.C. – In the home opener for the Wofford College football team on Saturday night against William & Mary, the game was tied at 21-21 with 10:21 remaining. The Tribe scored to go ahead 28-21 with 3:40 left on the clock. After trading possessions, Wofford had the ball back with 28 seconds to work with but had three passes into the endzone fall incomplete to end the game at Gibbs Stadium.  
 
Wofford opens the season at 2-1, while the #13 ranked William & Mary improves to 2-1. The Terriers were led by Amari Odom who was 15-of-32 passing for 230 yards. Ryan Ingram had 80 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Isaiah Scott had six catches for 119 yards. The Tribe had 142 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Bronson Yoder, as they scored four rushing touchdowns in the game.
 
"It was a hard-fought game," said head coach Shawn Watson. "My first thought is how hard our kids played and they had great effort. Things didn't go our way because we were playing a good football team, and we fought through those things. We are a good football team and I appreciate what the kids did tonight. The effort was outstanding. We had some miscues, but those can be fixed. I loved the resiliency of our team to keep coming back and fighting, even having a chance on the last play of the game."
 
The Tribe had the ball to open the game and drove 79 yards in 16 plays to take a 7-0 lead with a 2-yard touchdown run at the 8:08 mark of the first quarter. After Wofford went three-and-out on their opening possession, the Tribe also went three-and-out and punted. With the ball back, the Terriers had a first down run by Ryan Ingram before punting. William & Mary took over just across midfield and had two first downs before facing fourth-and-three. The run was a yard short and Wofford took over on downs.
 
The Terriers took nine plays to cover 85 yards, which included a 26-yard reception by Kyle Watkins. A nine-yard touchdown run by Ryan Ingram tied the game at 7-7 with 10:20 on the clock in the second quarter. On the ensuing drive by the Tribe, they had three first downs before a 37-yard field goal attempt went wide right. Wofford took over with 5:29 left in the first half and Ryan Ingram had a 26-yard run to open the drive. However, the Terriers fumbled and the Tribe recovered at the 34-yard line. After a first down, Bronson Yoder scored a 19-yard touchdown to give William & Mary a 14-7 lead with 2:23 left in the half. Wofford had a first down run by J.T. Smith, Jr. and two first down catches by Isaiah Scott, including one for 39 yards to the ten-yard line. Amari Odom ran for nine yards and J.T. Smith, Jr. had the one-yard touchdown to cap the drive. With 26 seconds left on the clock, Wofford and William & Mary were tied at 14 all. The Tribe ran one play to end the first half.
 
To begin the second half, Wofford had one first down before having to punt. The Tribe had a first down and punted as well. With the ball back, Ryan Ingram had a 15-yard rush for a first down, but the Terriers punted with 6:20 on the clock in the third quarter. They had four first downs and scored on a five-yard run to take a 21-14 lead on the final play of the quarter.
 
After the Terriers went three-and-out and punted, the Tribe had one first down before a fumble was recovered by C.J. Coombes and Wofford took over at the 40-yard line. Amari Odom had a first down pass to Kyle Watkins and then Odom found Jack Purdy in the corner of the endzone for a 20-yard touchdown reception. The score was tied at 21-21 with 10:21 left in the fourth quarter. The Tribe responded with a drive that included six first downs and was capped by a two-yard touchdown run for a 28-21 lead at the 3:40 mark of the fourth quarter. Wofford had a first down pass reception by Isaiah Scott to reach midfeld, but a penalty and sack backed the Terriers up, On fourth-and-long, a pass was intercepted by the Tribe but a roughing the passer call kept the ball with the Terriers. Faced with a fourth-and-eleven, a pass was caught one yard short of the line to gain and the Tribe took over on downs with 1:36 remaining.
 
The Terrier defense forced a three-and-out and the Tribe punted with 28 seconds left on the clock. Amari Odom found Isaiah Scott for a 24-yard first down and Wofford had first down on the 36-yard line. After a spike to stop the clock, three passes into the endzone were incomplete and the Tribe held on for the victory.
 
Wofford had 354 total yards, with 230 receiving yards. William & Mary had 428 total yards, with 243 of those rushing yards. Wofford had 19 first downs to 25 for the Tribe. Wofford was 3-of-12 on third down and 0-of-2 on fourth down. William & Mary was 11-of-16 on third down and 0-of-1 on fourth down. William & Mary was called for three penalties, while Wofford was called for four. William & Mary had a 37:44 to 22:16 time of possession advantage.
 
Wofford vs. William & Mary Post-Game Notes
This was the fourth meeting between Wofford and William & Mary, with the Tribe winning all four.
 
The touchdown reception by Jack Purdy in the fourth quarter was the first of his career.
 
Isaiah Scott had his first 100+ receiving game with six catches for 119 yards. He is only the seventh freshman since the 2013 season to gain over 100 yards rushing or receiving for Wofford.
 
C.J. Coombes led the Wofford defense with 13 tackles. He also had his first career fumble recovery. Maximus Pulley added nine tackles.
 
After an open week, the Terriers will host Mercer on Saturday, September 28, to begin the Southern Conference slate.
 
Game captains were Jordan Davis and Benny Radicia.      
 
Attendance at Gibbs Stadium was 4,039.