EASTON, Pa. – No. 15/17 William and Mary wore down the Leopards in the second half on Saturday at Fisher Stadium, pulling away for a 34-7 final.
 
William and Mary senior Bronson Yoder ran for three scores, two in the second half, to finish the day with 134 yards. The Tribe offense, which was averaging 287 rushing yards coming into the game, pounded out 289 to go along with 194 passing yards from quarterback Darius Wilson.
 
Lafayette freshman quarterback Ryan Schuster continued to perform well under intense defensive pressure, completing 14-of-23 for 151 yards in his third career start. Schuster, who was the Patriot League Rookie of the Week the first two weeks of this season, added his second rushing touchdown of 2022, a one-yard QB sneak in the first quarter.
 
Defensively for the Leopards, senior LB Marco Olivas racked up a game-high 10 tackles while Gabe DuBois added eight along with his first career interception and a 26-yard INT return.
 
William and Mary (3-0) wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, scoring on its first drive of the game. The Leopards applied pressure on the first offense play of the game but Wilson eluded it and ran 35 yards for a first down. Seven plays later Wilson hit a wide-open Caylin Newton, brother of Cam Newton, for a 24-yard touchdown pass and a 7-0 lead at 11:25 in the first quarter.
 
A 26-yard pass from Schuster to Joe Gillette got things going on Lafayette's first offensive possession. Two plays later Schuster followed with a 35-yard pass to Julius Young down to the William and Mary 13-yard line. Young finished the game with nine catches (tying a career-high) for 102 yards.
 
A pass interference penalty moved the ball to the two, and Schuster punched it in to knot the game at 7-7 with 9:15 left in the first quarter. The drive covered 91 yards on six plays over 2:16 and is the Leopards' longest scoring drive of the season in terms of yardage.
 
With five minutes left in the first quarter, the Lafayette defense came up with a big early stop on a 4^th-and-2 at the 16-yard line. Adam Port and Olivas stuffed Yoder for no gain and Lafayette took over on downs.
 
After a Leopard punt, William and Mary put together a five-play, 56-yard scoring drive capped by an 11-yard run by Yoder as the Tribe led 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Five minutes into the second quarter, DuBois came up with his first career interception to stop W&M's potential scoring drive deep inside the Lafayette half. DuBois intercepted the pass at the William and Mary 22-yard line and returned it near midfield.
 
The Leopards returned the favor six plays later, as a mis-timed snap hit the Leopards' motion man and the Tribe recovered at the Lafayette 29-yard line. W&M's drive that followed saw Lafayette stop the Tribe at the goal line before settling for a 28-yard field goal and a 17-7 advantage.
 
Lafayette tried a 38-yard field goal of its own to end the half, but Jakob Trestik's attempt was wide left.
 
William and Mary kept the momentum in the second half, as Yoder punched in his second score, this time from four yards out to push the advantage to 24-7 with 7:01 left in the third. William and Mary led 27-7 at the end of the third following a 38-yard field goal by Ethan Change.
 
Yoder's third score of the day came two minutes into the fourth quarter, a 10-yard TD run that stretched the final margin to 34-7.
 
Next up for the Leopards, they will travel to Philadelphia for the second time in three weeks, facing Penn (1-0) on Sept. 24 at Franklin Field. Kick-off is slated for 1 p.m.