Sophomore defensive back Jelani Williamson returned an interception for a touchdown in the Hoyas’ 34-7 win over Marist. Fellow sophomore back David Akere also had an interception in the game.
The Georgetown football team (1-1) began the home portion of its schedule Saturday when it played host to Marist (0-2). A field goal from junior kicker Henry Darmstadter gave the Hoyas an early lead and they never looked back, going on to steamroll the Red Foxes by a final score of 34-7. The game was the Hoyas’ first since junior linebacker Ty Williams suffered a severe neck injury, and the team wore decals with Williams’ number two on the side of their helmets to honor their teammate. According to a Fox News report, Williams will be transferred from the UPMC Altoona hospital to a rehab facility in Atlanta in the coming days.
Against Marist, Head Coach Rob Sgarlata’s team was effective on both sides of the ball. On offense, senior quarterback Kyle Nolan tallied 200 passing yards, completing 21 passes on 34 attempts. Nolan threw for two touchdowns, both to junior wide receiver Justin Hill.
“We want to run as many plays as possible, we want to be up-tempo and we want to take what the defense gives us. At the beginning of the game we came out throwing it because we knew they were going to load the box,” Sgarlata said.
Defensively, the Hoyas stifled the Red Foxes throughout the night, allowing only one touchdown and recording two interceptions and three sacks. Georgetown’s secondary silenced the Marist passing game throughout the matchup. Sophomore defensive backs David Akere and Jelani Williamson each had an interception, with Williamson returning his pick for a touchdown.
“Coach made a really good call on defense, and I was just doing what I was supposed to do,” Williamson said. “[Senior defensive back] Garrett [Powers] came down, made a good play on the ball and tipped it and it just fell into my hands. I was really fortunate.”
In addition to his interception, Akere made 12 total tackles and broke up a pass in the end zone that would have been a touchdown.
Once the Hoyas had opened up the scoring, they were rarely stopped. Georgetown scored points on six of its next seven drives.
After Akere picked off Marist senior quarterback Ed Achziger in the first quarter, Nolan found Hill on the next play for the 9-yard touchdown to make it 10-0 in the first quarter.
Senior running back Jo’el Kimpela joined the offensive outburst when Georgetown got the ball back, plowing through multiple defenders for the 15-yard touchdown run.
In the second quarter, sophomore quarterback Michael White replaced Achziger. White’s first pass was promptly intercepted by Williamson, who gave the Hoyas a 24-point advantage by reaching the end zone.
Senior quarterback Kyle Nolan was named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week following a 200-yard performance against Marist. Nolan threw for two touchdowns and zero interceptions and also rushed for 26 yards.
After Marist got the ball back, White threw his team’s only touchdown of the night to senior running back Garrett Clay. White finished the game, completing 16 of 32 passes for 177 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Lawrence Dickens caught six balls for 90 yards.
Georgetown’s offensive line did an excellent job of protecting Nolan throughout the game. Marist’s blitz-heavy defense did not record a single sack.
“[Head Coach Jim Parady] and their defensive coordinator do a really good job up there,” Sgarlata said. “We told Kyle to take what they were giving us, and you really can’t do that unless the guys up front are doing their job. They absolutely gave him time to throw the football, which was great.”
Nolan and Hill combined for a highlight-reel play before the end of the first half, with Hill leaping over the back of his defender in the end zone and snatching the ball away for the score.
“It was a fade play, and me and Kyle spent a lot of time in the summer working on that and trying to get that connection, and it paid off,” Hill said.
The play was the highlight of a half that saw Georgetown explode offensively — an occurrence that was uncommon last season. Despite the offensive success, Hill maintained that there are still some errors that need correcting.
“We just want to keep the ball rolling, but we need to correct some things,” Hill said. “Obviously, we only scored three points in the second half, which is something we need to correct.”
Going into next weekend’s looming matchup with Darmouth, Sgarlata reiterated the need to fix their mistakes.
“I think Justin is right, three points in a half is not where we want to be, so we need to build off a good first week and get ready for a really good Dartmouth team that’s coming to town,” Sgarlata said. “Right now I think we’ll enjoy this one tonight and worry about that tomorrow.”
Saturday’s matchup against Dartmouth is set to kick off at 12 p.m. at MultiSport Facility.
