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With his team trailing 7-6 with one minute to play, Virginia Military Institute quarterback Collin Ironside found VJ Johnson open for a 25-yard touchdown to lift the Keydets to a 12-7 home win in the season opener on Saturday afternoon at Foster Stadium in Lexington.
Ironside and VMI had gotten the ball back with 4:19 remaining, finding Aidan Twombly on third-and-long to keep the drive alive, ultimately leading to the score from Johnson. Moments later, Alex Oliver intercepted Luke Durkin to seal the game for VMI.
The victory snapped the Keydets’ nine-game losing streak and marked the debut of Danny Rocco as VMI’s head coach.
“It really meant a lot,” said Rocco. “It’s been six or seven months. We’ve put in a lot of work. And you could tell the team was making improvements.”
For the game, Ironside completed 17-of-27 passes for 239 yards and one TD with one interception. Prior to Davidson taking a 7-6 lead late in the third quarter on a 24-yard pass from Durkin to Christian Berry, VMI had taken a 6-0 lead when Grant Swinehart scored on a 14-yard run late in the second quarter, but Caden Beck’s extra- point kick was wide left.
VMI’s defense held Davidson (0-1) to 184 total yards of offense, including 101 on the ground.
Davidson (0-1), a nonscholarship football program, is coming off its third straight Football Championship Subdivision playoff appearance. The Pioneer Football League team is steered by Scott Abell, who had a successful run in Lexington as Washington and Lee University’s coach from 2012-17. Also on the coaching staff is Abell’s son, Porter, a 2013 Rockbridge County High School graduate who played football at RC and then for Rocco at the University of Richmond. Porter, who graduated from Richmond in 2017, is Davidson’s recruiting coordinator and coaches wide receivers and tight ends.
The Keydets will return to action on Saturday when they play at Bucknell (0-1) at 6 p.m. For the Keydets’ schedule and updates, visit www.vmikeydets. com.
