LEXINGTON -- The last time Timmy Maypray played quarterback was in the sixth grade. The layoff hasn't hurt him.

Maypray guided VMI's triple-option attack to a 49-0 thrashing of nonscholarship St. Francis at Alumni Memorial Field in coach Sparky Woods' debut at the Keydets helm Saturday.

"I was pretty nervous," Maypray confessed, saying that quarterbacking in sixth grade simply "doesn't count" as experience. "Game speed is a lot different from practice speed, a lot faster.

"But after the first couple plays, things slowed down."

They might have slowed down for Maypray, but not for the St. Francis defenders trying to guess whether he was going to hand off, keep the ball himself, or pitch outside to Zach Collins.

"I think it's safe to say he's a little faster than those guys," Woods said.

Maypray and Collins each ran for more than 100 yards. Both claimed to have taken advantage of good perimeter blocking, but both also made great individual moves that left Red Flash defenders tackling air.

Maypray ran for a 52-yard touchdown on the fourth play of the game and added a 35-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Collins scored on runs of 62 and 50 yards out of the option.

Kyle Hughes, last year's starter at quarterback, did play. He completed 2 of 6 passes, including an 8-yard touchdown pass to Travis Ludden in the fourth quarter. Cam Jones and Justin Hickman also got some reps under center. Woods has said repeatedly that the run-dominated triple-option will likely require more than one quarterback.

"But [Maypray] gives us a different dimension," Woods said. "Sometimes we didn't block 'em and he was just making 'em miss."

Running back Howard Abegesah ran for 44 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries and Bobby Epps had 50 yards on 11 carries.

The Keydets netted 418 rushing yards, an average Maypray said they'd like to maintain.

They also held St. Francis to a school-record 4 yards of rushing. The shutout was pleasing, Woods said, because the Keydets had given up 70 or more points in their last two games last year.

Linebackers Kyle Nikmard and A.J. Gross led the Keydets with six tackles each. Nikmard also had two tackles for loss, one a sack, and broke up two passes.

St. Francis quarterback George Little threw for 101 of his 256 passing yards in the first quarter, before the Keydets adjusted their defense by spreading their linebackers for better containment and getting more pressure on Little.

Defensive end Damiso Alexander batted down a pass at the line of scrimmage and later scooped up a fumble forced by teammate Jacob Rochester at midfield and lumbered 46 yards for a touchdown.

"I glanced at the sidelines and the coaches were screaming 'pick it up,' so I picked it up and ran with it," Alexander said. "It was gift-wrapped for me."

Woods, though, was more cautious in his optimism. He was happy with the win and the shutout and that the Keydets did not have to struggle with the pre-snap penalties that plagued them last year. But for just about every punt the Keydets forced there was a dropped punt return and there were plenty of other mistakes.

The best thing about the win, Woods said, was that "it gives us a lot of tape."

St. Francis, Pa. 0 0 0 0--0

VMI 14 14 7 14--49

First quarter

VMI--Maypray 52 run (Stevens kick), 13:17.

VMI--Collins 62 run (Stevens kick), :00.

Second quarter

VMI--Collins 50 run (Stevens kick), 8:22.

VMI--Alexander 46 fumble return (Stevens kick), 6:51.

Third quarter

VMI--Maypray 35 run (Stevens kick), 10:28.

Fourth quarter

VMI--Ludden 8 pass from Hughes (Stevens kick), 6:28.

VMI--Abegesah 1 run (Stevens kick), 5:16.

A--5,123.

StF VMI

First downs 14 19

Rushes-yards 25-(-4) 50-418

Passing 256 26

Comp-Att-Int 23-45-1 3-7-1

Return Yards 8 83

Punts-Avg. 6-40.3 4-38.0

Fumbles-Lost 4-3 2-1

Penalties-Yards 7-65 4-65

Time of Possession 35:01 24:59

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--St. Francis, Pa., Conley 3-18, Williams 14-13, Team 1-(minus 2), Yearwood 3-(minus 3), Little 4-(minus 30). VMI, Maypray 10-116, Collins 2-112, Epps 8-48, Abegesah 11-44, Ch.Jones 6-41, Rainey-Wiles 4-38, Barnson 3-11, Itoka 3-10, Hickman 1-2, Hughes 2-(minus 4).

PASSING--St. Francis, Pa., Little 23-45-1-256. VMI, Hughes 2-6-1-19, Maypray 1-1-0-7.

RECEIVING--St. Francis, Pa., Winston 7-82, Rivera 6-88, Colmer 4-27, Dixon 2-14, Howze 1-22, Williams 1-11, Blahovec 1-6, Conley 1-6. VMI, M.Scott 2-18, Ludden 1-8.