VMI tops Glenville State 34-27 with goal-line stand 

LEXINGTON — VMI needed a goal-line stand in the final seconds to fend off an NCAA Division II team Saturday.

Eric Kordenbrock threw for a career-high four touchdowns and had the first TD run of his career to help the Keydets beat Glenville State 34-27 at Foster Stadium.

Does the close win against a Division II foe give VMI coach Sparky Woods reason to worry?

“I’d rather worry about close wins than worry about losses,” Woods said.

FCS lightweight VMI funds 62 full football scholarships to Glenville State’s 19.

But the Pioneers (0-1) threw a scare into the Keydets (1-1).

Down 34-27, the Pioneers drove from their own 6 to the VMI 1.

On the game’s penultimate play, VMI’s Ty Garvin and Weston Reber stopped tailback Rahmann Lee for no gain on third-and-goal.

On the final play, Justin Smith and Garvin stopped quarterback Steffen Colon.

“We showed a lot of heart,” VMI defensive end John Washington said. “We were getting tired, they were tired and our defense pulled through.

“When we’re on the goal line, we’re not letting people score.”

Lee, who ran for 146 yards and one TD, was supposed to carry the ball on the final play.

“Steffen saw a hole and he took it and went with it and unfortunately came up a couple inches short,” Pioneers coach David Hutchison said.

VMI paid Glenville State $25,000 to make the trip from West Virginia to Lexington.

The Keydets, who were shut out at Richmond last weekend, jumped to a 14-0 lead in the second quarter and led 27-7 early in the third.

But the Pioneers proved a worthy foe, piling up 488 yards of total offense.

“The film will show them breaking a lot of tackles of ours,” Woods said. “I’m disappointed with our lack of tackling.”

Glenville State quarterback Justin Feagin, who was kicked off Michigan’s team in 2009, threw for 643 yards last fall but did not play Saturday. He has not yet been declared academically eligible for this season by the NCAA.

His backup did well in his absence, though. Colon, who played for Division II St. Paul’s (Va.) before that college dropped football, completed 22 of 38 passes for 310 yards and two TDs. He threw a 36-yard TD pass to cut the lead to 34-27 with 6:48 to go.

Kordenbrock did even better than Colon.

The VMI senior completed 23 of 30 passes for 314 yards. He completed his first nine passes.

Kordenbrock broke VMI’s career completions record Saturday. He now has 471 completions, eclipsing the 465 that Joey Gibson completed from 1999 through 2002.

“If you’re a quarterback, that’s what you want,” Kordenbrock said of the record.

On the record-breakng completion, tight end Mario Thompson fumbled the ball away after the catch. On the next play, Lee scored on a 51-yard run to cut the lead to 27-20 late in the third quarter.

Kordenbrock answered with his fourth TD pass of the game to extend the lead to 34-20 early in the fourth.

Martinsville graduate Derrick Ziglar rushed for 109 yards on 13 carries for VMI. He also took a short pass from Kordenbrock and turned it into a 56-yard TD reception.

“My offensive line … opened up holes we’ve been working on all week,” he said.

Glenville St. 0 7 13 7 — 27

VMI 7 14 6 7 — 34

First Quarter

VMI—Rogers 8 pass from Kordenbrock (Christopher kick), 7:59.

Second Quarter

VMI—M.Thompson 38 pass from Kordenbrock (Christopher kick), 14:25.

Gnvl—Colon 1 run (Cullen kick), 11:19.

VMI—Kordenbrock 1 run (Christopher kick), :55.

Third Quarter

VMI—Ziglar 56 pass from Kordenbrock (kick failed), 13:40.

Gnvl—Purvis 24 pass from Colon (Cullen kick), 11:45.

Gnvl—Lee 51 run (kick failed), 1:33.

Fourth Quarter

VMI—Hann 10 pass from Kordenbrock (Christopher kick), 13:27.

Gnvl—Lee 36 pass from Colon (Cullen kick), 6:48.

A—5,316.

Gnvl VMI

First downs 26 22

Rushes-yards 40-178 27-144

Passing 310 314

Comp-Att-Int 22-38-0 23-30-0

Return Yards 10 9

Punts-Avg. 4-34.3 4-40.5

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-Yards 6-63 8-72

Time of Possession 32:01 27:59

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Glenville St., Lee 23-146, Sands 4-26, Colon 13-6. VMI, Ziglar 13-109, Watts 10-37, Kordenbrock 4-(minus 2).

PASSING—Glenville St., Colon 22-38-0-310. VMI, Kordenbrock 23-30-0-314.

RECEIVING—Glenville St., Purvis 7-82, Harper 4-75, Lee 3-79, Jordan 3-20, Thornton 2-22, Absher 2-20, Sands 1-12. VMI, M.Thompson 5-74, Ziglar 4-78, Watts 4-42, Rogers 3-14, Patterson 2-14, D.Burton 1-30, Sanders 1-26, Nicholson 1-19, Hann 1-10, Forlines 1-7.

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