LEXINGTON, Va. ? Redshirt sophomore running back S.J. Worrell rushed for 93 yards and two scores and caught three passes for 74 yards to spark Presbyterian College to a 45-21 win over VMI Saturday before a Keydet Homecoming crowd of 6,433 at Foster Stadium in Lexington.

It was the first meeting between the teams. PC raised its record to 4-3 while VMI fell to 2-4.

The Blue Hose broke open the game by outscoring VMI, 21-7, in a decisive third quarter.

VMI pulled within 20-14 with 8:30 left in the third quarter when Tim Maypray hauled in his second touchdown reception of the day, a 32-yarder from quarterback Kyle Hughes.

The Keydets forced PC to punt from midfield on the ensuing possession, but the ball was short snapped in punt formation to Blue Hose quarterback Tim Webb who connected over the middle to Anthony McKnight for a 50-yard TD pass play to put Presbyterian up, 27-14, with 7:29 left in the third quarter.

VMI drove to its own 47 on the next drive but faced a fourth-and-two and elected to go for the first down, but sophomore fullback Howard Abegesah was halted for no gain by linebacker Antwan Thomas.

Two plays later Worrell dashed down the right sideline for a 32-yard touchdown run to stretch Presbyterian's lead to 35-14 with 4:19 left in period.

The Keydets assembled a five-play 74-yard drive behind redshirt sophomore Joey Robinson, who had taken over for Hughes at QB. Robinson capped the drive with a one-yard keeper to pull VMI within 35-21 with 11:18 to play. The drive was keyed by a 35-yard pass from Robinson to freshman wide receiver Bryan Barnson and a 38-yard to the VMI 1 by Maypray.

But the Blue Hose answered again on the next drive when Webb sprinted 65 yards to the endzone on a quarterback draw and silencing the VMI comeback. PC kicker Cam Miller added a 37-yard field goal at the 2:58 mark to cap the scoring.

The teams combined for 1,057 yards total offense-just three yards shy of the Foster Stadium/Alumni Memorial Field record set in 2005 in the VMI-Gardner-Webb game. Presbyterian, which entered the game leading Division I FCS in passing, outgained VMI, 553-504, with a balanced attack of 280 rushing yards and 273 passing yards. The 503 yards total offense racked up by the Keydets was their second straight 500+ yard game.

Webb, who threw for 648 yards passing the previous week in a win against North Greenville, completed 18 of 26 passes to nine different receivers including six for 40 yards to junior Terrance Butler and four for 68 yards to sophomore Larry Thomas.

Sophomore Howard Abegesah led VMI in rushing for the sixth straight game this season and gained 89 yards on 20 carries while Maypray added 56 yards on seven carries.

Defensively, Antwan Thomas led all tacklers with 15 stops for the Blue Hose while sophomore linebacker Ryan Anderson, facing his former team, had 10 tackles including a half-sack.

VMI was led defensively by sophomore Bryant Youngblood who had five solos and five assists for 10 tackles and senior end Tommy Lloyd added eight tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss for 15 yards.

The Keydets scored first following a seven-play, 68-yard drive when senior slotback Nat Jackson tossed a 14-yard halfback option pass to a wide open Tim Maypray in the endzone with 7:46 left in the first quarter.

VMI appeared poised to take a two-score lead in the first quarter when Lloyd forced a fumble by Webb that was recovered by VMI freshman tackle Josh Wine at the Presbyterian 26-yard line, but two plays later an Abegesah fumble was recovered by PC's Caleb Massingill at the Blue Hose 23.

PC then marched 85 yards in 13 plays and scored on a Worrell one-yard run to tie the score at 7-7 with 1:13 left to play in the opening quarter. Worrell caught two passes for 55 yards on the drive and rushed six times for 24 yards including the TD run.

Another VMI scoring opportunity was squandered in the second quarter when the Keydets faked a 26-yard field goal and Hughes was halted on the run attempt at the five-yard line.

The Blue Hose took over and marched 95 yards in five plays and scored on a 53-yard end run by junior Chetyuane Reeder to take a 14-7 at halftime.

VMI returns to action next Saturday to open up its Big South Conference schedule against Gardner-Webb in Lexington at 1:00 p.m. Presbyterian will play at Coastal Carolina next Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.

VMI Head Coach Jim Reid ? “We had some real opportunities and we weren't able to capitalize on them. We had a fumble recovery, then we went back and fumbled again. It wasn't the type of consistency that we were looking for on offense. They had very good skill, we talked about it all week. Once those guys got loose in the secondary it was hard to catch them. We went for a fourth and one and didn't get it at midfield, then the next play they turn it into a touchdown. Again, I made the decisions on whether we go for it on fourth down or not. On defense we were just up and down. We would play really well for a stretch, then give up the big-play, they would get loose in the secondary and outrun us. We were mis-aligned on that long touchdown run. We had a bunch of mistakes and they moved the ball inside the tackles better than I thought they would and their pass game was outstanding. I thought we were in good shape in the beginning. Then the momentum started to turn a little bit and they had a couple of big plays, but we just need to play better and be more consistent."