After trailing 10-3 late in the second half, James Madison (2-1) outscored Liberty (1-3, 0-1 CUSA) 28-3 over the final 35 minutes of game action to pull away for a 31-13 win in Lynchburg. Playing in front of the second largest crowd ever at Williams Stadium (24,022), the Flames suffer a third straight setback to fall to 1-3 for the first time since the program made the move to the FBS. Liberty quarterback Ethan Vasko was knocked out of the game late in the first half with a shoulder injury and did not return.
“Give credit to JMU,” said Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell. “I thought they played a good game. I was proud of our team for the opportunity we presented ourselves going into the fourth quarter even when our quarterback went down. We’re not making the necessary plays when we need to, whether that’s to sustain drives or get them off the field. I was disappointed in that.”
The Dukes and Flames exchanged field goals on their first offensive drive of the game. Vasko ran for 43 of the team’s 46 yards on the opening drive before having to settle for a 47-yard Jay Billingsley field goal. JMU then drove the length of the field before Brylan Green was able to intercept a Alonza Barnett pass in the end zone, thwarting the James Madison drive. Both teams would then exchange punts as the score remained knotted at 3 midway through the second half.
Vasko engineered an 8 play, 77 yard drive that resulted in the signal caller running it in from two yards out to put the Flames on top at 10-3 with 5:34 left in the first half. Key plays on the drive were a 21-yard pass completion to Donte Lee, an Evan Dickens 18-yard run, and a Vasko three yard scramble on 4th and 1.
The visitors from Harrisonburg thwarted the Liberty momentum by answering with their own touchdown drive. Barnett broke free for a 28-yard scramble to move into Liberty territory. Barnett would then connect with Landon Ellis from 21-yards out for the score.
Liberty got the ball back with 1:19 left on the clock. Dickens picked up six yards on a first down ran and then converted on third down with a gain of 10 on a screen pass. This gave the Liberty coaching staff the opportunity to go hurry up and try to execute in the closing minute to get into scoring range. Unfortunately, Vasko was sacked as he scrambled to his left with the JMU defensive lineman falling on top of him. The force of the hit and fall would be too much for him to overcome as he exited the game with a shoulder injury and was seen on the sidelines in the second half with his right arm in a sling.
“He was going to throw the ball to the right, and the receiver didn’t run the route properly,” Chadwell said of Vasko on the play he was injured. “He had to hold it, and he goes to scramble. One of their big guys got him there. As he goes down, it looked like the pressure of the D-lineman landed on his shoulder. He’s been battling that since Jax State but playing through it. It looked like a pretty serious one. He wanted to come back in, but he couldn’t.”
Liberty got the ball to open the second half, and the Flames rotated Michael Merdinger and Ethan Houck at quarterback to begin the drive. Merdinger picked up a first down on third and five on a six-yard scramble, and another first down on an 11-yard run. Houck ran for 12 yards and a first down. Merdinger completed his first pass, a 12-yard connection with Jamari Person to move into the red zone. An offensive holding penalty backed the Flames and forced the team to settle for the 35-yard Billingsley field goal as Liberty regained the lead at 13-10 following a nearly seven minute drive.
The Dukes fought right back, with Barnett hooking up with Locata Dippre who broke several tackles and rumbled for a 36-yard gain. On the next play, Barnett found Nick Degennaro for 25 yards. Six straight raining plays picked up 21 yards and JMU took the lead they would not relinquish at 17-13 late in the third quarter.
The James Madison defense adjusted after Liberty’s first drive of the second half with its two quarterback system following the Vasko injury. The Dukes forced three straight Liberty three and outs as the Flames picked up just 8 yards on the team’s nine plays during this span. Meanwhile, JMU scored touchdowns on three straight drives to end the first half and open the second half to take a commanding 24-13 lead with the Liberty offense reeling. The Dukes added the final score with just over two minutes remaining for the final margin of 31-13, the largest margin of defeat in the regular season for the Flames under Jamey Chadwell. The Dukes entered the game as the No. 7 ranked defense in the country, limiting their opponents to 206 yards per game.
“After that first drive of the second half, we weren’t able to do much after that,” said Chadwell. “It put our defense in a tough situation to keep playing. We had some three and outs. I was disappointed (QB Ethan) Vasko couldn’t finish the game. I thought he was playing really well. He was moving the ball, making some great plays and bringing great energy for us. We’ll see what they say (Sunday) as far as his prognosis and if he’s going to miss more time than just this game. Hopefully, he can come back. Mike (Merdinger) and Ethan (Houck) went in, and I thought they competed. We were able to move the ball a little bit there. There were some easy plays we needed to make, and we didn’t make them consistently to sustain drives.”
Liberty’s offense had 187 yards of offense following the first drive of the second half. From there, the Flames had 46 yards of offense the rest of the game with 22 of them coming on the final drive when the clock was running out and the game was already decided. JMU finished the game with a dominating, 440-233, edge in total yards. They rushed for 227 yards on a 5.4 yards per carry clip.
The Flames’ three quarterbacks combined to complete 7 of 21 passes for 75 yards. Vasko was 4 for 10 for 37 yards, but he did rush 11 times for 52 yards and a touchdown. Merdinger completed 2 of 6 passes for 21 yards while rushing 4 times for 18 yards. Houck was 1 of 5 passing for 17 yards and rushed 4 times for 13 yards. Dickens led Liberty with 67 rushing yards on 17 carries.
Liberty linebacker Derrell Farrar led all players with a career-high 10 tackles, also adding a tackle for loss. Brylan Green recorded seven tackles and made his sixth career interception.
Liberty kicker Jay Billingsley made both of his field goal attempts and his only extra point. His 47-yard field goal was the longest by a Flame since Colin Karhu also had a 47 yarder at Kennesaw State last season. It was the longest field goal by a Liberty player at Williams Stadium since Nick Brown made a 47-yarder against Virginia Tech on Nov. 14, 2022.
James Madison wins the first official meeting of the Battle of the Blue Ridge and its accompanying trophy. The two teams are scheduled to meet 10 times over the next 16 seasons including the season opener in 2026 in Harrisonburg. Liberty is now 6-13 all-time against JMU, while the Dukes have won all five meetings between these two teams at Williams Stadium.
“I’m not saying JMU didn’t beat us, but we’ve had opportunities the last three weeks,” said Chadwell. “We’ve put ourselves in holes because of foolish things. We did a lot of really good things. You have to be able to make winning plays at winning time. We need to see improvement. It’s not effort. It’s not the preparation. When you’re tired in those big pressure moments, we’ve got to keep our cool and make sure we can execute when it actually matters.”
Liberty will try to halt its three game skid next week traveling to Norfolk, Virginia to take on Old Dominion, In the team’s final non-conference game of the season, the Flames and Monarchs will kick off at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
