WISE, Va. – After the game, head coach Mike Jacobs said, "Anytime you can register double-digit wins in a season, you're doing a lot of things right." 

On Saturday afternoon, No.13 Notre Dame College did a lot of things right, scoring the final 19 points of the contest in less than six minutes to cap a dramatic comeback and hold off the University of Virginia's College at Wise, 25-17.

Not much went right offensively, for either team in the first five minutes of the game. The Cavaliers had the ball first, but punted it away. The Falcons then took the ball to UVa-Wise's 34-yard line, but turned the ball over on downs.

Then, it looked like the Cavaliers would score the first points of the game, as they put together a 55-yard drive. UVa-Wise had three completed passes, equaling 40 yards. Jamorya Cousin then rushed for 11 yards to get his team to the Notre Dame's 8-yard line. However, on the very next play, Cousin did not take the handoff properly and the ball immediately rolled onto the turf and was picked up by Sha'haun Williams with about seven minutes remaining in the first quarter.

In the first quarter, Notre Dame's offense turned the ball over twice on downs and was forced to punt, once, over three drives.

"We saw all week on film, and throughout the season, that Uva-Wise is a team that has been banged up a little bit," said Jacobs. "Their record certainly doesn't indicate how good of a football program they are. Especially on the defensive side of the ball, they're second in the MEC to Notre Dame College. They came out and did a nice job against us today. They played hard, they played physical. We put the ball on the ground a little bit today, which is a little uncharacteristic of us, but at the end of the day, we got the job done."

Neither team scored until UVa-Wise got the ball back with 4:47 remaining in the first half. Jarome Johnson entered the game at quarterback, taking over for Tanner Bernard. On the third play of the drive, Johnson connected with Kaian Duverger for 82 yards and he nearly scored, but Jeffrey Thomas ran him down and tripped Duverger at the 2-yard line. Two plays later, Johnson ran around to the left side of the end zone and put the Cavaliers on the board.

The Falcons responded with a 52-yard drive, which matched their longest drive of the first half. Brian Walker ran for 45 yards over the first three plays of the drive. With 21-seconds left in the second quarter, NDC was assisted by a UVa-Wise holding call, which came on fourth down. Three plays later, Notre Dame had set up Tanner Harding with a 43-yard field goal. Harding missed, but Notre Dame went into the half down just seven points.

After a first half that included six NDC penalties and a fumble, Jacobs said the team was able to reset at halftime and get ready for the second half.

"I think they refocused," he said. "We knew we didn't play our best football in the first half and we were in the game; it was 7-0 at that point. Again, you've had a turnover, you've missed a kick, you know you haven't played well, but, you're right there in it and you know you have a boxer's chance. We've been doing this a long time and this team has shown tremendous resiliency throughout the course of the year. They've proven that they can play well in the second half and we can make adjustments as coaches and again, we were able to finish strong today."

NDC cut into the deficit after they got the kick-off to open the second half. The Falcons ran the ball six times, with three different running backs. Chris Brimm went to the air three times on the drive and connected with Markus Hood for 18 yards, Conner Henry for 15 yards and Marvelle Ross for a 23-yard touchdown. However, the extra point was no good, and NDC trailed by one point, 7-6, with 11:42 to go in the third quarter.

Later in the third quarter, Williams blocked a Cavaliers' punt and NDC took over on their own 41 yard line, with just under eight minutes remaining in the quarter. However, Jaleel McLaughlin ran for 11 yards, but before he could get down, the ball popped out and it was recovered by the Cavaliers.

Trevor Owens then knocked a 37-yard field goal through the uprights for UVa-Wise, on the other side of the field, giving UVa-Wise a 10-6 lead.

The game became really interesting in the final 15 minutes. The Cavs began a drive with 11:19 remaining in the game, on Notre Dame's 45-yard line. Bernard went 4-for-4 through the air with two passes to K'Jon Coley, a pass to Chris Thaxton and then a 33-yard touchdown strike to a wide open Eli Marks down the sideline. The four play, 45-yard drive, gave UVa-Wise a 17-6 advantage, with 9:23 remaining in the game.

NDC then got the ball with 9:12 remaining and put together one of the most impressive comebacks in Notre Dame College football history. The Falcons had a drive which included nine runs, three completed passes and a UVa-Wise pass interference. The drive ended with six points, as Ross was lined up on the outside and was motioned to his right. The ball went to Ross and the receiver made the grab, one yard out, and immediately jumped into the endzone. The two point conversion failed and NDC trailed 17-12 with about five minutes remaining.

Then, the NDC defense became a nightmare for the Cavaliers. On the ensuing UVa-Wise drive, Bernard was chased by the Falcons defense, but got the pass off for a seven yard gain. On the very next play, Tyson Jackson hit Bernard and the ball popped out. It was recovered by Curtis Collins at the Virginia-Wise 15-yard line.

On the next NDC drive, Brimm ran the ball on second down and, with the help of a strong stiff arm, scampered to pay dirt. The two point conversion again failed, but NDC led by a score of 18-17.

UVa-Wise reached a first down on the first play of their next drive, with an 11-yard catch by Marks. However, the offense went stagnant and on fourth down, Bernard was sacked by Vincent Ellis and the ball was fumbled and recovered by the Falcons, again.

Williams and Guam Lee explained what changed with the defense late in the game.

"We came to the sideline and we realized that he (Bernard) was holding it a little longer and he was also getting happy feet back there," Williams said. "We realized which way he was rolling out and which directions he was looking. We knew if we stayed aggressive and stayed relentless, we would be able to get back there and get some, especially late when he was holding the ball a little longer."

"I feel like the defense as a whole was really locked in," Lee mentioned. "We did almost everything right but we really depended on the offense to get some points and they did that."

The Falcons' Brian Walker did fumble, following some confusion, on the next drive. And UVa-Wise had to start their drive on their own 4-yard line.

Williams sacked Bernard twice, and the latter of the two occurred in the end zone and knocked the ball loose. The ball was recovered by Goodwin in the endzone for a touchdown, giving Notre Dame a 25-17 lead.

With the sack, Williams broke the Mountain East Conference record with 14 on the season. He had three in the game.

"For myself, it's a testament to all the hard work that I put in and the dedication and a lot of stuff that people don't see: The hours, the weightlifting, trying to perfect my craft and get better each day and everyday in the offseason and in practice," Williams said. "A win like this for the team is great, because we're the first team (at NDC) to go 10-0, which is an amazing accomplishment. It just shows that the sky is the limit for this team and if we keep coming to work everyday and every weekend with the mentality of 1-0 every week, then we can do some great things and make a deep run."

"As a defensive unit, to break that record, I wouldn't have been able to do it without the ten other guys around me that just help me out. You got the guys back in coverage, helping me with cover sacks and then the linebackers covering the sacks. Also my brothers on the defensive line help contain the pocket for me and make it easier."

Lee intercepted his fourth pass of the season on UVa-Wise's final possession, sealing the win.

"They ran the same route concepts, like three plays in a row, so I bated it out," Lee said, of the interception. "When he threw it, I knew it was going to be routine. Then I wanted to get down so I didn't fumble it and we could go home."

The Falcons defense totaled seven sacks, forced a fumble and grabbed an interception to win the turnover battle. NDC now has 14 sacks and have recovered five fumbles, over the past two games. For the seventh time this season, NDC held a team to under 100 rushing yards, as UVa-Wise had 53 yards on the ground.

"I've talked all year about our depth on defense, certainly our defensive line," Jacobs said. "Those guy's ability to be in fantastic condition in the fourth quarter and to be able to still drop the hammer in the pass rush and create turnovers and play within the scope of the game was really the key to our success today. Our defense couldn't have played much better today. They had one big play where their (UVa-Wise) guy made a nice play and we have to do a better job on that stuff, but a ton of their yardage came on an 82-yard play."

Notre Dame also accomplished a couple of firsts. Notre Dame went undefeated in MEC play for the first time in program history and they have posted 10 wins in a season for the first time in NDC history.

"We talk about winning our conference and winning all of our conference games and today was our last opportunity to do that... Anytime you can register double-digit wins in a season, you're doing a lot of things right and I can't give our assistant coaches enough credit for how hard they work, the way that they gameplan and scheme folks. I'm extremely blessed to lead this team and this group of coaches."

The Falcons will wrap-up the regular season with a road game against Seton Hill University, on November 10. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.