HARRISONBURG — It was a desperate attempt to keep a drive and the hope of winning alive.

Trailing by two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter, Villanova quarterback Kyle McCloskey dropped back on a third-and-12 from his own 11. He saw two defenders headed toward him and let go of a screen pass too quickly.

James Madison senior linebacker Brandon Hereford intercepted the inaccurate toss and trotted into the end zone to help the top-ranked Dukes put away the Wildcats for good in a 30-8 win Saturday at Bridgeforth Stadium.

This season, JMU has outscored its opponents 65-22 in the fourth quarter.

Second-year JMU coach Mike Houston said he and his staff have molded the team to outlast its competition.

“We talk about it all the time, that if we can get games into the fourth quarter, we can put people away,” Houston said.

In its season-opening win at FBS East Carolina, JMU entered the final stanza with a two-touchdown lead. It led by as many as four touchdowns before the game ended.

The Dukes also scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a Sept. 23 win over Maine to pull away from the Black Bears after leading 14-10 at the end of the third quarter.

“I think it’s our conditioning, the hard work of [strength coach John] Williams and his staff, and the dedication of the kids,” Houston said. “I think the way we play has a factor, too, because if you play a physical football team, it’s going to wear you down. It’s going to fatigue you, and then I think it does speak to our depth. Those are the big factors.”

For the second straight game, JMU was without senior tight end Jonathan Kloosterman, who was sidelined again with an illness.

A preseason All-American, Kloosterman has now missed four of the team’s first six games — he was suspended for a violation of team rules for the first two contests.

But on Saturday, the Dukes got production out of the position as freshman Clayton Cheatham hauled in two catches for 57 yards and a touchdown.

Cheatham played quarterback at Hanover High School.

“It’s hard to come in as a kid that never played the position and play the way he’s playing right now at tight end,” Houston said. “But he’s a gamer now. He’s got a fire in him.”

Cheatham’s 23-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter helped JMU to a 13-0 halftime advantage. The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder bullied himself into the end zone, too, plowing over two defenders on his way past the goal line.

Cheatham’s older brother, Deane, played tight end at JMU from 2011-15 and hauled in 94 catches for 1,110 yards and nine touchdowns in his career.

JMU senior quarterback Bryan Schor hit two milestones during Saturday’s game.

Schor threw his 50th career touchdown pass and became just the fifth JMU quarterback in school history to pass for at least 5,000 yards joining Mike Cawley, Justin Rascati, Vad Lee and Eriq Williams. Schor ended the day at 5,158 passing yards for his career.

“We knew we’d have to be able to throw the football,” Houston said. “With the scheme [Villanova] runs, they take the gaps away and we knew we’d have to be able to throw it to loosen them up.

“I’m a little disappointed we didn’t run it better than we did, but Bryan did a great job of executing the passing game.”

JMU will try to extend the nation’s longest active winning streak in Division I to 19 straight victories when it plays at William & Mary this weekend.

William & Mary is 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association after falling to Delaware 17-0 on Saturday.

The Dukes knocked off the Tribe 31-24 in Harrisonburg last season.