HARRISONBURG — Before Saturday, senior Dan Schiele had never found the end zone.

In 19 career games — some coming as a quarterback before moving to tight end — he didn’t have a touchdown to his name.

But in James Madison’s 84-7, record-setting thumping of Rhode Island in Colonial Athletic Association play on Saturday, Schiele made a home in the purple paint at Bridgeforth Stadium.

The backup tight end, filling in for injured starter Jonathan Kloosterman, played as vital of a role rewriting the record books as any of his Madison teammates in the homecoming win over the Rams.

JMU’s 84 points set a new school record for points in a game and CAA record for points in a conference game. The 12 total touchdowns tallied by the Dukes set a school-best mark for touchdowns in a game too.

Schiele caught three touchdowns passes from junior quarterback Bryan Schor.

“It was pretty crazy today,” Schiele said with a grin. “The first one I was pretty happy with and I was OK with that and then the second two came and it made me more happy.”

The three touchdowns for Schiele were the most in school history for a tight end in a single game.

Schiele said he had taken most first-team snaps at practice over the last few weeks with Kloosterman out.

“We’ve been trying to get [Schiele] in the end zone,” JMU coach Mike Houston said. “I’m really excited for him to have the day that he had today because he does so much for us. He’s in the shield on punt, which is not the most desirable job and then he’s the holder on PAT and field goal and also the up back on kickoff return. He does so many things.”

His first touchdown catch came late in the first half to put JMU ahead 49-7.

The Dukes scored on each of their first five possessions and seven of their eight first-half possessions behind Schor’s strong start.

Schor completed his first 12 throws, which led to him setting a new school for single-game completion percentage (95 percent). Schor finished the game 21-of-22 for 309 yards and five touchdowns.

“Going out there and not seeing the ball hit the ground, it’s something that I don’t even realize until someone points it out,” Schor said. “Having that happen to start off the game, it’s definitely a plus.”

He had three first-half throws of 37 or more yards.

On JMU’s opening drive, Schor connected with senior wide receiver Brandon Ravenel for a 44-yard gain on a second-and-20. The successful deep ball from Schor led to senior running back Khalid Abdullah’s 11-yard touchdown run, which put JMU ahead 7-0.

Schor’s next long pass came on the next possession — a 37-yard completion to senior wide receiver Domo Taylor. The reception by Taylor set up junior running back Cardon Johnson’s five-yard touchdown run a play later.

JMU would go ahead 21-0 when Schor zipped a 58-yard throw for a touchdown to senior wide receiver Rashard Davis, who was streaking down the seam.

“Schor gave me a signal to bend the route if I wanted to,” Davis said. “Seeing how the safety was playing, I bent it off his motion and Schor put it right on the money.”

The lead only ballooned from there.

“They have a good quarterback who is efficient,” Rhode Island coach Jim Fleming said. “I just wish we could have played better to make it a closer football game. We thought we had a good week of practicing coming in and that we were ready to go battle and we fought, but we certainly didn’t get it competitive.”

Schor and Schiele would pickup in the second half right where they left off before halftime.

Schiele hauled in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Schor with 12 minutes to play in the third and a 2-yard toss from Schor with 5:06 left in the third. JMU led 70-7 after Schiele’s third touchdown

“You always want to make plays,” Schiele said. “And when those opportunities come, you have to take advantage of it.”

The Rams (1-8, 0-6) leave Harrisonburg and begin their bye week.

“It’s a extremely embarrassing loss for our football team and our university,” Fleming added.

The win for JMU (7-1, 5-0) gives the Dukes sole possession of first place in the CAA and the right to control its own destiny with three games remaining. JMU plays back-to-back road games at Richmond and at Villanova in the next two weeks. Both the Spiders and Wildcats have only one loss in the league.