WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William & Mary football team wrapped up the 2016 campaign with an impressive 34-13 victory against No. 7 Richmond on Senior Day at Zable Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Although W&M trailed by a touchdown at halftime, it blanked the Spiders, 28-0, during the final 30 minutes en route to claiming the Capital Cup for the first time since 2011. The Tribe's dominant second half performance included outgaining UR, 245-55, during the final two quarters.
Senior running back Kendell Anderson was honored as the game's Most Valuable Player after equaling the third-best rushing performance in school history (219 yards) on a school-record 42 carries with two touchdowns. With the outstanding effort, Anderson becomes just the fifth player in school history to eclipse 3,000 career rushing yards (3,082) and ranks tied for fourth all-time at W&M with 34 rushing touchdowns.
Senior quarterback Steve Cluley also closed out a tremendous career with a strong performance, as he completed 17 of 25 passes for 190 yards with a pair of touchdown strikes to junior tight end Andrew Caskin.
W&M outgained UR, 415-273, and dominated the time of possession by nearly 20 minutes (39:33-20:27). Additionally, the Tribe (5-6, 3-5) held Richmond (8-3, 5-3) to just 2 of 9 on third downs and forced a pair of turnovers while not committing any of its own.
Things looked good for W&M early when freshman linebacker Arman Jones recovered a fumble at the UR 19 caused by junior safety Richie DiPietro on the game's opening kickoff. However, W&M had to settle for a 37-yard field goal by redshirt freshman Kris Hooper.
A 5-yard touchdown run by Deontez Thompson and a 32-yard field goal by Griffin Trau gave UR a 10-3 advantage early in the second quarter before the teams traded field goals during the final minute of the opening half. W&M's came on a 24-yard kick by Hooper, while Ricky Segers connected on a 51-yard try as the second quarter clock expired.
In addition to limiting UR to just 55 total yards in the second half, W&M found the end zone with four of its five possessions during the final 30 minutes. The first touchdown came on a 5-yard pass from Cluley to Caskin in which the quarterback rolled to his left before throwing back to the right for the score early in the third quarter. A pair of short touchdown runs by Anderson increased the margin to 27-13 early in the fourth quarter before W&M sealed the victory with a 23-yard strike from Cluley to Caskin with 1:55 remaining.
Redshirt freshman Nate Atkins totaled a team-high six tackles for W&M, while junior cornerback Aaron Swinton returned an interception 27 yards to help set up Anderson's first touchdown run in the second half.
Thompson led UR with 144 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown, while starting quarterback Kyle Lauletta left the game with an injury late in the second quarter and finished the contest 7 of 11 for 107 yards. Richmond's other two quarterbacks – Reid Chenault and Jake Clise – combined to complete just 1 of 5 passes for 11 yards with an interception.
