WILLIAMSBURG — He hasn’t reached superhero status yet but tailback Mikal Abdul-Saboor continues to shoulder a huge chunk of the offensive load for William and Mary.
Abdul-Saboor ran for 194 of the Tribe’s 246 rushing yards with one touchdown Saturday in No. 24 William and Mary’s 17-7 win over Elon at Zable Stadium. On 30 carries, the junior surpassed 100 rushing yards for the third consecutive game, giving him 1,025 for the season.
“Mikal is a heck of a back,” said William and Mary coach Jimmye Laycock. “But it helps if he gets a little bit of daylight in there. He’s not Superman. He’s a good player but you have to give him a chance to make a cut, a chance to see some daylight. You know he’s going to give you great effort.”
William and Mary (6-4, 3-3 Colonial Athletic Association) withstood a second-half surge by Elon (1-9, 0-6) to keep its postseason hopes afloat. A loss would have ended any chance at a Football Championship Subdivision playoff berth.
Elon threatened to get within a possession of William and Mary in the fourth quarter but the Phoenix came up empty when John Gallagher’s 20-yard kick was blocked by Tribe defensive tackle Jasper Coleman.
Five plays earlier, Coleman got whistled for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that put Elon on William and Mary’s 10-yard line.
The 6-foot-4, 290-pound senior’s penalty followed a fourth-down pass interference call on Aaron Swinton that gave the Phoenix new life near the red zone.
“You just can’t do that,” said Laycock, “not against the people in our league that’s for sure. We did come through with the blocked field goal. That was big.”
“We had it in our mind we weren’t going to let them score again,” Coleman said, “and we didn’t.”
Abdul-Saboor ran eight times on William and Mary’s ensuing possession, eating clock with gains of 24 and 14 yards on a drive that lasted 7:22.
The Alpharetta, Ga., native was stopped short of a first down at Elon’s 10 but the Tribe forced a Phoenix punt with 3:20 to play.
“Coach draws up a good gameplan every week,” said Abdul-Saboor, “and the offensive line just gives me an opportunity to make some cuts in there and make people miss. I just try to take advantages of the opportunities that I get.”
William and Mary used a balanced offensive attack to build a 17-0 halftime lead.
Abdul-Saboor opened the scoring in the first quarter with a 1-yard touchdown, capping an eight-play, 71-yard drive.
Tailback Kendell Anderson then put William and Mary up two touchdowns when he darted down the right sideline for a 23-yard score with 7:10 to play in the second quarter.
Elon threatened late in the first half but quarterback Mike Quinn was picked off by linebacker Airek Green, who returned it 39 yards to the Elon 29 to set up John Carpenter’s 32-yard field goal with two seconds left in the half.
William and Mary outgained Elon 413-282 in total offense and Phoenix running back Tracey Coppedge ran for 120 yards.
Tribe quarterback Steve Clulely was 18-of-28 passing for 167 yards.
Carpenter was back in the lineup after missing two games as result of a bone marrow donation procedure. Two of the senior’s three field-goal attempts were blocked.
William and Mary’s second-leading tackler, junior cornerback DeAndre Houston-Carson sat out with a wrist injury as the Tribe’s defense held Quinn to 19-of-32 passing for 161 yards and two picks.
William and Mary visits Towson next week before closing the regular season at home against Richmond.
“A CAA win is something at this stage of the season you’ll take even though it may not have been the prettiest thing,” said Laycock. “Would have liked it to have been a lot better but we got the win.”
