WILLIAMSBURG –- William and Mary’s opponent Saturday night at rain-soaked Zable Stadium, Stony Brook, entered the game ranked atop the Football Championship Subdivision in total defense (186.5 yards per game) and coming off a 31-6 win the prior week over New Hampshire.
The win against the Colonial Athletic Association champion was the Seawolves’ first-ever against a national top-15 team. That was their statement win.
William and Mary, ranked 25th in the FCS Coaches Poll and a week after coming up short by a touchdown at Virginia, got one of its own Saturday in a commanding 21-0 triumph to hand Stony Brook (2-1, 1-1 CAA) its first defeat.
Coach Jimmye Laycock issued a challenge to his team before the home and CAA opener for William and Mary (2-1, 1-0 CAA).
“‘OK, this is what it’s all about,'” Laycock said. “‘It’s an opportunity to meet a challenge and see what we can accomplish.’ And I thought we came out there and made a pretty good statement tonight.”
The statement was punctuated by a dominant performance in the run game as Tribe junior tailback Kendell Anderson gashed the Seawolves for a career-best 191 rushing yards to go along with two touchdowns after entering the game with 90 total yards in two games.
William and Mary piled up 301 rushing yards to Stony Brook’s 64 and the Tribe outgained the Seawolves, who never reached their opponent’s red zone, 466-167 in total offense.
Stoney Brook tailback Stacey Bedell, the FCS leader in rushing yards per game (163) entering Saturday, was limited to 28 yards on eight carries in three quarters of action. All but two of those runs came in the first half.
All with William and Mary starting three defensive players earning their first starts in sophomore defensive end Matt Ahola, redshirt freshman Josh Dulaney and sophomore Keanu Reuben. Dulaney and Reuben were filling in for injured Ian Haislip and Zach Fetters.
Tyler Claytor was the only member of the Tribe’s defensive line with significant experience entering the season. Saturday, the senior defensive tackle was often at the forefront of consistent pressure on Stony Brook’s quarterback duo.
“All week, we wanted to make a statement this Saturday,” Claytor said. “Hearing what happened last week with them and New Hampshire and watching the film on Sunday, we knew we were up for a challenge. We knew we were going against a great back.”
William and Mary’s great back, senior Mikal Abdul-Saboor, had rushed for at least 100 yards in seven consecutive games, but was slowed by an injury suffered in the third quarter and finished with 68 yards on the ground.
Anderson seized an opportunity to shine. His second score, a runaway 59-yarder, came just after the start of the fourth quarter and put the Seawolves in a 21-0 hole they couldn’t climb out of. It capped a 75-yard drive made possible by an interception from William and Mary senior safety Jared Velasquez, who snagged the throw from Stony Brook freshman quarterback Joe Carbone near the goal line.
“I’m not surprised by it,” Laycock said of Anderson’s performance. “He’s a good back. He’s a good player. Saboor was a little banged up… gave Kendell more opportunities and he did what a good back would do when he gets opportunities: He took advantage of it and he ran it hard. He blocked pretty well up front, too.”
William and Mary maintained its 14-0 halftime lead through three quarters as Stony Brook neared the Tribe’s red zone for the first time in the game heading into the final period.
Carbone finished with 35 rushing yards and was 5-of-9 for 41 yards. His counterpart, starting senior quarterback Conor Bednarski, was 8-of-15 passing for 62 yards.
The Seawolves dodged a bullet to close the first half by sacking Tribe quarterback Steve Cluley (14-of-23, 165 yards). The Tribe, given a new set of downs inside Stony Brook’s 10 after an offsides call, was knocking on the door at the 1 when Cluley was taken down by senior defensive tackle Dante Allen for a loss of 13. Already out of timeouts, William and Mary couldn’t get back to the line of scrimmage in time for a spike before the clock ran out.
The Tribe opened the scoring on its first drive of the game as Cluley connected with Andrew Caskin over the middle near the goal line before the 6-foot-5 sophomore tight end plowed into the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown reception to finish off a 72-yard drive.
William and Mary’s next score came with 8:58 to play in the second quarter, when Anderson crashed through the defense for a 28-yard touchdown scamper down the right sideline. The Tribe back bobbled the ball around the 15, but maintained his stride before evading defenders inside the 5 to cap a 10-play, 88-yard drive.
After an 11-tackle, 3.5-sack performance against New Hampshire to earn CAA Defensive Player of the Week honors, Stony Brook standout defensive end Victor Ochi had four tackles and no sacks Saturday.
Claytor finished with 1.5 sacks along with a team-high seven tackles for William and Mary, which next visits Delaware Oct. 3 and scored its first shutout since 2013.
Seated next to Anderson in the postgame press conference, Claytor said leading up to the game, the Tribe players weren’t buying talk that Stony Brook had the best defense in the league. Then, Claytor nudged Anderson’s elbow and said, “They go against the best defense every day in practice. That was our statement we wanted to make.”
NOTES:
William and Mary women’s soccer alum Jill Ellis, coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team, was recognized at halftime for leading the U.S. to the FIFA Women’s World Cup title in July.
Ellis starred for the Tribe at forward, finishing her career with 32 goals and 19 assists while earning third-team All-America honors in her senior season, 1987.
