RICHMOND — With the season on the line for both teams, Richmond looked rested and ready after its bye week. William and Mary looked like a drained team playing its 12th game in as many weeks.
For the second time in a 14-day span, the Spiders dominated their I-64 rivals in a 48-13 win Saturday at Robins Stadium. This time it was an elimination game in the FCS playoffs, which ends the Tribe’s season and sends Richmond into next week’s quarterfinal round.
It was William and Mary’s largest margin of defeat in a playoff game ever. The grind of playing 12 straight weeks without a break might have had something to do with it, but the Tribe wasn’t offering that excuse.
“When we looked at the schedule at the beginning of the year, to get to this point, we knew we were going to have to do it,” W&M linebacker Luke Rhodes said. “We were prepared for it. There’s absolutely no excuse and we’ll never look for one.”
Richmond coach Danny Rocco, whose team was awarded a first-round bye as one of the top eight seeds, acknowledged it without being asked.
“I was aware of the fact that this was their 12th consecutive football game,” he said. “Take a look at the teams they played down the stretch. To come in here and be healthy and full of energy would have been a very, very hard thing to do. We had a chance to have an advantage, and we did.”
Richmond (9-3), which will play at Illinois State next week, showed no signs of rust out of the gate. The defense forced a three-and-out, and David Jones returned Hunter Windmuller’s punt 50 yards to set up a first down at the W&M 30. On the fifth play, Jacobi Green’s 3-yard touchdown made it 7-0 not even 4 1/2 minutes into the game.
W&M answered with a Nick Dorka field goal, but even that was a disappointment. The Tribe had a second-and-goal from the 1 but went backward. The Spiders scored again, and again it was Green, to make it 14-3 as the first quarter closed.
“You never expect to start out like that,” Rhodes said.
Then came the play of the day, which as you might expect didn’t go in the Tribe’s favor. On second-and-goal from the 6-yard line, W&M quarterback Steve Cluley’s pass was tipped by the Spiders’ David Herlocker. Safety David Jones caught it in stride about 4 yards deep in the end zone.
And he was gone. Cluley had a chance to prevent the touchdown after Jones cut back around midfield but was unable to track him down. Officially, it was a 100-yard return, a school record.
Had W&M scored a touchdown in that situation, the score would have been 14-10. Instead, it was 21-3 — a 14-point swing.
“People in the stands were probably thinking they were going to score,” said Jones, who has nine picks this season. “For us to get an interception and return it for a touchdown? That’s pretty big.”
W&M coach Jimmye Laycock said the play gave Cluley the option of hitting tight end Andrew Caskin across the middle or a receiver in the back of the end zone.
“I’m not sure (whether) he was trying to stick it into (Caskin) because he got rerouted and was covered,” Laycock said. “I think he was trying to throw it to the back of the end zone and didn’t get it high enough.”
Though a huge momentum swing, it wasn’t the knockout punch.
After an interception by linebacker Ian Haislip, Kendell Anderson’s 6-yard run cut Richmond’s lead to 21-10 with 4:58 left in the first half. But the Spiders scored just before the half ended on quarterback Kyle Lauletta’s 10-yard run.
There was some question about that. Lauletta lost control of the ball near the goal line — before or after he crossed is debatable. There was a review, but it was brief. The call stood.
Laycock said his coaches in the booth didn’t see a good replay.
“I think they only had about five cameras for the replay setup,” Laycock said, “so sometimes you can’t catch everything.”
Even Lauletta wasn’t sure.
“Coach asked me right away, ‘Were you in?'” he said. “I said, ‘I have no idea.'”
That didn’t finish the Tribe, either. To start the third quarter, cornerback Trey Reed intercepted Lauletta at the Richmond 39. On the first play, Cluley hooked up with Jack Armstrong for a 29-yard gain to the 10.
But instead of turning that into seven points, W&M again ended up with a field goal, which made it 28-13 with 11:31 left in the third.
“That was disappointing,” Laycock said.
Then came the dagger: Richmond went 75 yards in 11 plays, taking 5 minutes and 21 seconds off the clock. Lauletta’s 3-yard touchdown run made it 35-13 with 6:10 left in the third quarter. The Spiders tacked on two more scores to make it their most-lopsided win over W&M since 1916.
Richmond also beat the Tribe for the fifth consecutive time. That includes a 20-9 win on Nov. 21 in the final game of the regular season.
“Not pretty, not pretty,” Laycock said. “Anyway, we’ll regroup and be back.”
Johnson can be reached by phone at 757-247-4649.
