WILLIAMSBURG — The “Most Played Rivalry in the South” completed its 134th chapter Saturday with as dramatic a finish as Zable Stadium has ever seen.
Richmond reclaimed the Capital Cup as well as a share of the Coastal Athletic Association regular-season championship with a 27-26 win over William & Mary, but this game will be remembered for the Tribe’s near-comeback.
The Spiders (8-3, 7-1 CAA) clinched the victory by stopping the Tribe’s attempt to win on a two-point conversion with no time on the clock. W&M quarterback Darius Wilson rolled left, but Richmond forced him into an incompletion.
UR shared the conference championship with Albany and Villanova, which won a tiebreaker to take the CAA’s automatic bid to the 24-team playoffs. The Spiders substantially helped their chance for inclusion with the victory.
Richmond scored the potential game-clinching touchdown, pulling off a double reverse that ended with wide receiver Jasiah Williams tossing an 18-yard touchdown pass to tight end Connor Devaney. With 8:03 remaining, the Spiders gained a 27-17 lead and full momentum of the game.
A Caden Bonoffski 29-yard field goal put the Tribe within a touchdown at 27-20 with 3:37 remaining.
The William & Mary defense needed a key stop and got it. However, the Tribe burned its three timeouts and allowed Richmond to take 2:16 off the clock. The Spiders’ punt put the Tribe at its 27 with 1:21 remaining.
Wilson rushed 11 yards for a quick first down, but the offense’s hopes deflated when Wilson lost 3 yards on the next play.
Looking at second-and-13, Wilson found Hollis Mathis (six receptions, 106 yards) streaking toward
the right sideline and delivered a perfect ball which Mathis caught, but was ruled out of bounds, at
the Richmond 34.
However, after a review that lasted two minutes, it was determined that Mathis kept one foot inbounds and maintained possession of the ball. Passes to Trey McDonald (16 yards) and Tyler Oedekoven (8 yards) pushed the ball to the Spiders’ 10 with three seconds remaining.
Wilson’s final pass to Mathis went incomplete as time ran out. But Richmond was called for pass
interference, putting the ball at the 2, and allowing William & Mary to run one untimed play.
Given new life, running back Malachi Imoh took the direct snap and delivered a 2-yard scoring pass to Colton Turner, pulling the Tribe to within a point and leaving head coach Mike London with a decision to play for the tie with an extra point or go for the win on a two-point conversion.
London elected for the latter.
“You can blame me for going for two,” said London, whose team finished the season at 6-5 (4-4 in the CAA). “My heart aches for those guys. They are devastated over in our locker room. But they will go on to become CEOs or entrepreneurs, or we have some that could play on Sundays. I hope that they will remember this gutsy performance. I hope they keep the lessons they learned from this program.”
Richmond almost padded the lead by two touchdowns late in the third quarter when a roughing-the-passer call against Tribe defensive end Nate Lynn turned a potential fourth-and-8 at the 28 into first-and-10 at the 43 for Richmond. The Spiders could not fully convert and settled for a 33-yard field goal by Andrew Lopez to take a 20-10 lead.
William & Mary almost blew its first chance for a comeback. Wilson found JT Mayo, who weaved through the Spiders’ defense for a 51-yard gain. On the next play, Mattijs Lasore’s 8-yard run was ruled a touchdown, yet further review showed that his knee touched at the 1.
However, W&M was ruled for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play, and the penalty moved the Tribe back to the 16.
It didn’t matter as Wilson connected with Mayo on a crossing route for a 16-yard score to pull the Tribe within 20-17.
William & Mary quickly made its offensive presence known. Imoh scored on a 6-yard run, set up by a 48-yard pass from Wilson to Mathis. Bonoffski’s extra point put the Tribe ahead 7-0.
Richmond, which entered Saturday having won seven of its past eight games, responded effectively and scored on a trick play. Operating out of the shotgun from the Tribe 5, running back Savon Smith took a direct snap, ran two steps up the middle, stopped and lobbed a scoring pass over the W&M defensive line to a waiting Brooks Heagarty.
Lopez tied the score with his extra point.
The Tribe had to punt on its next possession, but caught a break when Imari Smith caught the
bouncing ball at the Spiders’ 2. Richmond managed to gain one first down, but had to punt the ball
back. Aaron Trusler’s punt sailed over the W&M special teams and bounced all the way to the
Tribe 12 — a 76-yard punt.
The effort was negated on the second play when Imoh swept right and ran for 63 yards. The Tribe could only muster 4 more yards, but Bonoffski drilled a 34-yard field goal to nudge W&M to a 10-7 lead.
Richmond regained the lead after QB Kyle Wickersham’s 10-yard touchdown run capped a 15-play, 75-yard drive. A 34-yard field goal from Lopez completed the scoring for the first half, and the Spiders led 17-10 at intermission.
Jim McGrath, 757-813-3809, james.mcgrath@virginiamedia.com
