WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (Courtesy of W&M Athletics) – The No. 11/12 William & Mary football team rushed for 434 yards and scored 49 unanswered points en route to a dominant 49-7 victory against Hampton in its CAA opener in front of a Family Weekend crowd of 11,317 on Saturday night at Zable Stadium.
Four Tribe (4-1, 1-0) players rushed for more than 80 yards to help W&M post the third-best rushing performance in school history. Sophomore quarterback Tyler Hughes rushed for a career-high 130 yards (on just three carries) with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, while senior running back Bronson Yoder eclipsed 100 yards for the third-consecutive game, finishing with 117 yards on 19 carries and a score. Senior running back Malachi Imoh also came up big with 95 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns, as he moved into 10th on W&M’s all-time list for rushing touchdown (21).
Senior quarterback Darius Wilson was tremendously efficient and completed 16-of-19 yards for 198 yards with a touchdown, while he rushed for 82 yards on 11 carries with a score.
Sophomore tight end Sean McElwain led the Tribe’s receiving corps with 97 yards on five catches, while senior wideout DreSean Kendrick added a spectacular one-handed touchdown catch.
Linebacker Quinn Osborne and safety Marcus Barnes totaled a team-high eight tackles, while junior cornerback Jalen Jones recorded an interception. Defensive lineman Davin Dzidzienyo and linebacker Jonathan Hammond both registered sacks.
W&M outgained HU, 632-214, which marked the Tribe’s most yards since totaling 635 in the 56-0 win against Liberty in 2005.
Highlighting W&M’s impressive defensive effort was another stellar second half in which it held the Pirates scoreless. The Tribe has allowed just two offensive touchdowns during the second half of games this season.
Hampton (3-2, 0-1) opened the scoring on an Elijah Burris 5-yard touchdown run with five minutes left in the opening quarter. It capped the Pirates’ best drive of the contest, as it covered 75 yards on 11 plays.
The Tribe answered with three-straight scoring drives and never looked back. W&M pulled even thanks to an eight-play, 90-yard drive. Wilson was 3-for-4 on the drive for 53 yards and added a 30-yard run on third-and-10 to set up the touchdown. Kendrick hauled in the score, fending off a Hampton defensive back and making an impressive one-armed grab in the right corner of the endzone to tie it at seven with less than a minute remaining in the opening quarter.
The Green and Gold used the ground game to tack on two more scores in the second quarter. Imoh tallied 45 yards on the Tribe’s 70-yard drive, putting the home team on top for good with 9:18 left in the half with a 14-yard run.
Bronson Yoder added a 36-yard scamper seven minutes later to extend the lead to 21-7. Wilson completed three consecutive passes, including a pair of 13-yard strikes to McElwain during the drive.
Special teams and defense set up the Tribe’s lone score of the third quarter. A great punt by Ruben Anderson pinned Hampton inside its own 10, and the Tribe defense pushed the
Pirates back to their own 1-yard line and forced a punt out of the endzone that was returned to the Hampton 27 by Kendrick. Seven straight runs capped by a Wilson 5-yard touchdown pushed margin to 28-7.
Imoh added a 4-yard run for his second touchdown of the night with eight minutes remaining, as he moved past Michael “Pinball” Clemons for 10th on W&M’s career rushing touchdowns list.
Hughes came on to lead scoring drives of 68 and 72 yards during a 3:37 span late in the contest, highlighted by a 66-yard touchdown run with 3:15 remaining to punctuate the victory.
W&M improves to 10-0 all-time against Hampton and is 10-2 at Zable Stadium during the last three seasons.
The Tribe will return to action when it plays at Towson next Saturday at 6 p.m.
