Rhode Island, Villanova Suffer Narrow Losses In FCS Playoffs
Rob Washburn
Despite strong performances from their defenses, Rhode Island and Villanova suffered narrow losses in the second round of the FCS playoffs on Saturday.
Mercer 17, Rhode Island 10
Box Score
Rhode Island (11-3) held Mercer’s high-powered offense to 239 yards, but the Rams fell 17-10 to the 7
th-seeded Bears. Rhode Island, making its first playoff appearance since 1985, finished with a program-record 11 victories.
URI had a pair of first-half touchdowns called back due to penalties but used a 17-yard field goal from Ty Groff on the final play of the second quarter to trail only 7-3 at the break. Late in the third period, URI grabbed a 10-7 lead when Hunter Helms connected with Marquis Buchanan on a 56-yard touchdown pass. Mercer put together a pair of fourth-quarter drives to go up 17-10 with 6:10 remaining. Rhode Island was able to get the ball to the Mercer 32 but couldn’t convert a 4
th-and-2 with 2:56 left and the Bears were able to run out the clock. Helms finished with 266 yards passing, with Buchanan making 11 catches for 119 yards. Devin Hightower recorded seven tackles and a sack and A.J. Pena tallied seven tackles and 2.5 TFL’s.
UIW 13, Villanova 6
Box Score
Villanova (10-4) limited 6
th-seeded UIW to its lowest point total in more than five years, but the Wildcats suffered a 13-6 setback to the Cardinals. Villanova, which was making its third playoff appearance in the past four years, is one of six teams to reach 10 wins in three of the last four seasons.
UIW went on top 3-0 midway through the second quarter, but Ethan Gettman responded with a 49-yard field goal to tie the game at the half. A career-best 52-yard field goal from Gettman, which was the second longest in school history, put Villanova ahead 6-3 with 2:24 left in the third quarter. UIW took a 10-6 advantage early in the fourth quarter, but VU drove to the UIW 20-yard line before being stopped on 4
th-and-2. The Cardinals added a field goal to go up by seven and then picked off a pass to take control with 4:01 remaining. Connor Watkins passed for 103 yards, with Jaylen Sanchez making six catches for 54 yards. Brendan Bell topped the Wildcats’ defense with 15 tackles and a forced fumble and Richie Kimmel had 11 stops.