CAA FOOTBALL RECAP - NOV. 10
No. 9 Richmond 62, No. 6 Delaware 56 (5 OT)
Boxscore
Josh Vaughan's touchdown put Richmond ahead in the fifth overtime and Michael Ireland
knocked Joe Flacco's pass away on fourth down as the No. 8 Spiders
outlasted No. 6 Delaware, 62-56, in a thriller Saturday at Delaware
Stadium. Vaughan rushed for a pair of scores while Eric Ward threw for 199 yards and a career-best four TDs as Richmond clinched the CAA Football South Division title.
Walter Payton Award candidate Tim Hightower surpassed the 100-yard mark for the seventh time this season, carrying the ball 29 times for 113 yards and a TD. Kevin Grayson was on the receiving end of 11 catches for 111 yards and two scores.
A controversial finish sent the game to overtime after Flacco
tied the game for Delaware at 38-38 with a 1-yard TD run as time
expired in regulation. It had appeared the clock hit 0:00 before the UD
snap, and amidst the Richmond celebration, the officials ruled the
game-tying touchdown. Flacco's run capped a six-play, 47-yard drive for
Delaware in the game's final 45 seconds.
The teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime and exchanged
lengthy field goals in the second frame. The third OT saw Ward stopped
on a fourth-and-one sneak, giving Delaware the ball and the chance to
win the game. But UD kicker John Striefsky - who had not missed a kick
(either FG or PAT) this season - drilled the upright from 22 yards to
keep the game going.
The Hens took the ball first in the fourth OT and a play later
were in the end zone, thanks to Flacco's 25-yard TD pass to Mark Duncan
and a successful two-point conversion, making the score 56-48. The next
play, Ward hit Jordan Mitchell in the back of the end zone for a TD and then flipped a two-point conversion pass to Grayson for the equalizer.
Vaughan's second TD, a 13-yard run around the left side, was the 10th
lead change in the game and put Richmond ahead for good. Ireland
knocked away Flacco passes on third and fourth down on the ensuing
drive to end it, giving Richmond its first win at Delaware in 20 years.
A 30-yard run by Vaughan put the Spiders up 38-31 with 1:45
left in regulation and silenced the near-capacity crowd of 21,187 until
Flacco's last-second heroics.
Vaughan finished the day with five carries for 66 yards and two
touchdowns, averaging 13.2 yards per carry. Ward rushed 12 times for 81
yards as the Spiders out-gained the Hens 260-210 on the ground.
Omar Cuff accounted for 189 of UD's rushing yards on 48 carries
and scored twice. Flacco was 26-of-38 passing for 375 yards and 3 TDs,
including an 84-yard TD strike to Duncan early in the second quarter.
In game that saw 118 total points - the highest scoring game in Richmond history -- it was a defensive play by Seth Williams that gave the Spiders a big boost of momentum heading to halftime.
Williams stepped in front of a Flacco pass intended for Aaron
Love and returned the interception 40-yards for a TD. The interception
was just the fourth of Flacco's season and the first returned for a
score allowed by Delaware since 2005. It was the game's lone turnover.
Instead of going to halftime down four, the Spiders took a
24-21 lead into the break and it allowed Richmond to improve to 23-2
under head coach Dave Clawson (7-0 this season) when leading at the half.
With a game-high 15 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble, Martin Parker led the Spiders on defense. Andrew Harris and Eric McBride were each in on 13.
The 118 points marks the highest point total in CAA Football
since New Hampshire beat Maine, 59-47, in 2005 and ranks as the
second-highest scoring game in league history.
Next week's scenario becomes clear for Richmond. A win over
William & Mary in the regular-season finale at UR Stadium would
give the Spiders at least a share of the outright CAA Football title.
UMass (8-2, 6-1), which plays at Hofstra next Saturday, would need to
beat the Pride, forcing a conference tiebreaker to determine the
league's automatic bid.
No. 8 Massachusetts 27, No. 14 New Hampshire 7
Boxscore
UMass football claimed the first CAA North title as senior tailback Matt
Lawrence rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns while Liam Coen became
UMass' career passing yardage leader as the Minutemen
celebrated Senior Day with a 27-7 win over rival New Hampshire on a
wonderful fall afternoon in New England.
The defense was stellar as it
posted eight sacks and limited UNH's Walter Payton Award winner Ricky Santos
to just 221 passing yards. With the win, UMass moves to 8-2, 6-1 in the
CAA as the Minutemen strengthen their stance for an NCAA Tournament berth.
New Hampshire fell to 6-4, 3-4 in the CAA and effectively saw their
playoff chances disappear.
Lawrence was named the Bill Knight MVP as the
game's most valuable player.
Coen finished with 191 passing yards
giving him 7133, passing Todd Bankhead's mark of 7,018. Senior Rasheed
Rancher was his top target with seven catches for 62 yards. Senior J.J. Moore
had four catches for 29 yards.
The defensive effort was headed up by
senior captains Charles Walker (10 tackles and two sacks) and Jason Hatchell
(eight tackles), who combined for 18 stops and junior Courtney Robinson
who had nine tackles and one sack. Michael Hanson had two sacks for
UMass.
Another senior Michael Omar hauled in a 21-yard
touchdown on a post-pattern with 5:17 left in the third quarter, making the
score 24-7 in favor of UMass. Senior Chris Koepplin capped the scoring
with a 29-yard field goal with 6:05 remaining in the game,
UMass
opened the second half with a heavy ground game. Lawrence finished
off a workhorse drive with his second score of the game with 5-yard TD
rush with 9:29 left in the third making it 17-7 UMass. Of the 11 plays on the
drive, Lawrence carried 10 times for 80 of the 88 yards. The lone non-rush
play of the series, Coen set the UMass' career passing record with an 8-yard
strike to tight end Ian Jorgensen.
New Hampshire got on the board
with 7:46 left in the second quarter. Chad Kackert took a pitch from Santos
and ran to the left post for the touchdown making it 10-7. Santos kept the
scoring drive alive as he willed his way to a first down on a
fourth-and-two from the 14-yard line. He initially looked like he was
stopped, but his offensive line helped pushed him for the first
down to continue the would-be scoring drive.
UMass took a 10-0 lead
late in the first quarter. The Minutemen got on the board as senior kicker
Koepplin booted a career-long 51-yard field goal with 2:07 left in the first
quarter. That kick was the second-longest in UMass football history (twice
before 52-yard field goals were made). Santos' second interception of the quarter set up the Minutemen's first touchdown of the day. After a return
of 23 yards by Michael Meggett to the UNH 9-yard line, senior Lawrence scored
on a 9-yard run with 25 seconds left in the first quarter.
No. 16 James Madison 55, William & Mary 34
Boxscore
The James Madison football team scored on its first nine
offensive series of the game and beat William & Mary 55-34 in Colonial
Athletic Association play Saturday.
The Dukes got rushing scores on each of their first five
series ? three from redshirt freshman tailback Griff Yancey (Glen Allen, Va./Hermitage) ? and added a field goal
late during the second quarter to lead 38-14 at halftime.
They then upped the lead to 45-14 three plays after getting
a 66-yard kickoff return to the William & Mary 11 to start the second half
and added a field goal and touchdown the next two times their offense took the
field.
The victory raised JMU's overall record to 7-3 and its CAA
mark to 5-2, and the Dukes beat William & Mary for the fourth-straight
time. William & Mary fell to 4-6
overall and to 2-5 in the CAA.
Yancey, who finished with 132 rushing yards and three scores
on 25 carries, had touchdown runs of one yard on JMU's first two drives and a
10-yard carry for a score the third time the Dukes had the ball.
He capped a 57-yard march on JMU's first series to pull the
Dukes into a 7-7 tie, gave JMU a 14-7 lead at the end of a 58-yard drive on
their second possession and raised the lead to 21-7 by the end of the initial
period with his 10-yard carry to cap a 64-yard series.
Senior tailback Antoinne
Bolton (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes) upped the JMU margin to 28-7
with 13:02 left in the second period on 10-yard run two plays after Dukes
redshirt freshman wide receiver Marcus
Turner (Berlin, N.J./Eastern) had his first of two blocked punts to give
JMU the ball at the Tribe 24.
Dukes junior quarterback Rodney Landers (Virginia Beach, Va./Tallwood) got JMU's fifth
touchdown of the opening half on a 10-yard run at the end of a 90-yard, 11-play
drive, and junior Dave Stannard
(Midlothian, Va./Clover Hill) kicked a 29-yard field goal at 0:16 of the second
period for JMU's 24-point halftime lead.
Junior cornerback Scotty
McGee (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes) returned the second-half kickoff
to the William & Mary 11, and Landers scored from the one three plays
later. The Dukes increased their margin
to 48-14 on their next series on a 31-yard Stannard field goal, and Landers
threw a six-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Rockeed McCarter (Philadelphia,
Pa./Roman Catholic) with 9:35 left in the game for JMU's final points.
JMU punted only once in the game, and the Dukes had only one
turnover ? a fumble on a William & Mary kickoff after the Tribe scored to
get to within 48-21 late in the third quarter.
JMU finished with 460 yards of total offense, including 371
rushing yards, to William & Mary's 355 total yards.
Landers had 171 rushing yards and set JMU's game record for
rushing yards by a quarterback for the second time this season. He ran 18 times and surpassed his previous
quarterback game mark of 166 yards, set Oct. 6 at Rhode Island. He also hit on nine of 15 passes for 89
yards.
Bolton added 66 rushing yards on 17 carries for the Dukes.
Senior free safety Tony
LeZotte (Augusta, Ga./Westside) led a balanced JMU defense with seven
tackles, including five unassisted stops.
William & Mary quarterback Jake Phillips threw for 253
yards and three touchdowns, including a 52-yard scoring toss to Elliott Mack on
the game's first series to give the Tribe a 7-0 lead.
JMU closes its regular season next Saturday (Nov. 17) in a
1:30 p.m. home game against CAA foe Towson.
Northeastern 35, No. 18 Hofstra 31
Boxscore
Quarterback Anthony Orio led
the Huskies 92 yards on the final scoring drive and Alex Broomfield completed a
touchdown pass to Brian Mandeville to cap a 35-31 Northeastern football win over
No. 18 Hofstra on Saturday at Parsons Field in Brookline, Mass. Senior tailback
Maurice Murray rushed for 147 yards and three touchdowns, tying Dave Klemic's
Northeastern career touchdown record, with 42.
With the win, Northeastern improved to 3-7 overall and 2-5 CAA Football while
Hofstra now stands at 7-3 overall and 4-3 in CAA Football. It was the Huskies'
second win in a row after last week's 31-13 victory over No. 8 New Hampshire.
With his 147 yards on the day, Murray has 1239 on the season and 3624 in his
career. Entering the final game of the season next Saturday against Rhode
Island, Murray is just 68 yards shy of L.J. McKanas's Northeastern career mark
of 3692. Orio had another suberb day passing, going 19-for-23 for 249 yards and
a touchdown. Receiving, Mandeville led NU with six catches, 69 yards and two
touchdowns. Tony Lott chipped in six catches for 102 yards.
Both teams moved the ball very well in the first half, going
touchdown-for-touchdown until it was 21-21. Each team punted just once in the
half. Northeastern got on the board first when Murray capped an eight-play drive
and punched in a one-yard carry at 7:52 in the first quarter. Murray had 54
rushing yards on 10 carries in the first quarter alone. Hofstra evened the score
when running back Everette Benjamin ran it in with 1:54 remaining in the first,
making it 7-7.
One of Orio's 12 first-half completions was a 14-yarder complete to
Mandeville to make it 14-7 Huskies at 2:41 in the second half. Hofstra returned
the favor when quarterback Brian Savage ran nine yards to cap a seven-play drive
less than two minutes later.
Murray scored his second touchdown of the game at 8:35 in the second quarter
when he scrambled outside to the right, a six-yard run to make it 21-14. The
Huskies wouldn't go to the locker room with a lead, however. NU punter Ron
Conway's 42-yard kick went to the Hofstra 26 and the Pride's Anthony Nelson
returned it 67 yards to the Northeastern seven-yard line. After an incomplete
pass, Savage passed it to wideout Charles Sullivan to even the score at 21-21.
Hofstra opened the second half with a three-and-out, but got a lucky break
when Northeastern's Broomfield fumbled the punt return, giving the Pride the
ball on Northeastern's 41. They moved it to the 29, where place kicker Rob
Zarrilli's kick went wide right. The Huskies took over on their own 29 and
turned it into an eight-play scoring drive. Murray scored his third of the day
with a 31 yard run to the right side, which tied Klemic's career touchdown
record of 42 and made it 28-21 Huskies.
On Hofstra's ensuing drive, the Pride began moving the ball well before a
pair of sacks stopped the momentum. Wil Colon sacked Savage at the NU 45 before
Savage recovered with a nine-yard rush and an 11-yard pass to Nelson for a first
down. Colon and Cord Parks then combined to sacked Savage and a penalty on the
next play killed the drive. Zarrilli attempted a 47-yard kick that was no good
and Northeastern took over on its 29.
The Huskies' next drive didn't get anywhere, but Conway's punt rolled all the
way to the one-yard line to start Hofstra way back. The Pride were able to moves
the ball well, getting all the way to the 14-yard line before two more sacks
killed the drive. Joe Mele sacked Savage for a 10-yard loss and Colon added a
sack on the next play, setting up another Zarrilli field goal attempt.
Zarrilli's 47-yard kick just cleared the crossbar, making it 28-24.
Northeastern went three-and-out on the ensuing drive and was forced to punt.
Hofstra began the drive on its own 31 and took the ball all the way to the
one-yard line. Northeastern held Hofstra out of the end zone for three straight
plays before Savage ran in a touchdown from the one-yard line on fourth down to
make it 31-28.
Down by three points with 2:16 remaining, Northeastern began its final drive
on the eight-yard line. Orio led a great drive that began with a six-yard rush.
He then completed three passes to Lott for a total of 43 yards to get into
Hofstra territory. A 20-yard completion to Chris Plum got the Huskies to the 23.
A pair of Orio rushes and one by Murray set up the winning play. Orio handed the
ball off to Broomfield on the nine-yard line and Broomfield passed it to a
wide-open Mandeville in the end zone to make it 35-31 Huskies.
Hofstra took the ball at its own 38 with 13 seconds remaining and was able to
get two plays off, including a Hail Mary as time ran out, but the Pride couldn't
score and the Huskies came away with the victory.
Villanova 14, Towson 12
Boxscore
A strong defensive effort and consistent running game were the decisive
factors on Saturday afternoon as Villanova (6-4, 4-3 CAA) defeated
Towson (3-7, 1-6 CAA) 14-12 at Johnny Unitas Stadium. In doing so, the
Wildcats clinch a winning record for the second straight season and
10th time in the last 12 years under head coach Andy Talley.
Villanova dominated control of the ball and held possession for
more than 38 minutes in the contest. The Wildcats rushed the ball 61
times to gain 194 yards on the ground. Meanwhile, a smothering defense
forced the host Tigers to go three-and-out on six of their 12
possessions in the game and go without a touchdown until the final
minute of the fourth quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter a 10-yard touchdown pass from freshman Chris Whitney (Warminster, Pa.) to junior Phil Atkinson
(Media, Pa.) gave Villanova a 14-6 lead with 12:01 remaining in the
game. Towson stalled on each of its next three drives but gave itself
one final chance on a five-play, 66-yard drive that resulted in a
Demetrius Harrison touchdown reception with 52 seconds to play.
With the Tigers needing a two-point conversion to tie the game,
quarterback Sean Schaefer looked for Harrison again, but the pass was
incomplete in the end zone as freshman John Dempsey (Secane, Pa.) bothered Harrison as he tried to make the catch.
Not much was doing for either team offensively in the first
half, when a 32-yard field goal by Mark Bencivengo with 5:19 left in
the second quarter gave Towson a 3-0 lead and accounted for the lone
points of the opening half. The Wildcats eventually got on the board on
the first career touchdown from redshirt freshman Aaron Ball (Los Angeles, Calif.) at the 7:52 mark of the third quarter. Ball ran in from two yards to cap a 14-play drive.
A second field goal by Bencivengo with 3:30 to play in the third
period trimmed the Villanova lead to 7-6 before Whitney's fifth
touchdown pass of the season early in the fourth quarter stretched it
back to eight points.
The Wildcats ran a season-high 83 offensive plays, including the
61 rushing attempts. Whitney was efficient when he needed to be,
though, completing 16-of-21 passes for 116 yards. Senior Matt Dicken
(Cape May, N.J.) carried 30 times for 133 yards, including a 103-yard
performance on 23 carries in the second half alone. Ball rushed eight
times for 46 yards.
The first scoring opportunity of the game for Villanova came late in the second quarter when junior Joe Marcoux
(Campbell Hall, N.Y.) missed a 37-yard field goal after a mishandled
snap. The Wildcats were in field goal range again with just 23 seconds
left in the half and Marcoux came onto the field for what would have
been a 32-yard attempt on fourth-and-six at the Towson 15-yard line.
Instead, Villanova ran a trick play on a fake field goal and holder Michael Bradway (Linwood, N.J.) threw an 11-yard pass to junior linebacker Darrel Young
Schaefer completed 22-of-36 passes for 242 yards and one
interception for Towson, which gained only 27 rushing yards in the
contest. Marcus Lee caught nine passes for 95 yards and Harrison had
seven receptions for 78 yards and the lone Tigers touchdown.
Villanova will play its season finale at home against Delaware
next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The game is being billed as the "Battle of
the Blue" during Rivalry Week and the Wildcats will be bidding for
their second win in a row over their longtime conference rivals.
Maine 35, Rhode Island 0
Boxscore
Quarterback Mike Brusko rushed for 146 yards and three touchdowns
while passing for 164 yards and two scores on Saturday to lead Maine to
a 35-0 win over Rhode Island.
Brusko, who last week replaced injured starter Adam Farkes, had his most productive game for the Black Bears, averaging 6.1 yards per carry and scoring on runs of 1, 6 and 3 yards.
He completed 11 of 20 passes, with scoring tosses of 20 and 16
yards, as Maine (4-6, 3-4 Colonial Athletic Association) won its third
consecutive game after six straight losses.
Jhamal Fluellen rushed 20 times for 84 yards to become the sixth player in program history to go over 1,000 yards rushing in a season.
Maine's defense limited Rhode Island's triple option attack to 91
total yards. The Rams (2-8, 1-6) lost four fumbles, two of which led to
touchdowns for Maine.
Maine took its first possession of the game 94 yards on 19 plays,
culminating in Brusko's 1-yard dive. The Black Bears converted four of
five third downs on the drive, which took 8:47.
Brusko's 18-yard touchdown strike to Matt Mulligan gave Maine a 14-0
lead with 5:15 left in the first quarter. The Black Bears took a 21-0
halftime lead on Brusko's 6-yard run with 1:15 to play in the half.
L.T. Brantley and Steve Marrella led the Rams' defense with 11 and 10 tackles, respectively.