The Collegian
Friday, March 29, 2024

No. 4 Richmond falls to No. 5 App. St. 35-31 in quarters

The University of Richmond football team fell 10 seconds short of advancing to the semifinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, losing to Appalachian State University 35-31 in front of 7,272 fans at UR Stadium.

Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards threw a four-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Matt Cline on third and goal with ten seconds remaining during the fourth quarter to give the Mountaineers the win.

"What a great football game," Richmond head coach Mike London said. "My hat goes off to Appalachian State and Coach [Jerry] Moore. That's a heck of a football team with the FCS' best player."

The Spiders allowed 14 points during the first three quarters, but conceded 21 points during the final 8:38.

"It's called Armanti Edwards," London said of App State's ability to turn it on during the final period. "I mean, he's a terrific player. The style of their offense is to spread you out across the field. ... You try to take him out of the game and he does a great job reading the defense and handing it off to the running back."

Richmond had taken the lead only minutes before the Mountaineers scored the winner when junior linebacker Eric McBride stripped the ball from an Appalachian State punt returner and returned it for a touchdown.

"All year we practice take-aways, you know, rip the ball out," McBride said. "London was telling me all game, 'You're going to make a play,' ... I'm just sorry that all of the seniors that we had have to go out on a loss like this."

McBride said he thought the Spiders would be able to make his fumble return touchdown enough for the win.

"We always believed we could stop them on offense," McBride said, "but you know they have a great quarterback, a great team, more props to them. They got the ball in the end zone and won the game."

Edwards finished the game 21 for 33 passing for 216 yards and a touchdown. He also ran 12 times for 51 yards and two scores. Appalachian State running back Devon Moore carried the ball 22 times for 175 yards and two touchdowns and Cline caught nine passes for 87 yards.

For Richmond, senior quarterback Eric Ward finished his record-setting career by completing 17 of 31 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown. Senior tailback Justin Forte carried 18 times for 58 yards and sophomore wide receiver Tre Gray caught five passes for 91 yards.

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Richmond scored during its first possession of the game, driving 75 yards during 12 plays before junior fullback Ben Keating pounded in the touchdown from two yards out.

But the Mountaineers came back with a 75-yard touchdown drive of their own, which Edwards capped with a 16-yard touchdown run.

Both defenses firmed up after the first drives, but Richmond took advantage of good field position to score its second touchdown.

The Spiders took the ball at the App State 49-yard line and used six plays to earn six more points. Ward found Gray for a 19-yard catch for the score, and Andrew Howard's PAT gave the Spiders a 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter.

On their first possession of the second half, the Mountaineers drove the ball down the field with ease and scored their second touchdown of the game.

But the Spiders responded yet again, this time using a 13-play drive to get into the end zone after a Kendall Gaskins one-yard touchdown run.

The Richmond defense held the Mountaineers for a while after that, but two trips inside the Mountaineer 10-yard line for the Spiders only netted three points, as Howard made a 27-yard field goal but missed from 29 yards.

After Howard's successful field goal, the Mountaineer offense needed only three plays and 35 seconds to go 64 yards and make it a three-point game.

After a Richmond three and out, Appalachian State turned to its running back, and Moore carried the ball seven times during a nine-play drive that gave the Mountaineers thier first lead of the game with 4:27 to go during the game.

The loss ended Richmond's season at 11-2, with its two losses coming by a combined total of five points.

The game also marked the final Richmond game ever to be played at UR Stadium, because the Spiders will move into their new on-campus stadium next season. It was also the final game for many of Richmond's veteran players, including 16 fifth-year senior starters.

"I've been really blessed to be the head coach of this football team," London said. "That's a hurt football team in [the locker room], but I'll tell you what, 11-2 [record], conference champions, that's a great team in there."

When asked whether he thought this would be his last game as the coach of the Spiders, London did not mention the possibility of taking the head coaching job at the University of Virginia, he talked about his family instead.

"My thoughts are with the team," London said. "The only thoughts I have now are with my [daughters] after the game to make the choice of whether [they will have] hot cocoa or tea."

Ward said he was grateful for the chance to play for the Spiders for four seasons.

"We've accomplished a lot since I've been here and I'm just thankful for everyone that made it possible for me to come to this school," Ward said. "I got to play with a couple of greats and played against a couple of greats."

McBride, who will anchor the Spider defense as a fifth-year senior next season, said he and his teammates would start preparing for next season right away.

"A lot of us up-and-coming fifth-years have already said to each other that this starts tomorrow," McBride said. "That's when the season starts, the day after your last loss. We'll think about this loss and never forget how it feels.

"[The seniors] have built a great program and we plan on keeping it how it's been, no fall off at all."

Contact staff writer Reilly Moore at reilly.moore@richmond.edu

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