The Collegian
Friday, March 29, 2024

Live blog: Richmond spring football game

The offense wins the spring game, 47-41. Thanks for following along. 

Adam Sahd catches a pass for a first down, and I guess he's a favorite among his teammates. The offensive sideline gets excited and surrounds Sahd to congratulate him. 

As the next drive begins, Tibbs gets leveled by Jordan and drops the ball. The defense trails 40-46 with 1:16 remaining. 

Tibbs dives for a pass in the endzone, but it falls incomplete. Yoder kicks a field goal to widen the lead to seven with two minutes left. 

The offense has a third and goal from the five-yard line and calls a timeout with 2:46 left in the game. 

Broadus and the second-team offense are milking the clock and putting together a long drive. James Pavik catches a short flat-route and earns about seven yards and a first down. The offense is at the 10-yard line and leading by four. 

Nick Velardo gets personal with his own teammate and shoves him to the ground after the play. That seems like something his coaches will be very upset about tomorrow. 

Gordon Collins finds space around the left edge and earns 15 yards and a first down. The offense is clinging to a close lead, 42-39. 

Lauletta decides to take matters into his own hands and scrambles around the edge for a four-yard touchdown run. The offense regains the lead as the third quarter ends, 40-38. 

Diggs catches an out-route short of a first down, but jukes his way around two defenders to earn enough yardage. 

Lauletta hides behind Evans, his strongest teammate, and launches a beauty to Brown for a long gain and a first down. The offense is catching up but still trails 33-38. 

The defense holds strong on third and short to force a fourth down, but the offense will go for it. Abell catches a short hitch in the middle and earns enough for a first down. Mack hits him hard again though...maybe they don't like each other? 

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On the first play of the second half, Lauletta rolls out and finds Diggs for about 15 yards and a first down. On the next play, Porter Abell catches a screen pass and is leveled by Charles Mack, drawing "ooo's" from the crowd. 

Tom Evans and Omar Howard are the first two "clear-cut" captains for the 2015 season. Both are high-character players who lead by example and work as hard as anyone. Congratulations to them.  

Nick Vergos wins the most improved offensive player award and Selton Hodge wins most improved defensive player. 

Tom Evans wins the weight room award...he sqauts 600, benches 475 and power cleans 300+. What??? Those numbers are outrageous. 

At halftime, Rocco recognizes the Spider football alum that came back for the spring game. He then addresses the crowd to hand out offseason awards. 

Despite starting the game with a 15-point deficit, the defense will head into halftime with a lead. Another punt ends the half and the defense leads 37-30 after the first half. 

The defense ties the game at 30 after sacking Broadus, again. The offense calls a timeout on third and 15 with 28 seconds left in the half. 

@SpiderFootball Spring Game action. #URSpringBall #OneRichmond https://t.co/wfMmZO4bBU

— Richmond Athletics (@SpiderAthletics) April 18, 2015

The offense calls a timeout with 1:42 left in the half, and head coach Danny Rocco is pacing around violently and yelling at players. Football is officially back. 

Hamlin has been the most impressive running back so far today. He carries up the middle, breaks some tackles and earns 10 yards and a first down. 

There are just three minutes left in the first half, and it's only 1:30 p.m. This game shouldn't take much longer. 

The defense forces a long third down, then Lauletta is sacked to force a punt and narrow the offense's lead to just five points after the punt. 

Lauletta comes back in and immediately throws an interception to Brendan Coniker, and the defense is catching up. Offense leads just 29-20. 

Another long third down for Broadus' offense. On third and 15, Hamlin catches a screen pass but is tripped up, forcing the second offense to punt again. The offense leads 28-8. 

Broadus connects with Dashon Tibbs on an out-route for another first down. On the following play, coaches blow the play dead and count a sack for the defense after Broadus was flushed out of the pocket. 

Score update: With 9:50 left in the second quarter, the offense leads 28-5. 

Broadus and the second offense continue to struggle on his second drive. They face a third and nine, but Broadus runs around the outside and uses his speed to earn a first down. 

Devin Cook makes a tackle for a four-yard loss on third down, and the offense will punt for the first time today. David Jones downs the ball at the one-yard line, but the ball will be placed at the 20-yard line because this game doesn't really count. 

Broadus finds transfer tight end Garrett Hudson for a long gain down the left sideline and a first down. Broadus and the second-team offense are finding their groove. 

David Broadus comes in at quarterback for the second drive, and the defense is responding. Jarriel Jordan flew up to lay a hit on a ball carrier, then Broadus scrambled and through the ball into the ground. 

Jacobi Green carries twice in a row and scores a touchdown on his second run. Peter Yoder's extra point is almost blocked but squeaks through, extending the offense's lead to 25-1 with 3:21 left in the first quarter. 

Lauletta has talent in the pocket and he's showing it off, maneuvering around defenders to buy extra time and complete passes on the run. Reggie Diggs is his favorite receiver early. 

Jeremiah Hamlin takes his first carry around the left edge, then cuts back inside for a few extra yards and a first down. An interesting note about Fisher's offense -- it's much less spread out than Brandon Streeter's was. 

Lauletta looks comfortable early. He just threw a long pass down the sideline into double coverage, but it made it into Brian Brown's hands before he dropped it. 

The offense will start the day with a 15-0 lead based on offseason competition. 

As the Spiders take the field today for their annual spring game, there are plenty of new faces to look for. Kyle Lauletta will take over the starting quarterback duties, Charlie Fisher will run the new offense as Richmond's new offensive coordinator and two other new assistant coaches, Clint Sintim and Sparky Woods, will be walking the sidelines. Stay tuned for analysis during the game!

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