The University of Richmond football team suffered a slim defeat against Lafayette College on Saturday, Nov. 15.
The Spiders returned to the Robins Stadium for the final game this season after their tight victory over Georgetown University on Nov. 8.
This marks the third game and loss for the Spiders against the Leopards, with the most recent match being a 7-0 loss two decades ago in 2005.
The two teams started the game off evenly, with both being forced to punt after failing to make the first down, until six minutes into the game, when the Spiders attempted a field goal, which missed to the right.
Afterwards, Lafayette started their next drive and built off a Richmond holding penalty, the Leopards scored their first touchdown in the last five minutes of the quarter, which ended 7-0 on the Spiders next drive as they started to make gains into Lafayette territory.
Building off the previous drive and gains from junior running back Aziz Foster-Powell, senior quarterback Kyle Wickersham scored Richmond’s first touchdown in the opening minutes of the quarter.
However, the Leopards would respond by scoring their second touchdown just minutes after Richmond. The two teams would go back and forth with the ball for the remainder of the half, which ended with senior defensive lineman Donovan Hoilette scoring a sack for the Spiders. The half ended with the Leopards leading 14-7.
After returning from halftime, Lafayette used another penalty on the Spiders to score its third touchdown of the game in the first three minutes. The two teams traded the ball for the next few minutes, until the last minutes, when Wickersham connected for a 32-yard pass with senior wide receiver Ja’Vion Griffin for Richmond’s second touchdown to bring the score to 21-14.
The Spiders' success was short-lived, with the Leopards scoring their fourth touchdown with a 65-yard run in the same minute. Richmond ended the quarter by punting the ball with Lafayette leading 28-14.
The final quarter started slow, until Wickersham was strip-sacked, with possession recovered by Lafayette. Thankfully for the Spiders, they maintained possession after the play was ruled an incomplete pass. After exchanging punts, the Leopards intercepted, but were blocked as Hoilette broke the play allowing sophomore Peyton Seelmann for a 67 yards run.
Building off Wickersham’s connection with Griffin for 11 yards, Foster-Powell was able to score UR’s third touchdown less than two minutes after the interception for a score of 28-21.
Sadly for the Spiders, Lafayette responded with a 70-yard run for its fifth touchdown of the game, increasing their lead 35-21.
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Richmond would maintain possession of the ball and, despite Wickersham being sacked again, he successfully passed to sophomore wide receiver Andreas Hill for their fourth touchdown.
The Spiders would then force the Leopards to punt in the last minute of the game and make it deep into Lafayette territory, attempting a last stand, but were unable to get the ball to the end zone.
The Leopards won with a narrow score of 35-28.
“The game plan [for the last 30 seconds] was just to try and get the ball to one of our guys for a jumpball,” Hoilette said in a postgame press conference. “A lot of our games this year [in the Patriot League] were one-score games this year and we were a couple of mistakes from getting them into our favor.”
Lafayette led Richmond in yardage with 480 compared to the Spiders’ 419, with a majority coming from the passing game, while Foster-Powell led in rush yards.
“9 out of 11 [of the seasons games] were one-score games, and in these games if you make a play or two and don’t screw up, you probably win it, but they make more plays than you or they don’t screw up, then they win the game,” Head Coach Russ Huesman said in a postgame press conference. “If we had scored in there [the last 30 seconds], then we were going for two and the game would have ended.”
The Spiders will face their longstanding rival, the College of William & Mary, for their last game of the season in an away match on Nov. 22.
Contact sports writer Liam Gunawardena at liam.gunawardena@richmond.edu
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