Football
By Reilly Moore
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November 22, 2008
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The University of Richmond football team forced seven turnovers during its game Saturday afternoon at the College of William & Mary, but still needed overtime to assure its second-consecutive Football Championship Subdivision playoff berth.
The Spiders beat the Tribe 23-20 when junior kicker Andrew Howard made a 37-yard field goal in the first overtime period. The team will find out its opponent for the first round of the FCS playoffs Sunday night.
"It was a terrific football game," Richmond coach Mike London said. "We've been involved with a game like that at our place [against James Madison] when we came out on the short end of the stick, but we hung in there and played hard and then came out on the other side this time."
Richmond dominated the first half against William & Mary, intercepting four passes, forcing a fumble and allowing the Tribe to gain only 12 total yards.
Right guard Michael Silva opened the scoring for the Spiders with his first career touchdown when Richmond quarterback Eric Ward fumbled as he tried to reach the ball over the goal line during the first quarter. Silva recovered the ball in the end zone for the touchdown.
Richmond's only other touchdown came on defense, when safety Derek Hatcher intercepted Tribe quarterback Jake Phillips's pass and returned it 35 yards. With the return, Richmond set the single-season record for interception returns in a season, with four.
Hatcher's interception was one of six for the Spiders during the game. Defensive back Justin Rogers had two, while linebacker Jordan Shoop, safety Mike Ireland and safety David Horton each had one.
Richmond added two field goals from Howard, one of which came with no time left in the second quarter, to take a 20-0 halftime lead.
"We played about as bad as we could in the first half," William & Mary tight end Rob Varno said.
The Tribe scored for the first time in the third quarter on a 32-yard field goal by kicker Brian Pate, but entered the fourth quarter trailing 20-3.
Pate added another field goal early in the fourth quarter, but Richmond appeared to be in command, holding a 14-point lead with less than five minutes to play.
Tribe punt returner Derek Cox changed the momentum of the game by returning a punt 80 yards for a touchdown with 3:02 remaining in the game.
On the ensuing kickoff, William & Mary back-up quarterback R.J.