University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
No. 11 New Hampshire
No. 25 Richmond Out-Duels No. 11 New Hampshire, 45-38
09/29/2007 | Football
Sept. 29, 2007
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VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:
RICHMOND, Va. - Tim Hightower scored four touchdowns and Justin Rogers set a school record for kickoff-return yardage Saturday as No. 25 Richmond defeated No. 11 New Hampshire, 45-38, in a wild game at UR Stadium.
The Spiders, playing at home for the first time in 322 days, entertained the Family Weekend crowd of 8,995 with 410 yards of total offense, a four-touchdown, 168-yard rushing day by defending National Player of the Week Hightower, an 85-yard kickoff return for touchdown by Rogers and their third-consecutive win with 45 or more points.
The Spiders improved 3-1 overall, 2-0 in CAA Football play and are now 6-1 under head coach Dave Clawson when playing at home as a ranked team. The Wildcats fell to 2-2, 0-2.
Clawson won his 50th game as a head coach (50-47) and 21st in four years at Richmond (21-18). He is 18-10 since 2005.
Hightower scored on runs of two, 72 and 13 yards, the final touchdown coming with 8:42 remaining in the game putting the Spiders on top for good. He also caught a 5-yard pass from Eric Ward for a score. It marks the senior's third-consecutive game with a touchdown run of longer than 50 yards.
Following Hightower's 13-yard touchdown, the Wildcats failed to move the ball with Santos missing three straight passes. Andrew Harris, who blocked a Tom Manning field goal try earlier in the game, broke up the third-and-long pass that would have kept the drive alive.
Richmond drove to the New Hampshire 30 before Andrew Howard's field-goal attempt was blocked. But the Richmond defense stood strong again, as Santos was sacked three straight times after the Wildcats had moved the ball to the Richmond 40. Bryan DeMoss, who finished with seven tackles, was in two of the sacks. Santos' desperation pass to LeVan in the end zone on fourth down was broken up by Harris with 30 seconds left.
Rogers, who collected a Richmond record 222 yards in kickoff returns, had an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and nearly broke another, getting knocked out-of-bounds at the 16-yard line after an 84-yard return. The freshman, who fumbled a punt on his own eight, which led to a New Hampshire touchdown, became the first Spider in history to return two kickoffs for a touchdown in the same season (93-yard return versus Vanderbilt).
Richmond out-gained New Hampshire in total yards 410-370, including a commanding 193-51 advantage on the ground. Sophomore QB Eric Ward was 25-of-35 passing with 217 yards, a touchdown and an interception. It marks the third 200-yard passing performance of his career and his second in a row. Freshman WR Kevin Grayson hauled in 10 catches for 111 yards -- his second-straight 100-yard recieving day.
New Hampshire QB Ricky Santos completed 30 of 46 passes for 319 yards, moving him into eighth place on the Football Championship Subdivision's all-time passing list. Santos ran for three touchdowns and passed for another. The Wildcats' Keith LeVan caught 11 passes for 99 yards.
The Wildcats opened the wild game with points on three of their first four possessions, taking a 17-7 advantage early in the second quarter. Santos finished off drives with TD runs of two and four yards wrapped around a Tom Manning 39-yard field goal.
Although scoring a first-quarter TD, Hightower's first 15 minutes were relatively silent -- four carries for nine yards. His final three quarters were anything but. The senior helped send the UR Stadium stadium crowd in a frenzy and turned the momentum into Richmond's favor heading to halftime. He caught a five-yard pass from Ward in the end zone to pull Richmond within three at 17-14 at the 8:39 mark of the second quarter. Andrew Howard's then drilled a 38-yard field goal for the equalizer.
Another Santos touchdown run put the visitors back on top, 24-17, with 2:10 remaining in the half. That's when Richmond rattled off 17-consecutive points in an electrifying 2:23 of action to take a 34-24 lead. The homerun-hitting Hightower knotted the game with 2:10 left in the half, rushing once for seven yards, then 72-yards on the next play to the end zone for the score.
The Richmond defense forced UNH to an immediate three-and-out and Ward engineered a skillful drive in the half's final minute that covered 59 yards in seven plays. He hit Grayson on the first play for 23 yards. Ward than ran for 11, hit Scot Riddell for eight and Joe Monteverde's catch for 10 brought Richmond to the three-yard line. Howard booted the go-ahead field goal from 20 yards out as time expired in the half.
Rogers broke off his 85-yarder touchdown on the opening kickoff of the second half, extending Richmond's largest lead of day to 10 at 34-24.
The Wildcats were 4-of-17 on third-down conversions, but 5-of-6 converting fourth-downs. Richmond converted half of its 14 third-downs and led in time of possession for the fourth time in as many games this season.
