University of Richmond Athletics
Forte Earns Atlantic 10 Rookie Of The Week After Special Teams Performance
Oct. 1, 2006
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Redshirt-freshman Justin Forte picked up his second weekly All-Conference performer honor of the season, Atlantic 10 officials announced Sunday. Forte, a Marietta, Ga., native was named Rookie of the Week after his standout performance on the Spiders' special teams units which helped Richmond to a 12-7 win over Northeastern Saturday in the Atlantic 10 opener.
Forte was responsible for eight of the Spiders' 12 points against Northeastern as he blocked a punt which was recovered for a touchdown, and later registered a safety on a muffed snap to the Huskies' punter. Redshirt-freshman Michael Ireland picked up the blocked punt for the Spiders and carried it nine yards for the TD, marking the first blocked punt for a touchdown since Nov. 16, 1991.
The safety came at the 1:47 mark of the first quarter for Richmond, a bad snap to NU's Jared White forced the punter to try and make a play at the back of the endzone. Forte was there to force White out of the back of the endzone for the Spiders' second safety on the year.
The Spiders' special teams were responsible for all 12 of Richmond's points, as points were scored on a blocked punt, a safety by the punt return team and a field goal.
The Spiders, now 1-0 in the Atlantic 10 for the first time since 2002, travel to face No. 1 New Hampshire (4-0, 1-0), Saturday, Oct. 7 at Cowell Stadium. Kickoff in Durham, N.H., is slated for 12 p.m. The game will be shown live in the Commonwealth of Virginia and in the New England region on CN-8, a Comcast Cable channel.