University of Richmond Athletics
Green, Fisher Carry No. 16/18 Richmond To 27-14 Victory
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The No. 16/18 Richmond Spiders (4-1, 2-0 CAA) rolled to a fourth-straight victory on Saturday, 27-14 over Elon (2-4, 1-1 CAA), riding the two-headed rushing attack of Jacobi Green and Seth Fisher, who combined for 220 yards on the ground.
The pair became the first Richmond backs since Tim Hightower and Josh Vaughn on Sept. 8, 2007 to each rush for over 100 yards in a single game. Fisher’s streak of four-consecutive games with a touchdown was snapped but he led the Spiders with 119 yards on the ground while his counterpart Green bolted for 101 yards on just 11 carries with two touchdowns.
QB Kyle Lauletta continued to work efficiently through the air connecting on 15-19 attempts for 195 yards and also carried the ball six times for 25 yards and a score. His favorite target once again was Brian Brown who caught four balls for 88 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball the tone was set by DB Ayo Ogunniyi who picked off two passes while LB Kieran Gregory made a career-high eight tackles and DB David Jones matched his career-high with nine. Redshirt freshman DL Andrew Clyde had his breakout performance in front of the home crowd making seven tackles and becoming the first Spider this season to collect multiple sacks in a game with two; the first two of his young career. Richmond would sack Elon quarterbacks five times in the game.
The Spiders turned great defense into offense much like they have all season-long to collect their first score in this one. Ogunniyi’s first interception came on a 1st down play on a pass that the senior stepped in front of and returned for a short gain. The offense then embarked on a six play, 63-yard drive that ended with Lauletta rushing 16 yards to his left for a touchdown, his third rushing score of the season.
The score was still 7-0 when the first quarter came to a close with Richmond in the middle of a 10-play drive that ultimately resulted in a 32-yard field goal from Peter Yoder to make it 10-0.
The defense forced an Elon punt on the next drive and the running backs took over. Fisher started the drive with a 13-yard rush before the backs traded carries to cross midfield. James Pavik made a 14-yard reception and Lauletta later hit Stephon Jacob for an 11-yard gain that put the ball in the red zone. Fisher picked up the first 10 yards and Green grabbed the next 10 to punch in the score and make it a 17-0 ball game. That score would hold to end the first half.
The Spiders added another field goal to end their first drive of the second half and the third quarter would end with Richmond on top 20-0.
The third quarter began with Richmond in the midst of an 11-play drive that was capped off by a 12-yard rushing touchdown from Green, his second of the game and fourth of the season. It also marked the third time in the senior’s career that he had gone for two touchdowns in a single game.
Elon added a pair of touchdowns late in the fourth quarter but the damage had been done. Richmond held off any further comeback attempt to pick up the 27-14 victory and move to 2-0 in CAA play.
The Spiders have enjoyed a four-week stretch in Richmond during which the team went 3-0 with victories over VMI, Maine and Elon but will now take to the road for two weeks. The first will be a tilt with Rhode Island next Saturday (Oct. 17), which defeated Delaware on Saturday afternoon, 20-0. Richmond will then travel to No. 5/6 James Madison on Oct. 24 to visit the unbeaten Dukes who rolled Towson on Saturday, 51-30.