Oct. 14, 2006
Stats
KINGSTON, R.I. - No. 10 Richmond held Rhode Island to 248 total yards en route to a 31-6 victory in Atlantic 10 football action this afternoon at Meade Stadium.
Sophomore fullback Joe Casey totaled 79 yards of offense, including 65 yards rushing.
Richmond took the opening kick off and drove 60 yards to the URI 40 where senior Raquan Pride intercepted Spider quarterback Eric Ward to give the Rams possession on their own 26. In his first collegiate start at quarterback in place of the injured Derek Cassidy, who was sitting out the game with an ankle injury suffered last Saturday at James Madison, freshman John Butler drove the Rams 74 yards on six plays in 2:25 and hitting sophomore halfback Marcel Roberson with a 36-yard scoring strike with 7:41 on the first quarter clock. A missed extra point made the score 6-0.
On Richmond's next possession, Ward threw his second interception of the day, this time to junior defensive back Raji El-Amin, giving URI the ball on their own 15 yard line. Rhode Island led, 6-0, after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Richmond would piece together a 14-play, 82-yard drive, capped by a 23-yard Ward scoring strike to Matt Hale to give the Spiders a 7-6 lead with 8:51 to play in the first half.
Richmond would take a 10-6 lead into halftime after a 25-yard field goal by Andrew Howard with :47 seconds to play in the half.
Richmond dominated the second half, holding the Rams to 96 yards of total offense, while scoring 21 points. Ward's second touchdown throw came with 11:06 to play in the third quarter, as he connected with Arman Shields with a 20-yard score. Fifty-four seconds later, David Horton would pick off Butler and return it 20 yards for a touchdown to give Richmond a 24-6 lead with 10:00 on the third quarter clock.
Richmond would score the final points of the game after a nine-yard touchdown run by Ward finished off a 13-play, 72-yard drive at 14:55 of the fourth quarter.
Rhode Island freshman D.J. Stefkovich made his first collegiate appearance at quarterback in the fourth quarter, completing four-of-eight passes for 61 yards, including a 38-yard completion to sophomore wideout Nick Del Grosso in the fourth quarter.
URI was held to a season-low 123 yards rushing, while passing for 125 yards. The last time the Rams totaled more passing yards than rushing was October 26, 2002, when the Rams threw for 104 yards, and only rolled up 90 yards on the ground versus Richmond. The game was actually played over two days due to heavy rain that flooded Meade Stadium, causing the second half to be postponed until the following day.
Rhode Island next travels to Massachusetts to take on the No. 8 Minutemen on Saturday, Sept. 21, for a 1:00 p.m. kick-off that will be televised on Atlantic 10 Television.
