Photo by Lauren Kim for The Lafayette
Sophomore running back Cam Azodeh returning a punt against the University of Richmond on Saturday.
The football team surrendered a 17-point first-half lead to the No. 17 University of Richmond, falling 40-31 on Saturday at Fisher Stadium and extending its losing streak to three.
Richmond (3-0 Patriot League, 5-1 overall) possessed the ball for nearly 42 minutes compared to the Leopards’ (0-2 Patriot League, 1-4 overall) 18, and went 10-of-16 on third-down conversions while the hosts managed one in nine attempts.
“I thought we played almost two different halves,” head coach John Troxell said. “If you want to beat a top 25 team, you got to do everything almost perfect.”
Sophomore defensive back Christian Watson got the Leopard defense to a flying start, intercepting Richmond on its second play from scrimmage.
“We just had a good disguise,” Watson said. “We got good pressure on the quarterback. He overthrew a little bit and I went under.”
Senior quarterback Daniel Lipovski was picked off three plays later, but redeemed himself with a four-yard rushing touchdown on the Leopards’ next drive to go up 7-0. The Spiders responded with a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in seven minutes.
Two plays later, junior running back Jakyre Henley took advantage of the gaping hole set up by the Leopard offensive line, sprinting a career-long 72 yards for the touchdown.
“I saw green grass,” Henley said. “The O-line kicked out both leads, left and right, and down the seams.”
Richmond took a 10-play drive into the red zone to start the second quarter, but junior defensive back Xavier Johnson forced a fumble at the Leopards’ 8-yard line, which was recovered by junior linebacker Paul Widerman.
“We can fly around,” Watson said. “We took real pride in this week to really show up and force turnovers.”
Senior kicker Jack Simonetta booted a 21-yard field goal after the Leopards forced pressure on a shanked Richmond punt. On the next drive, Henley broke the career high he set one quarter earlier, scampering 74 yards and putting the Leopards up 24-7.
The Leopards stumbled in the half’s last two minutes, allowing a field goal before Lipovski lost the ball on a strip sack, setting up a short-field Richmond touchdown drive to cut the lead to 24-17.
“I take full responsibility for that,” Troxell said about the decision to pass. “We should have went in up two scores.”
The momentum carried into the second half for the Spiders, who rattled off three straight touchdown drives to jump ahead 38-24. To make matters worse for the Leopards, Lipovski suffered a rib injury on a third-down sack, putting freshman quarterback Eddie Jordan under center for the rest of the game.
Jordan connected with junior wide receiver Mason Kuehner for 43 yards on his first play from scrimmage, and freshman running back Malachi Gamble scored from 10 yards out three plays later, pulling the Leopards within a touchdown.
“He’s a baller,” Henley said about Jordan. “I wasn’t expecting nothing less.”
Junior defensive back Dhonte Jackson followed up with the second Leopard interception of the day, giving the Maroon and White offense a chance to knot things up. However, on fourth-and-five at the Spider 8-yard line, Jordan kept the ball and was stuffed on the rush attempt.
A Richmond punt gave the Leopards one final possession starting at their own 2-yard line, but Jordan was sacked in the end zone for a safety, ultimately icing the game for the Spiders.
Lipovski finished 7-of-16 passing with 101 yards and an interception before being taken out. Troxell said Lipovski’s X-rays came back negative.
Jordan finished 3-of-5 passing with 75 yards in relief.
“He showed he can play football,” Troxell said. “He’s got a great arm and commands the field, and he did a good job managing the game in the fourth quarter to give us a chance to win it.”
The Leopards will take their bye week to recover and reassess before resuming their season at Bucknell University (0-2 Patriot League, 1-4 overall) on Oct. 17.
“It’s going to be critical that we fix what’s broken,” Troxell said.