Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Richmond
Richmond Runs Past Bucknell Football, 45-14
9/22/2007 8:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 22, 2007
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Tim Hightower set a Richmond record with 295 rushing yards and scored four long touchdowns to lead the visiting Spiders to a 45-14 victory over Bucknell Saturday afternoon at steamy Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Terrance Wilson and Nolan Applegate scored touchdowns for the Bison, who fell to 1-3 on the season. Richmond moved to 2-1, all on the road.
For the second straight game the Spiders rolled up more than 40 points and 600 total yards. They rushed for 405 against Bucknell, with most coming from the powerful Hightower, who scored on runs of 37, 36, 57 and 52 yards. A week earlier in a 49-14 win at Northeastern, Hightower had 246 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
Despite the one-sided final margin, Bucknell had the momentum and a chance to draw within three in the third quarter.
After trailing 24-7 at the half, the Bison defense stopped Hightower on fourth-and-short on the first possession of the third quarter. Wilson, subbing at quarterback for the injured Marcello Trigg, capped a five-play, 81-yard drive with a career-long 39-yard touchdown gallop, bringing Bucknell within 24-14 with 8:16 left in the third.
Richmond went three-and-out on its next series, and the Bison caught a break when Spiders punter Brian Radford put his knee to the ground trying to field a low snap. That gave Bucknell a first down at the Richmond 21, but on the very next play Applegate's halfback option pass was intercepted by Seth Williams in the back of the end zone.
Hightower then covered the 80 yards by himself on only two plays, first rambling 23 yards to the 43, then bursting up the middle for a 57-yard score. Moments after Bucknell seemed to be in position to reduce the margin to one possession, Hightower's backbreaking score made it 31-14.
The Bison moved the ball well for much of the second half, and on their next possession had it near the red zone again, but as Wilson appeared poised for his second touchdown of the day, Williams poked the ball loose from behind and Martin Parker recovered for Richmond at the 9-yard line.
Hightower's fourth TD of the day came eight plays later, this one a 52-yarder around right end that made it 38-14 with 12:53 left in the game. Josh Vaughn capped the scoring with a 7-yard run with 1:25 left.
Richmond jumped out to a 17-0 lead after first-quarter scoring runs of 37 yards by Hightower and 1 yard by quarterback Eric Ward, along with a 40-yard Andrew Howard field goal.
The Bison struck back nearly three minutes after the field goal when Applegate's first halfback option try of the day worked much better than the second. This one went for 44 yards to Cale Cadman and a first down at the Richmond 11. Two plays later Applegate, who was converted from cornerback to slotback this week in practice, scored his first career touchdown on a 9-yard carry, punctuated by a dive to the left pylon.
Richmond needed only five plays to answer, with Hightower's 36-yard run pushing its lead to 24-7 with 9:19 left before halftime.
After struggling to run the ball early in the game, the Bison finished with 199 rushing yards. Senior fullback Josh DeStefano, a Second-Team All-Patriot League selection a year ago, made his first appearance of the season and led the team in rushing with 45 yards on 12 carries. Wilson ran for 36 yards, despite being sacked three times, and also completed 2 of 3 passes for 10 yards. Trigg, who would later return to the game, was 2 of 7 passing for 37 yards.
Bucknell was not penalized at all in the game, a first since Oct. 15, 2005 against Villanova.
Richmond's 90 penalty yards were offset by 612 total yards. In addition to the 405 on the ground, Ward completed 13 of 21 passes for 207 yards. He was intercepted once, the first of sophomore cornerback Jason Davis' career. Wideout Kevin Grayson caught six balls for 118 yards.
Bucknell is back in action next Saturday at home against Marist at 6 p.m., while Richmond plays at home for the first time, against New Hampshire at 3:30 p.m.
