The Review

Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Steven Gold Delaware fell short in the fifth OT Saturday.

With the temperature dropping and gray clouds looming overtop Delaware Stadium on Saturday afternoon, the football sailed just beyond the reach of junior tight end Robbie Agnone in the corner of the endzone. After the relentless effort given by the Hens, the players did not have enough gas for one more play, resulting in a five-overtime, 62-56 heartbreaking loss to Richmond.

Delaware fans silently exited the stadium when the three-and-a-half hour game finished with the No. 6 Hens coming up short in the back-and-forth contest. Delaware (8-2, 5-2 Colonial Athletic Association) finished its third-consecutive game decided by seven points or less. Saturday's game against No. 9 Richmond marked the Hens' second-straight match-up against a top-15 Football Championship Subdivision team, as Delaware defeated then-No. 12 James Madison 37-34 last weekend.

Hens' head coach K.C. Keeler said his players knew the end of their schedule would be challenging, having faced Navy, James Madison, Richmond (8-2, 6-1 CAA) and will have a tough task at hand next weekend against rival Villanova.

"It's been three weeks of straight toe-to-toe to the very end," Keeler said. "The stretch we knew was going to be a slug fest."

With the Spiders winning the shootout, they have become the CAA South Division Champions. Richmond head coach Dave Clawson said the game proved taxing on the team, but praised his players for not quitting through the exhaustion of five overtimes.

"We were fortunate to make one more play [than Delaware]," Clawson said.

The two teams combined for 42 points in overtime. Richmond redshirt sophomore quarterback Eric Ward found freshman wide receiver Kevin Grayson for a touchdown and a two-point conversion during the first and fourth overtimes. Ward finished his day throwing for 199 yards, while going 16-for-29 with four touchdowns.

While much attention was placed on Richmond senior running back Tim Hightower before the game, Keeler said he was impressed by the Spiders' offense and how they used other weapons to win. Hightower ended his day with 113 yards rushing on 29 carries and one touchdown. He proved a minor factor in overtime as he suffered a minor injury.

Richmond's reserve running back Josh Vaughan, who had five carries for 66 yards and two touchdowns, said he did what he needed in order to help his team once Hightower was not on the field. Vaughan scored the final touchdown on the fourth play of the last overtime period.

Continued...

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