Giant killers

BOONE, N.C. -- Shortly after the University of Richmond completed yesterday's 33-13 win over Appalachian State, the Spiders ran to the area of Kidd Brewer Stadium occupied by UR fans. Together, they celebrated as if this was one of the biggest victories in school history.

It was, because:

"I'm not going to say seven, because a couple of them were fluky," Appalachian coach Jerry Moore said of the turnovers. "But you say four or five critical turnovers, now you got your wagon in a ditch. It's hard to get it out of there."

The Spiders trailed 7-6 at halftime, and went up 9-7 on a field goal with nine minutes left in the third quarter. Then UR cornerback Seth Williams took the game into his hands. The junior made a pair of interceptions along ASU's sideline. Williams returned the first 35 yards to set up UR at ASU's one, and returned the second 40 yards to set up the Spiders at Appalachian's five.

"We had a pretty good idea of what they were going to do," Williams said. "Our defense up front had a great rush. Give credit to the defense up front and the preparation all week, [those things] put me in position to make some plays."

Richmond converted both of those turnovers into touchdowns to lead 23-7. UR led 23-13 at the end of the third quarter and ASU reached Richmond's 37 when Edwards was intercepted in the end zone by Spiders' safety Michael Ireland.

Moore viewed that turnover as the one that sunk the Mountaineers. He said he felt confident the champions would score a couple of TDs in the last quarter to stay alive.

"Everybody talked about what a high-powered offense they have, and they do," UR linebacker Patrick Weldon (11 tackles) said of the Mountaineers, who were averaging 39.2 points and 471.5 yards. "But we wanted to make sure they knew what kind of defense we have."

Richmond's defense continued to control Edwards and Appalachian, while the Spiders' offense did what it does best: chew clock. Vaughan and quarterback Eric Ward (91 rushing yards) consistently moved the chains with short fourand-five-yard gains as Richmond authoritatively put away the game.

"We came out and just executed," Ward said. "Use the run to open up the pass and use the pass to open up the run."

A 15-play, 80-yard drive that took 7:24 resulted in UR's final touchdown, an exclamation point on a day London called "a humbling experience."
Contact John O'Connor at (804) 649-6233 or .

RICHMOND 33, APPALACHIAN STATE 13
Richmond ------------------------- 6 0 17 10--33
Appalachian St. ------------------------- 7 0 6 0--13
First Quarter

App--Edwards 2 run (Vitaris kick), 2:58.

Rich--Vaughan 13 run (kick failed), :04.
Third Quarter

Rich--FG Howard 36, 9:05.

Rich--Vaughan 1 run (Howard kick), 7:21.

Rich--Ward 5 run (Howard kick), 5:46.

App--Courman 4 pass from Edwards (pass failed), 1:51.
Fourth Quarter

Rich--FG Radford 27, 10:10.

Rich--Vaughan 1 run (Howard kick), 1:38.

A--15,215.
Rich

App
First downs-------------------------21

20
Return yards-------------------------118

0
Punts-Avg.-------------------------4-36.3

3-34.0
Rushes-yards-------------------------52-238

23-39
Passing yards-------------------------121

323
Comp-Att-Int-------------------------10-24-0

26-42-5
Fumbles-lost-------------------------0-0

2-2
Penalties-yards-------------------------5-52

2-15
Time of possession-------------------------35:43

24:17
RUSHING

Richmond (52-238) , Vaughan 32-133, Ward 16-91, Wilkins 1-20, Team 3-(minus 6). Appala chian St. (23-39) , Radford 7-11, Cline 1-8, Hillary 1-8, Welton 4-8, Edwards 8-3, Presley 2-1.
PASSING

Richmond (10-24-0--121) , Ward 10-24-0-121. Appalachian St. (26-42-5--323) , Edwards 26-41-5-323, Hillary 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING

Richmond , Grayson 5-48, Stewart 2-20, Wilkins 1-27, Bischoff 1-17, Gray 1-9. Appalachian St. , Courman 7-63, Quick 6-94, Hillary 5-41, Elder 3-48, Cline 3-25, Jorden 2-52.
TACKLES

Richmond: Weldon 11, McBride 10, Rogers 6, Ireland 5, Hatcher 5, Williams 4, Shoop 3, Miles 3, Parker 3, Graham 3, Sidbury Jr. 3, Logan 2, Kirchoff, Prokell, McConaghy. Appalachian St.: Roman 15, Smith 14, Riddle 9, Banks 8, Williams 6, Tanyi 6, LeGree 5, Gainey 5, Fletcher 5, Gilbert 4, Bozzo 2, Finnerty 2, Long 2, Bennett 2, Acitelli 2, Quick, Hardee, Bieschke, Fitchett, Jones, Kilgore.
SACKS

Richmond: Weldon. Appalchian St.: Smith.
INTERCEPTIONS

Richmond: Williams 3, Rogers, Ireland.
FUMBLE RECOVERIES

Richmond: Miles, Smaugh.