Big plays help Villanova rally past Richmond

VILLANOVA, PA. >> Nowooola Awopetu returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and T.D. AyoDurojaiye capped a rally with a 20-yard scoring run midway through the fourth quarter to lead Villanova to a 35-28 victory over Richmond on Saturday.

Dee Wil Barlee rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown and Daniel Smith ran for 105 yards and two scores for the Wildcats (7-3, 4-3 Colonial Athletic Association).

Joe Mancuso threw two TD passes and ran for 89 yards and two scores for the

Spiders (5-5, 4-2).

After Awopetu’s kick-return score, Mancuso had a 25-yard TD run to pull Richmond even. Smith scored on a 25-yard run to regain the lead for the Wildcats, but Mancuso raced 35 yards for a TD to knot the score at 14 after one quarter.

Mancuso put the Spiders up 21-14 with a 15-yard TD toss to Keyston Fuller just 1:36 into the second quarter. Barlee ripped off a 37-yard scoring run to tie the game at 21, but Mancuso and Fuller connected on a 4-yard score to send Richmond into the final quarter with a 28-21 lead.

Smith evened the score at 28 with a 9-yard TD run with 11:45 left to play, setting up Ayo-Durojaiye’s game-winning score with just under 9 minutes remaining. Richmond punted four times and had a drive end with an interception in the second half. Smith hit 20 of 28 pass attempts for 235 yards. ALBANY 21, DELAWARE 17 >> — Jeff Undercuffler threw three touchdown passes — two of them to Juwan Green — and Albany held off Delaware 2117 on Saturday.

Undercuffler connected with Green for a 15-yard score and a 7-0 lead for the

Great Danes (6-4, 4-2 Colonial Athletic Association) after one quarter.

The Blue Hens (4-6, 2-4) answered with Nolan Henderson’s 4-yard TD toss to Jourdan Townsend to knot the score at 7 at the 9:32 mark of the second quarter. But Albany responded, using just three plays to go 75 yards for a score. Undercuffler’s pass to Green covered the final 64 yards.

Delaware pulled even on Will Knight’s 28-yard TD run and took a 17-14 lead into halftime when Jake Roth booted a 21-yard field goal on the final play.

After a scoreless third quarter, Undercuffler directed a 10-play, 73-yard drive that culminated with his 13yard TD toss to Jerah Reeves for a 21-17 lead. Delaware punted twice and turned the ball over on downs from there.

Undercuffler completed 13 of 23 passes for 176 yards, while Green finished with seven catches for 132 yards. Karl Mofor led the Great Danes’ ground attack with 132 yards on 22 carries.

Henderson was 8-of-17 passing for 141 yards. Knight ran for 79 yards on 14 carries and caught two passes for 61 yards. BUCKNELL 20, LEHIGH 10 >> Logan Bitikofer overcame two interceptions with two touchdown passes and Bucknell controlled Lehigh in a 20-10 win on Saturday.

The Bison (2-7, 2-2 Patriot League) never trailed.

Tyler Keiser’s 20-yard field goal early in the second quarter put the Bison up. Later in the quarter, Bitkofer threw a 24-yard TD pass to Stefone Moore-Greene for a 10-point lead. Austin Henning put the Mountain Hawks (4-5, 3-2) on the board with a 33-yard field goal with 47 seconds left in the half.