Richmond in FCS final

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Eric Ward threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Joe Stewart with 14 seconds left to give Richmond a 21-20 victory over Northern Iowa on Saturday, sending the Spiders to the Football Championship Subdivision title game.

Richmond (12-3) started the winning drive at its own 38 with 1:44 remaining and no timeouts left. Ward calmly passed the Spiders down the field and hit Stewart, his tight end, in the end zone to tie it at 20.

Andrew Howard kicked the extra point and, after Northern Iowa’s final play went nowhere, the Spiders celebrated.

Richmond reached the final for the first time and will play Montana in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Friday night.

Northern Iowa (12-3) was seeking its second trip to the title game in four years.

Pat Grace’s two third-quarter touchdown passes helped the Panthers build a 20-7 lead, but after stopping the Spiders on fourth-and-1 with 2:13 to play, they couldn’t come up with another big stop in the final drive.

Ward also threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Grayson and scored on a 1-yard sneak that drew the Spiders to 20-14 with 11:16 left. He finished 28 of 35 for 280 yards with no interceptions.