Grizzlies stung by Spiders
Montana defeated in FCS title game
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Richmond coach Mike London heard talk from Montana fans expecting an easy national championship win. After all, his Spiders lost three of their first seven games.
Turns out it was Richmond that got the easy win.
Eric Ward caught a touchdown pass and threw for another score, Josh Vaughan ran for 162 yards and a touchdown and the Spiders dominated Montana 24-7 on Friday night for the school’s first Football Championship Subdivision national championship.
“I guess the only ones who believed we could do this thing were the people inside the Richmond program,” said London, in his first season in charge at his alma mater.
The players held a meeting on Oct. 12 after a loss to James Madison and pledged not to give up on making a playoff run.
Richmond (13-3) won its next eight games behind the calm coaching of London, who replaced Dave Clawson after two seasons as defensive coordinator at Virginia. The Spiders went on to upset defending national champion Appalachian State in the playoff quarterfinals and hung on to beat Northern Iowa before toppling two-time national champion Montana.
The Grizzlies (14-2), who lost the 2004 championship to James Madison and were making their fifth trip to the title game, found themselves in a 21-0 hole by halftime.
“We picked a really bad day not to show up,” Montana safety Colt Anderson said.
Ward struck first when he pitched the ball to fullback John Crone just a few minutes into the game. The quarterback took off toward the end zone and Crone hit him from 23 yards out – his first touchdown pass and Ward’s first touchdown reception.
“I began giggling when it was called, because I never thought we would run it,” Crone said. “It happened in slow motion and when I saw him open, I knew I had to hit him or I would never hear the end of it.”
With 11:29 left in the first half and at the Montana 34, Vaughan bounced a run outside and scored from 5 yards out to make it 14-0.
Ward’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilkins with 2:13 to go before halftime capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive that took up nearly 7 minutes.
Montana quarterback Cole Bergquist was sacked seven times in the game, with Lawrence Sidbury responsible for four of them.
Montana didn’t reach the end zone until 11:56 left in the game, when Chase Reynolds plowed in from 4 yards out.