 "Photo: Football vs Richmond by Casey Prather/The Towerlight")
Early in the third quarter, Towson freshman quarterback Tommy Chroniger’s 12-yard touchdown run gave Towson a 14-13 lead. There was hope at Johnny Unitas Stadium and a buzz in the air that Towson could do the unthinkable and knock off a team that hadn’t lost in 17 games coming into Saturday.
But the Richmond Spiders showed the small crowd of nearly 4,400 why they were worthy of their No.1 ranking, scoring the last 29 points of the game and rallying for a 42-14 win over Towson in a game that was closer than the score indicated. Towson is now 2-6 this season, 1-4 in the CAA.
“It feels really good to come out with a victory on the road against a scrappy Towson team,” Richmond head coach Mike London said. “We were able to make some more plays, particularly in the second half, and that kind of made the difference.”
Richmond senior quarterback Eric Ward finished the game throwing just 14 passes, but completed 11 of them for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Ward did not throw an interception.
Following Chroniger’s touchdown, Ward led the Spiders on a six-play 62-yard drive that ended with Justin Forte’s 10-yard touchdown run that put the Spiders in front, 19-14. On the ensuing two point conversion attempt, Ward dropped back to pass and was pressured by Towson safety Josh McCants. McCants got his hands on Ward and Ward appeared to have both knees on the ground, but got away an off-balance pass into the waiting arms of wide receiver Jordan Mitchell.
Replays on the TigerVision video board also suggested Ward may have been down, sending Towson head coach Rob Ambrose out on the field to discuss the missed call with the officials. However, the call stood and Richmond took a 21-14 lead with 8:01 to play in the third quarter.
“I have no idea,” Ward said when asked if his knees were down. “That was a very important drive for us.”
To that, London interjected.
“Of course his knee wasn’t down,” he said with a laugh.
From there, Richmond would never trail again.
Tremayne Graham’s 32-yard interception return for a touchdown off a pass from Chroniger gave the Spiders a 35-14 lead and capped off a 2:33 span in which Richmond scored 22 straight points. It was the fifth time this season that a Towson pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown.
For the Tigers, the beginning of the game could not have gone better. For the first time this season, Towson did not allow their opponent to score in the first quarter of play. The team also alternated Chroniger and Jeremy Jayne effectively at the quarterback position, with each player making key plays to keep the game within reach.
Towson was 3-5 on third down conversions in the first quarter, but the Tigers were only 1-8 on third downs for the remainder of the game. Towson also only gained 164 yards of total offense.
“I’d like to say that I’m extremely proud of the staff and the players,” Ambrose said. “For two and a half quarters, I’d say we were doing what everybody in the country thought was completely and utterly impossible.”
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