ODU wins their fifth CAA Conference game against the University of Richmond
Written By: Matthew McCracken
Sports Editor
Antonio Vaughn’s one yard touchdown catch gave the Monarchs the lead, Colby Coodwyn’s nine yard run allowed them breathing room, and the tenacious defense of Old Dominion (8-2, 5-2) secured the 42-28 victory over the University of Richmond Spiders (3-6, 0-6).
It was senior day for Old Dominion, who announced and celebrated the careers of eight seniors playing in their last home game for the Monarchs. Richmond, who hadn’t won a game in the CAA, was known as an explosive team that didn’t reflect their record. In previous weeks, they had recorded close losses against Maine, Towson and New Hampshire.
“I knew the kids were hearing a lot about potentially a let-down. We talked about being the hunter, and not the hunted. I was very pleased with how aggressive we were at the start of this game,” Monarchs’ head coach Bobby Wilder said.
Receiving the opening kickoff, the Monarchs put together a seven play, 46 yard drive in two minutes and 13 seconds of play. The dynamic duo of quarterback Taylor Heinicke and receiver Larry Pinkard connected on a 14 yard touchdown play. Quarterback Thomas Demarco, once the face of the Monarchs, ran it in for the two point conversion to put ODU up 8-0.
The Spiders didn’t even touch Monarch territory until late in the first quarter due to a failed fourth down conversion by the Monarchs. Richmond took advantage of this with redshirt senior quarterback Aaron Corp hooking up with his redshirt junior tight end Kevin Finney on a 17 yard touchdown catch.
Taking after the mentality Old Dominion established, Richmond succeeded on a two point conversion thanks to the sure-handed redshirt sophomore tight end Sam Roller. That put the score 11-8 ODU, due to a 37 yard field goal by Monarch kicker Jarod Brown earlier in the first quarter.
Photography By Ari Gould
Monarchs’ Heinicke threw for 373 yards on 47 attempts with three touchdowns. Throughout the game, he connected with nine different Monarch receivers.
“When you have 373 yard passing, and you aren’t pushing the ball down the field on a regular basis, there is certainly a lot of yards after the catch,” coach Wilder said.
Everything seemed to be going in favor of the Monarchs, despite a five yard touchdown pass to Spiders’ sophomore receiver Ben Edwards at the 8:50 mark in the second quarter. Old Dominion answered that challenge with an eight play, 69 yard drive, capped off with a 29 yard touchdown reception by senior receiver Prentice Gill.
After another Jarod Brown field goal and strong defense, the Monarchs found themselves in the Richmond red zone again. Heinicke scrambled for more yardage, spinning off a defender, going to the ground. Before the whistle was blown, the ball came out. Richmond redshirt junior safety Doug Howell scooped and scored off a 96 yard fumble return to bring the Spiders within a score of the Monarchs, 22-28.
“I should have just got down. I tried to do too much,” Heinicke said.
After missing a 46 yard field goal attempt, the Monarchs were forced to give the ball back to Richmond. 11 plays, 71 yards later, the Spiders tied up the game at 28. Redshirt freshman receiver Stephen Barnette snagged a 14 yard catch with one hand at the 12:17 mark in the fourth quarter.
“That was an unbelievable play he made, it looked like he was catching an alley-oop,” Richmond head coach Wayne Lineburg said.
To take away from the big plays, Richmond defensive backs offered short passes only for Heinicke, and Monarch redshirt junior receiver Reid Evans gladly accepted it. Catching a team-high 12 receptions for 149 yards, Evans ran whatever the defense would give him.
“I was just waiting for my time. I was just being patient, the ball got thrown to me, and I just made the plays,” Evans said.
Evans’ consistency led to Antonio Vaughn’s one yard reception to give the Monarchs the lead with 9:30 remaining.
Looking to answer, the Spiders instead heard the twelfth Monarch, as the crowd at S.B. Ballard supported their Old Dominion defense. On second down, a tipped pass was intercepted by Monarch sophomore safety Paul Morant.
“I can’t speak enough about how those kids are playing. I feel like for three weeks now, we have played very good football on defense. These kids are relentless on how they perform, how they prepare,” Wilder said.
A nine yard touchdown run by Monarchs’ Colby Goodwyn to cap off a 70 yard drive washed the Spiders down the drain, as ODU took a 14 point lead with 5:09 remaining.
Spiders had one more shot at making a comeback. On third down with a little over four minutes left, Monarchs’ linebacker Craig Wilkins came free on the blindside, leveling Spiders quarterback Aaron Corp.
“We called a blitz, the line slid to Ronnie [Cameron], and I came clean. I just took a shot,” Wilkins said.
Spiders failed to complete the fourth down conversion, and once the starting quarterback for ODU, Thomas Demarco, took over Monarchs offense for the last minute playing his final game at Foreman Field.
With the 42-28 win, there are whispers of the word ‘playoffs’ around Old Dominion. Monarch players seem to worry about other things that they can control.
“We are trying to get Nov. 12 on. We just going to enjoy this tonight, come back tomorrow, work hard and focus on William and Mary,” Wilkins said.
