For Dukes' McGee, Final Return Is a Happy One in Win Over Spiders

RICHMOND, Oct. 11 -- Richmond had done its best to avoid kicking to speedy James Madison returner Scotty McGee all afternoon, kicking the ball short, right or left, just about anywhere on the field McGee wasn't.

But the Spiders couldn't keep the ball out of McGee's hands the entire game. With 18 seconds left, punter Brian Radford sent the ball in McGee's direction. The 5-foot-9 junior from Virginia Beach caught it, sidestepped a couple of defenders then raced up the right sideline, getting a terrific block from Rockeed McCarter.

McGee's 69-yard punt return for a touchdown with one second remaining rallied top-ranked James Madison to a 38-31 victory over No. 5 Richmond on Saturday afternoon, the fifth consecutive win by the visiting team in this series.

McGee, whose five career returns a touchdown breaks former Washington Redskin Gary Clark's school record, was still caught up in the moment long after the game had ended.

"I really can't put it into words," McGee said. "I'm just overwhelmed at this point."

The 16,151 fans, the largest crowd to watch a game at University of Richmond Stadium, were treated to a classic matchup between a strong offense and a stout defense. James Madison (6-1, 4-0 Colonial Athletic Association), led by quarterback Rodney Landers, has the league's top scoring offense, averaging 38.3 points per game. Richmond (4-3, 2-2), led defensive ends Lawrence Sidbury (Oxon Hill) and Sherman Logan, both candidates for the Buck Buchanan Award, has the top defense in the league, limiting opponents to 293.3 yards per game.

The Dukes scored on every possession in the first half except their last drive, when they elected to take a knee and run out the clock, and yet they trailed, 14-13 at halftime.

Landers, who accounted for 225 yards of total offense a week ago against Hofstra, gained just 62 rushing yards and threw for 96 yards, with most of those yards coming after halftime.

"They pretty much took me out of the game in the first half," Landers said.

Richmond, whose eight-game home win streak ended, appeared to have the game in hand when Eric Ward completed a 28-yard pass to Tre Gray (five catches for 97 yards) on fourth and five from the James Madison 31-yard line. One play later, Josh Vaughan (23 carries for 94 yards) scored his second touchdown on a three-yard run to put the Spiders ahead, 31-23, with 3 minutes 20 seconds to play.

After containing James Madison the entire game, Richmond's defense wore down on the Dukes' final drive. JMU ran the ball on six of the seven plays of its 63-yard scoring drive, which culminated in Eugene Holloman's eight-yard touchdown run. On the two-point conversion, Landers threw a perfectly placed pass to Griff Yancey, who made the diving catch in the right front corner of the end zone to tie the score at 31.

Richmond converted a first down on its first play of its final drive, but then was forced to punt after J.D. Skolnitsky (Fairfax) sacked Ward on third and 12 from the Richmond 40. Richmond Coach Mike London said the intention was to punt the ball to the right side of the field. Instead, McGee ended up with it.

"It is a tough loss," Ward said. "A game is 60 minutes. Unfortunately, we had a lapse at 59:50."

· PENN 27, GEORGETOWN 7: Chris Wynn returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, and freshman Matt Hamscher ran for 102 yards and a score in his Quakers debut.

Andrew Samson kicked two field goals and Luke DeLuca rushed for a touchdown for visiting Penn (2-2), which won its second consecutive game. The Quakers improved to 5-0-1 all-time against Georgetown (1-4).

The Hoyas, whose Oct. 4 game at Colgate was canceled because of an outbreak of norovirus on the Georgetown campus, dropped their fourth straight. Georgetown fell to 2-19-1 all-time against Ivy League opponents.

· CATHOLIC 48, WASHINGTON & LEE 29: Keith Ricca threw for 287 yards and five touchdowns, breaking brother Kevin Ricca's school career passing yardage mark as the host Cardinals (5-1, 1-1 Old Dominion Athletic Conference) outscored the Generals (4-2, 1-1).

· ELIZABETH CITY STATE 29, BOWIE STATE 28: The Vikings (4-3, 4-0 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) scored 15 points, including a two-point conversion on a fake kick, in the final 4:24 to beat the Bulldogs (2-4, 1-3), who were led by Jason Scott's 253 passing yards.

· SU NY MARITIME 27, GALLAUDET 0: Quarterback Michael Smooke ran for three touchdowns and the host Privateers (3-3) posted their first shutout by beating the Bison (1-4).