Richmond downs Montana to win 1-AA/FCS title

The underdog Richmond Spiders dominated traditional powerhouse Montana on Friday night to win the school’s first 1-AA/FCS football title.  The Spiders used a power rushing game and solid ball control football to open up a 21-0 halftime lead and were never threatened.  The Wolfpack were kept off the board altogether until early in the fourth quarter, and with Richmond controlling the clock and moving the chains it was too little too late and the Spiders prevailed 24-7.

Montana entered the contest 14-1 and expected to cruise in their fifth title game appearance.  Richmond, meanwhile, got off to a slow start this season and had a 4-3 record in mid October.  That’s when the team held a players only meeting and vowed not to give up on the season.  They didn’t lose again after that making first year coach Mike London look like a genius in the process.  He praised his team’s commitment in his post game press conference:

"I guess the only ones who believed we could do this thing were the people inside the Richmond program”

The Spiders played mistake free football and outrushed Montana 208-39.  Montana held the edge in passing yardage, but also gave up two costly turnovers.  In the end, they faced a team that didn’t beat themselves and chewed up yardage when they had the ball.  When the Wolfpack was on offense, the Spider defense applied relentless pressure up front that produced seven sacks of Montana QB Cole Lundquist.  Lawrence Sidbury had four sacks himself, but dismissed suggestions that he’d done anything extraordinary:

"We did nothing special. We just did what we are coached to do. We were able to get pressure on them."

With players that buy into that kind of mindset, Richmond’s championship victory becomes much easier to understand.  That also explains their lack of “quit” and the mental toughness that enabled them to beat the #2, #3 and #4 seeds in 1-AA/FCS football on the way to the championship.  They also trailed in three of the four games leading up to their dominant final performance. 

Montana Coach Bobby Hauck summed up their performance with this bit of postgame praise:

"They did a really nice job, doing to us what we've been doing to people we've played lately. They gave a great effort. They got out to a good start and held on. They played great defense and didn’t let us back in the game."