Liberty quarterback Ethan Vasko left the game in the second quarter with his arm in a sling, and James Madison (2-1) pulled away in the second half for a 31-13 “Battle of the Blue Ridge” victory in Lynchburg in the teams’ first meeting in 11 years — and their first as FBS opponents.
Vasko incurred the injury at sold-out Williams Stadium after running for 52 yards and LU’s only touchdown on 11 carries, though the Oscar Smith High graduate completed just 4 of 10 passes for 37 yards. Backups Michael Merdinger and Ethan Houck were relatively ineffective, guiding the Flames (1-3) — Old Dominion’s next opponent — to just a Jay Billingsley field goal.
Alonza Barnett III ran for two touchdowns and 45 yards on five carries and completed 17 of 25 for 213 yards and a touchdown, though he was intercepted in the end zone.
JMU’s Wayne Knight ran for 89 yards on 17 carries, and his 1-yard touchdown with 3:32 left in the third quarter erased a 13-10 deficit and put JMU ahead to stay. Ayo Adeyi added 87 yards on 13 rushes.
Apprentice 59, South Carolina Central Christian 0: The first New South Athletic Conference game in Apprentice School football history couldn’t have gone much better for the Builders.
They scored in every quarter and romped over the Gladiators (0-4, 0-1) in Newport News.
Even before Kendall Hunt threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, the game was well in hand. Logan Eastman’s 30-yard field goal and 1-yard touchdown runs from Colby Messe, Malachi Mitchell and Tyreon Taylor preceded Khamarie Trueblood’s 65-yard fumble return with 8 seconds left in the first half, giving the Builders a 31-0 lead.
Bradley Hebb and Baker Green made second-half TD receptions, and Mitchell closed the scoring via a 2-yard touchdown run with 3:13 remaining.
The Gladiators have been outscored 236-14 this year.
Richmond 38, VMI 14: Jamaal Brown rushed for a career-high 153 yards, Andrew King added another 100 yards on the ground, and Isaiah Dawson had two touchdowns for the Spiders at Robins Stadium.
Richmond (2-2) took a 14-7 lead before the game went into a weather delay due to lightning in the area with 5:48 remaining in the first quarter. The game was suspended for more than three hours.
Once play resumed, VMI scored on a pass to Owen Sweeney to tie the game at 14. Sweeney scored both touchdowns for the Keydets, totaling 106 yards.
Richmond quarterback Kyle Wickersham threw a 13-yard pass to Isaiah Dawson to regain the lead. Dawson had 99 yards total. Wickersham went 10 for 13, threw for two scores and 166 yards and rushed for a touchdown.
King had an 83-yard rush up the sideline to extend the Spiders’ lead to 31. Richmond totaled 541 yards on the ground.
Richmond’s Lee Bruner IV recorded his first collegiate interception in the second quarter.
Richmond moved to 47-40-5 over VMI (1-3), dating back to 1893. The last time the two teams had met was in 2015, a 42-10 victory for Richmond. Danny Rocco, now coaching the Keydets, was then coaching the Spiders.
Military
North Texas 45, Army 38, OT: Caleb Hawkins rushed for four touchdowns, including the game-winner in overtime, in an American Conference opener in West Point, New York. The Mean Green moved to 4-0 for the first time since 2018.
Hawkins’ 3-yard score put the Mean Green ahead. Army (1-2, 0-2), which won all eight of its conference games last season, failed to counter after Dewayne Coleman, who took over at quarterback in the second quarter after Cale Hellums had three turnovers, left with an apparent leg injury on the Black Knights’ second OT play.
Hellums came back, but a fourth-down pass was incomplete.
Army had a chance to win in regulation but settled for a tying field goal with nine seconds left. Hawkins finisheed with 99 yards on 14 carries.
Boise State 49, Air Force 37: Dylan Riley ran for 171 yards and four touchdowns and caught a 75-yard touchdown pass for the Broncos (2-1, Mountain West) in Colorado.
The only lead for the Falcons (1-2). was 7-0. After they tied the game at 21 barely a minute into the second half, Malik Sherod scored on a 40-yard run for the Broncos. Air Force answered with a field goal, and the teams alternated touchdowns with Riley’s 43-yard run icing it with 2:08 to play. Riley earlier scored on runs of 4, 34 and 8 yards.
Maddux Madsen completed 13 of 23 passes for 276 yards and two scores despite an interception for the Broncos. Liam Szarka was 13-of-18 passing for 242 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 111 yards and another score for the Falcons.
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