Falling just short
Flames lose double-OT heartbreaker in Rocco’s return
Clutch — Wide reciever Darrin Peterson (13) brings down the first of his career-high three touchdown catches on the night. Photo credit: Leah Seavers
On a night when Flames quarterback Josh Woodrum played one of the best all-around games of his career, it was his lone miscue that ended the game.
Richmond (3-2) sent an all-out blitz at the Liberty (3-3) quarterback on a third-and-four in double overtime and Spiders linebacker blindsided Woodrum, popping the ball into the hands of linebacker Omar Howard to seal Richmond’s 46-39 victory. It was the only turnover of the game by either team.
In front of a Williams Stadium record Homecoming crowd of 20,838, Woodrum had career day on the ground, rushing for more than 100 yards for the first time in his three years as a starter. He finished with 108 yards and two touchdowns, while connecting with wide receiver Darrin Peterson three times through the air, ending up with a total of five scores. Peterson — the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) leader in receiving yards — finished the day with 11 catches for 136 yards en route to his fourth straight 100-yard effort.
“They really had lots of guts and thought they could guard one-on-one,” Peterson said. “And it wasn’t happening.”
In Richmond Head Coach Danny Rocco’s first trip to Liberty on the opposing sideline, it was evident the game was special for him. After the Spiders scored their second touchdown of the game, Rocco decided to go for two, even though it was the first quarter. When Howard ended up with the ball to end the game, Rocco raised both hands above his head, fists clenched, the entire way to his midfield handshake with Flames Head Coach Turner Gill.
“It was one of the more special moments for me in my coaching career,” Rocco said. “I was out walking this morning, like I always do, and I saw a lot of friendly faces. A lot of people popped out of Starbucks or pulled off the road to say hi to me. You just can’t even imagine how that made me feel.”
The former Liberty head coach’s trip nearly became a nightmare after a late-game clock management blunder gave Liberty a glimpse of hope to send the game to overtime.
Rocco called a timeout with 11 seconds remaining to give kicker Peter Yoder a 22-yard field goal to take a 25-22 lead, but still gave the Flames seven seconds to set up John Lunsford for a game-tying field goal. A bad kickoff and a 22-yard Gabe Henderson catch later, and Lunsford booted a conference-record 60-yard field goal through the uprights as time expired to tie the game.
“At first, I didn’t even realize what happened,” Lunsford said. “I just started running around. I didn’t know what to think. It was an honor to just have a chance to attempt it.”
Rocco admitted postgame that Lunsford’s kick could have been avoided with better clock management and better execution on the ensuing kickoff, where Yoder’s shallow kick gave the Flames the ball at their own 35-yard line.
“In a do-over, I’d do it differently,” Rocco said. “I looked at where the ball was, the ball was sitting right on the extra point line. I did not want to run another play and then use the timeout. I probably got a little bit quick to go and take that timeout immediately like I did.”
The Flames struck first in overtime, with Woodrum lofting a fade right into Peterson’s hands for the third time of the evening to give the Flames their first lead of the game. Richmond did not take long to strike back, with Seth Fisher finding daylight down the middle for a 16-yard touchdown to send the game into a second extra period. Fisher scored his fourth touchdown of the game in the second overtime from one yard out — he had two rushing and two receiving scores to go along with 155 total yards — but the Flames still had a chance to answer. Three plays later, Woodrum was intercepted, ending the game.
“More than anything, they just did one play more than we did tonight,” Woodrum said. “I was really proud of how our guys responded. Last year, we had a double-overtime loss to Coastal (Carolina) and ended up winning five straight, so I don’t think this is going to slow us down. If anything, this is going to motivate us more.”
Liberty will look to begin a winning streak when it travels to Appalachian State (1-4) Oct. 11, where it will take on a struggling Mountaineers team in their Homecoming game. The last time the Flames and Mountaineers clashed back in 2002, Appalachian State came away with a 29-22 victory.
Tichenor is the sports editor.