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Villanova picks 1st Colonial win, 45-21 victory at Richmond
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Aaron Forbes ran for 160 yards and a first-quarter touchdown and Nowooola Awopetu returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the third quarter as Villanova earned its first Colonial Athletic Conference victory in six tries, knocking off Richmond 45-21 on Saturday.
Villanova leads the series, 22-13, but the Spiders shutout the Wildcats in the previous two meetings.
Forbes capped a nine-play, 75-yard first-quarter drive with a 19-yard run and Drew Kresge sandwiched field goals from 40- and 22-yards out around Qadir Ismail's 15-yard touchdown pass to Jarrett McClenton to put Villanova (4-5, 1-5) up 20-7 at intermission.
Awopetu returned an interception 20 yards midway through the third quarter to make it 28-14 and another 18 yards with 2:40 left for a 38-14 lead.
Villanova picked off four Richmond quarterbacks five times, including three off starter Joe Mancuso and two more off Kevin Johnson. Christian Benford had three interceptions for the Wildcats.
Mancuso had 11 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown for Richmond (3-6, 1-5).
Ismail finished 8 of 17 for 132 yards passing, with a touchdown and an interception.
