RICHMOND (Interstat) — Richmond defeated visiting Colgate 13-6 on Saturday in an NCAA Football Championship Division game at Robins Stadium, leaning on its defense and a timely touchdown pass to hold off the Raiders before an announced attendance of 5,519. The Spiders improved to 6-2, while the Raiders fell to 4-4. Richmond’s defense set the tone, and the Spiders did enough on offense to hand Colgate a narrow road defeat in a game that featured more field goals than touchdowns.

Colgate quarterback Jake Stearney completed 25 of 45 passes for 312 yards, frequently connecting with Matt Fogler, who caught 10 passes for 180 yards. Peyton Way added six receptions for 63 yards and returned a punt 9 yards, while Cole Fulton finished with 12 carries for 16 yards and two catches for 8 yards. Winston Moore had two receptions for 15 yards, Kam Phillips and Chief Montalvo each caught a 13-yard pass, Aleks Sitkowski had two receptions for 12 yards and P.J. Holmes caught one pass for 8 yards. O’Shea Faison carried twice for 6 yards. Luke Vogeler made field goals from 35 and 29 yards for the Raiders. Despite the steady production, Colgate could not turn enough drives into touchdowns and settled for two field goals. Stearney’s 312 yards came on 45 attempts, and Fogler accounted for more than half of the passing yardage. Way was the next most productive receiver, and Phillips added two tackles on defense.

Richmond quarterback Ashten Snelsire completed 10 of 20 passes for 116 yards and threw a touchdown, adding four rushes for 3 yards. Jaiden Fair caught two passes for 49 yards and scored on a 16-yard reception, also returning one kickoff 15 yards and two punts 12 yards. Sean Clarke caught three passes for 32 yards, Bryce Allen had two receptions for 20 yards, and Aziz Foster-Powell led the ground game with 14 carries for 80 yards while adding one reception for minus-3 yards. Jack Callaghan carried twice for 5 yards, and Jamaal Brown had five rushes for 16 yards and one catch for 3 yards. Kyle Bitsko made a 39-yard field goal and missed a 38-yard attempt. Ned Gray punted six times for 275 yards. Snelsire’s 16-yard scoring strike to Fair was the game’s only passing touchdown, and Fair’s all-purpose contributions included 49 receiving yards, 15 kickoff return yards and 12 punt return yards. Clarke and Allen provided secondary options in the passing game, while Foster-Powell’s 80 rushing yards on 14 attempts gave Richmond its most consistent production on the ground. Brown added 16 rushing yards on five carries, and Bitsko’s 39-yard field goal and extra point accounted for four special-teams points.

Richmond’s defense created problems throughout, with Blake Houser recording 10 tackles, three sacks, two quarterback hurries and an interception. Devin Geronomi made 12 tackles, Daniel Sellers had six tackles, one sack and one quarterback hurry, and Tramayne Bullock added five tackles and an interception. Jeremiah Washington also intercepted a pass and made four tackles, while Jordan Allen finished with five tackles. Tayshaun Burney had four tackles, Camden Byrd recorded two sacks among his two tackles and two quarterback hurries, Moses Bailey had two tackles and a sack, Carter Glassmyer made two tackles with a quarterback hurry, and Braxton Lassiter added a sack. TJ Baldwin had three tackles. Caleb Geronomi made three tackles, and Krystian Williams, Jamar Hodges, Kyree Richardson, Jordan Wilkes, Jackson Thorne, Matthew Jones and Ty Harris each were credited with one tackle. Andrew McKenzie and Matt Holland contributed for the Spiders without recording a statistic in the provided summary. Houser’s three sacks and Byrd’s two sacks were part of a disruptive pass rush, and the secondary came away with interceptions from Houser, Bullock and Washington.

Colgate’s Trooper Price recorded 12 tackles, Christian Magliacano had nine tackles and one quarterback hurry, and Kenny Langston made six tackles. Dawson Rodd added three tackles and a quarterback hurry, Reece Allan had two tackles, and Kam Phillips finished with two tackles. Tymir Wynn had three tackles and returned two punts for minus-5 yards. Justin Tedim and Zach Jones each made one tackle. Despite those efforts, Richmond’s defense and special teams did enough to keep Colgate out of the end zone. Colgate’s two field goals came from Vogeler, while Richmond answered with Bitsko’s field goal, Snelsire’s touchdown pass to Fair and Bitsko’s extra point. The Spiders’ defense produced multiple sacks and three interceptions, helping Richmond protect its advantage after taking the lead. Price’s 12 tackles led Colgate, and Magliacano’s nine stops were next. Langston added six stops, while Rodd’s quarterback hurry was one of the few times Colgate disrupted Snelsire.

The game unfolded as a matchup of contrasting offensive approaches. Colgate generated most of its yardage through Stearney and Fogler, but Richmond’s front seven consistently pressured the quarterback and forced the Raiders to settle for field goals. Richmond’s offense did not need a huge passing day because Foster-Powell and the running game provided balance, while Snelsire avoided major mistakes and connected with Fair for the game’s key touchdown. Colgate’s defense kept the game within reach behind Price and Magliacano, but the Raiders could not produce the touchdown drive they needed late. Colgate’s season has included wins over Fordham, Holy Cross, Cornell and Villanova, along with losses to Central Michigan, Harvard and Georgetown. Richmond has beaten Bucknell, Howard, Georgetown, Furman and Lafayette and lost to North Carolina State and Fordham.

Richmond’s win followed a loss to Fordham, while Colgate entered after a loss to Georgetown. The Spiders have now won six of their first eight games, and the Raiders are even at four wins and four losses. Colgate’s Stearney finished with more than 300 passing yards, and Fogler was his favorite target throughout, but Richmond’s ability to create negative plays and turnovers proved decisive. The Spiders also controlled field position with Gray’s punting and benefited from Bitsko’s field goal and extra point. Colgate’s Vogeler was accurate on his field goal attempts, but the Raiders were unable to finish drives with touchdowns against a Richmond defense that tightened near the goal line.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a 30-29 Richmond victory, and its ELO system gave Richmond an 86.4 percent pregame probability of winning.