Ashten Snelsire's 4 total touchdowns help Richmond rally past Lafayette in 40-31 victory

EASTON, Pa. (AP) — Ashten Snelsire accounted for four touchdowns — three passing and one rushing — and Richmond rallied from a 17-point deficit to defeat Lafayette 40-31 on Saturday.

After trailing 24-7 late in the second quarter and 24-17 at halftime, the Spiders scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the second half to build a 38-24 lead near the beginning of the fourth quarter. Including a touchdown and a field goal in the final two minutes of the first half, the Spiders scored on five consecutive possessions.

Lafayette responded with a 10-yard touchdown run by Malachi Gamble, then reached the Richmond 8-yard line on the next possession before being stopped on fourth down. Richmond added a safety in the final two minutes.

Snelsire completed 24 of 38 passes for 218 yards with the three touchdowns and two interceptions. He added 69 yards with one touchdown on the ground. Aziz Foster-Powell ran for 113 yards with a touchdown for the Spiders (5-1, 3-0 Patriot League), ranked No. 24 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25.

Jakyre Henley's 152 yards rushing included two long touchdown runs Daniel Lipovski had 113 yards passing for Lafayette (1-4, 0-2).

Henley's touchdown runs of 72 and 74 yards powered the Leopards to a 24-17 halftime lead. The first, a 72-yard burst up the middle, gave the Leopards a 14-7 lead in the first quarter. His 74-yard run on a similar play call made it 24-7 late in the second quarter. He lost a total of 1 yard on his three other carries in the first half.

Lafayette had won each of the previous four games in the series.

Richmond: at Fordham next Saturday

Lafayette: at Bucknell on Oct. 17

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