After tying the score before the half, the Scotland football team must've had upset on their minds.

Less than five minutes into the third quarter, Richmond erased any ideas of an upset.

Raiders tailback Walter Ellerbe rushed for 211 yards and four touchdowns as Richmond put an end to the Scots season, 35-7, at Pate Stadium Friday night.

The Raiders finished with 387 offensive yards, but 106 yards on 16 penalties kept Scotland within striking distance for the first 24 minutes.

"When they (Richmond) went up 14-7 before the half, I told our guys that we’ve got to be prepared to answer,” Scots Coach Chip Williams said. “Because the worse thing that could happen is the score becomes 21-7, that’s what happened and we didn’t answer.”

After Antoine Bostick picked off Caison Murphy on the Scots first possession, Tedarrius Wiley scored on the very next play. The senior signal caller kept the ball and scurried 43 yards to the end zone. Chandler Connor's first of five extra points made it 7-0 just 51 seconds in.

Scotland (2-9, 0-5 SEC) was the recipients of a quartet of Raider penalties late in the second and took advantage.

The Scots embarked on an 11-play, 68-yard drive that chewed up five minutes of clock. The drive included a bad snap on fourth down which led to a fake punt run by Dominique Green. The sophomore’s run went for ten yards and kept the Scots chances alive.

The journey ended with Tony McRae punching it into the end zone from a yard out. Will Purcell's extra point tied the game at seven with 3:05 to play before halftime.

"We knew we were going to get a tough game from them,” said Richmond Coach Paul Hoggard. “Because for some of them this will the last game that they ever play. “

With a minute left in the first half,Wiley rushed for an eight-yard run but was then flipped head over heels and landed badly. He did not return for the second half and was replaced by Laron Ellerbe.

“(Laron) Ellerbe did a good job filling in for us,” said Hoggard of his junior back-up. “We put this game on the offensive line and Walter’s (Ellerbe) shoulders and they responded and turned the tables.”

When it looked like the two teams would go into the half tied, Ellerbe decided to do something about. The junior scored from 11 yards out giving Richmond (10-1, 5-0 SEC) a 14-7 lead with 22 seconds left to play before halftime.



"I knew it was coming,” said Williams of the Raiders final drive of the first half. “They (Richmond) put one in after their quarterback got hurt. We missed an assignment on the option and the guy scored.”

After rushing for just 25 first-half yards, Ellerbe put it into another gear to start the second half.

Ellerbe tacked on a four-yard run just over a minute into the third quarter and made it 28-7 with 7:28 left in the quarter when he busted through the tackles and took the pigskin 88 yards to the end zone.

He followed up the big run with a three-yard touchdown rush with 5:35 left to play in the quarter.

Early in the fourth, Joe Holm got himself a present on his 18th birthday. The senior safety picked off (Laron) Ellerbe.

Scotland was able to move the ball down the field but Murphy’s third interception of the game was picked off by Kasheem Reid.

Murphy rushed 19 times in the game for 121 yards and was 4-of-10 passing for 33 yards.



“Caison’s (Murphy) a good player but we’re subject to turnovers,” said Williams on his sophomore signal caller. “You have to credit their back-up (L. Ellerbe). He did an incredible job coming in.”

McRae added 60 yards on 15 rushes to go along with his touchdown. He also hauled in a pair of passes. The Scots leading receiver, Devon Lloyd, was held without a catch.

Along with Bostick and Reid, Rashod Rush picked up an interception in the third quarter.

Along with (Walter) Ellerbe’s performance on just 14 rushes, Wiley ran the ball eight times for 87 yards before leaving the game. His back-up rushed for 50 yards.

John Rich led the way for Richmond, receiving-wise. The junior caught a pair of passes for 24. Quayshawn Dumas caught just one pass in the game for 13 yards.