JOHN DEMPSEY

Even leading 21-7 in the fourth quarter, the Villanova Wildcats still needed a big play to hold off the University of Richmond on Saturday at Villanova Stadium. The big play came when defensive end Rakim Cox deflected a lateral by Spiders quarterback Nick Hicks. As the ball bounced and rolled back onto the Richmond side of the 50, the teams stood around for a second then Wildcats safety John Dempsey raced for the ball and picked it up.

“Nobody knew it was a fumble,” said Dempsey, a senior and graduate of Cardinal O’Hara. “I went up to Rakim and was patting him on the helmet. I said, ‘great job, we’re off the field it’s fourth down.’ [Then] coach Smith (Villanova’s running backs/tight ends coach Darrius Smith) almost ran onto the field, I though he was going to go pick it up. I just grabbed it and took off.”

Dempsey was tackled at the Richmond 12-yard line. That series if events set up a three-yard touchdown pass from Chris Whitney to tight end Chris Farmer which provided the final margin in the Wildcats 28-7 win.

That big play was needed because the Villanova offense which scored on three of its first five possessions and rolled up 247 yards offense in the first half was shutdown in the second half. Starting with their final possession of the first half until they got the ball back following Dempsey’s recovery, the Wildcats gained just 22 yards and had five straight three-and-outs. Of those five drives, three started at or inside Villanova’s own 20 including two inside the five-yard line.

Meanwhile, the Spiders had scored on a drive that was kept alive by converting a fake punt and were consistently moving the ball after gaining just 94 yards in the first half.

“The score was 21-7 and we had some momentum,” said Spiders first-year head coach Latrell Scott.