LEWISBURG — Ralph Rucker IV connected with Nate Anderson in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown with 2:14 to play, and safety Darius Day ended it with an interception deep in Bucknell territory as the Bison battled back to defeat new Patriot League foe Richmond 33-28 on homecoming at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

The Day pick was one of Bucknell’s three pivotal second-half interceptions. Freshman James Schlendorf’s breakup led to a diving interception by Brandon Biagiarelli to set up the winning score, and earlier in the half Schlendorf picked off a pass at the goal line as Richmond seemed poised to take a two-score lead.

The Bison and the Spiders played a true back-and-forth game where neither team let up for a single second of play, with 990 yards of total offense between the two teams.

Rucker went 24-for-34 for 284 yards and a touchdown. With 310 yards of total offense in the game, Rucker broke Bucknell’s career total offense record, which was previously held by Brandon Wesley ’13, who recorded 6,952 total yards of offense.

Sam Milligan led the Bison in receiving with 11 catches for 133 yards. Logan Bush led a balanced and efficient rushing attack with eight attempts for 47 yards and a touchdown. Michael Cadden led the scoring efforts with two rushing touchdowns on the afternoon. All told, the Bison ran for 212 yards on the way to 496 total yards, both season highs.

Schlendorf had a standout game on defense for the Bison as he recorded his career first sack, interception, and pass breakup, all of which played a big role in the Bison’s scoring efforts. Deuce Geter, Schlendorf, and Jack Inserra each finished with six tackles.

Both teams scored touchdowns on each of their first two drives to start the contest with all gas, no breaks. Richmond’s opening touchdown came thanks to a couple of big plays, starting with a 36-yard punt return by Carter Glassmyer. Aziz Foster-Powell then rushed for 25 yards and Ashten Snelsire found Isaih Dawson in the end zone for a 24-yard passing touchdown. Jayden Alsheskie made the extra point. Bucknell responded with a 9-play, 72-yard touchdown drive that saw a majority of rushes from three different backs.

On the drive, Tariq Thomas rushed for 17 yards, Ty Stauffer rushed for 15 and Michael Cadden rushed for 20 yards. There was one pass on the drive from Rucker to Milligan for 20 yards. The drive culminated in a 4-yard touchdown rush by Michael Cadden.

Richmond then scored a second 20-plus yard passing touchdown on its next drive. After Schlendorf sacked Snelsire (his first career sack) and the Bison contained the Spiders on second down, Snelsire found Quanye Veney for a 49-yard grab and then Foster-Powell rushed for 12 yards. The drive culminated in a 25-yard touchdown pass to Dawson. The Bison responded yet again, this time with an 11-play 78-yard touchdown drive that culminated in Bucknell’s fourth running back of the day entering the game on 4th-and-1 and rushing 11-yards into the end zone. Schearer made the extra point to tie the game at 14 at the start of the second quarter.

Richmond kept slinging as it then recorded their third 20+ yard passing touchdown of the afternoon on its third offensive drive as Snelsire found Andrew King in the back of the end zone on a 25-yard pass. Alsheskie made the extra point to give the Spiders their third lead of the game.

After that touchdown put the Spiders up 21-14, the defensive forces of both teams started to compete. The Bison’s next offensive drive was halted by an offensive holding call that nullified two 10+ yard catches by Anderson and forced the first punt of the afternoon. Richmond then traveled down the field and went for another deep pass toward the end zone on third down, but this time the Bison defense was ready as Schlendorf recorded his first career interception to give Bucknell the ball back. The Bison would find a first down on the first play as Bush ran for 12-yards, but would later turnover the ball on downs.

Bucknell 33, Richmond 28

Richmond 14 7 7 0 — 28

Bucknell 7 10 7 9 — 33

First quarter

R–Isaiah Dawson 24 pass from Ashten Snelsire (Jayden Alsheskie kick), 13:10.

B–Michael Cadden 4 run (Matt Schearer kick), 8:19.

R–Dawson 25 pass from Snelsire (Alsheskie kick), 5:41

Second quarter.

B–Logan Bush 11 run (Schearer kick), 14:56.

R–Andrew King 25 pass from Snelsire (Alsheskie kick), 11:42.

B–Schearer 31 field goal, 0:05.

Third quarter

B–Cadden 2 run (Schearer kick), 10:39.

R–Ja’Vion Griffin 25 pass from Snelsire (Alsheskie kick), 8:25.

Fourth quarter

B–Schearer 27 field goal, 6:14.

B–Nate Anderson 20 pass from Ralph Rucker IV (conversion failed), 2:14.

TEAM STATISTICS

R B

First downs 25 32

Rushes-yards 30-187 46-212

Passing yards 307 284

C-A-I 16-27-3 24-35-0

Total yards 494 496

Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-0

Penalties-yards 4-54 3-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Richmond, Aziz Foster-Powell 8-108, Ashten Snelsire 10-51, Jamaal Brown 7-30, Andrew King 2-6, Isaiah Dawson 1-5, TEAM 2-(minus 13). Bucknell, Logan Bush 8-47 TD, Ty Stauffer 7-44, Tariq Thomas 13-36, Michael Cadden 8-34 2 TDs, Ralph Rucker IV 6-26, Kaleb Kampkins 1-28, TEAM 3-(minus 3).

PASSING–Richmond, Ashten Snelsire 16-27-3 307 4 TDs. Bucknell, Ralph Rucker IV 24-34-0 284 TD.

RECEIVING–Richmond, Isaiah Dawson 6-144 2 TDs, Quanye Veney 2-57, Ja’vion Griffin 3-56 TD, Andrew King 2-24 TD, Trey Mancuso 1-14, Aiden Steinfeldt 1-7, Andreas Hill 1-5. Bucknell, Sam Milligan 11-133, Nate Anderson 4-66 TD, Josh Gary 4-38, TJ Cadden 4-35, Logan Bush 1-12, AJ Bosch 1-10.