FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SUBDIVISION

• Winning continues for Richmond, which maintains top spot

  
  

  Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - A big second half helped Richmond to a 42-14 victory at Towson this past Saturday, and also allowed the Spiders to retain their No. 1 spot in The Sports Network FCS Top-25 poll.

  The Spiders improved to 8-0 on the cusp of their Colonial Athletic Association showdown with No. 4-ranked Villanova on Saturday in Virginia.

  Richmond received 123 of 141 first-place votes, with No. 2 Montana picking up nine, No. 3 Southern Illinois drawing seven and Villanova and No. 7 Appalachian State grabbing one each.

  Richmond's lead over Montana for first place was 82 points, 3,481 to 3,299.

  With nine of the top-10 teams winning games on Saturday and the other (Villanova) being idle, the top-10 remained exactly the same for the first time this season.

  Montana (8-0) bombed No. 14 Weber State 31-10 in a Big Sky throw-down at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, causing the Wildcats (5-4) to tumble to 19th in the poll.

  Southern Illinois (7-1), which meets No. 9 South Dakota State for the Missouri Valley Football Conference title this Saturday, tuned up by blanking Indiana State 33-0 on the road.

  William & Mary (7-1) stayed at No. 5 with a 39-14 decision at Rhode Island, while Elon (7-1) used a 34-6 thumping of Wofford to glide along at No. 6.

  Appalachian State (6-2) crushed rival Furman 52-27 on the road to stay at No. 7, while New Hampshire (7-1) remained at No. 8 with its 48-21 home win over Northeastern.

  South Dakota State (7-1) beat Youngstown State 17-3 in a defensive struggle on the road to hang on to the No. 9 slot and South Carolina State (7-1) held on to the 10th position with a 52-10 thrashing of Delaware State.

  There was a huge shake-up in the rest of the poll, with seven ranked teams being defeated on Saturday.

  After back-to-back losses, Northern Iowa (5-3) bounced back up one spot to No. 11 during a bye week, edging McNeese State (6-2) by one point. McNeese State beat Nicholls State, 38-17.

  Holy Cross (7-1) showed a significant increase in support following a 41-27 victory over Fordham in Patriot League play. The Crusaders moved from 17th to 13th in the poll.

  Eastern Illinois also received a boost after a 16-10 win over Murray State in a Ohio Valley Conference game, jumping from 20th to 14th.

  Stephen F. Austin (6-2) dropped a 28-7 decision to defending Southland Conference champion Texas State on the road, and suffered a drop from 11th to 15th.

  Liberty (6-2) skyrocketed from 23rd to 16th by hammering Presbyterian 55-19 at home and Jacksonville State (5-3) rose from 22nd to 17th with a 28-10 win over Austin Peay on the road.

  Colgate (8-1) got back on the winning track after its loss the previous week to Holy Cross. The Raiders moved from 24th to 18th by edging Lehigh, 27-20, at home.

  Completing the top-20 is Central Arkansas (5-3). The Bears dropped their second straight game after cracking the top-10 two weeks ago, losing 25-21 at Southeastern Louisiana.

  The rest of the poll is filled by Eastern Washington, Prairie View, Delaware, Florida A&M and Lafayette.

  Eastern Washington (6-3) checked back into the poll after a two-week absence with a 47-10 victory over Portland State at Seattle's Qwest Field.

  Prairie View (5-1), which broke into the poll for just the second time in school history last week, moved up to its highest ranking ever at No. 22 during a bye week.

  Delaware (5-3) slipped from 16th to 23rd when it suffered a 20-8 setback at home against James Madison.

  Florida A&M (6-2) leaped back into the poll after a two-week absence at No. 24 with a 31-28 overtime victory at Morgan State in a battle for second place in the MEAC.

  Lafayette (7-1) earned its first trip to the poll this season by thumping Bucknell 35-14.

  Three teams fell out of the latest rankings: Cal Poly (4-4), Massachusetts (4-4) and Northern Arizona (5-3).

  Cal Poly had been ranked No. 18 before losing to North Dakota 31-17 on the road in Great West Conference play, while previously-No. 19-ranked UMass was beaten 19-9 by Maine in another road contest.

  The road was also unkind to Northern Arizona, which lost 27-24 at Sacramento State and saw its No. 21 ranking disappear.

  11/02 14:44:51 ET