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RICHMOND, Va. -- On the second play of Saturday's Football Championship Subdivision playoff opener against Richmond, Elon's leading tackler, linebacker Josh Jones, strained a knee and didn't return.

The Phoenix lost three more players to injuries. But instead of falling out of contention against the defending FCS champions, Elon hung in until the end before losing 16-13 at UR Stadium.

"You always want to have everybody on the team eligible, but we always prepare everyone else for these kind of situations," linebacker Dale Riley said.

The Phoenix had two chances to either win or force overtime.

"Our goal was to try to keep it close and be in position late in the game to make a few plays to win it," said Elon coach Pete Lembo. "It played out that way, but unfortunately we couldn't convert."

After Andrew Howard's third field goal gave Richmond a 16-6 lead with 12:19 left, Elon answered with a 22-yard TD pass from Scott Riddle to record-setting receiver Terrell Hudgins.

Hudgins caught 12 passes for 167 yards, giving him 123 receptions for the season, an FCS record.

"Terrell's effort was unbelievable, off the charts," Lembo said.

Howard missed a 46-yard field goal on Richmond's next possession, handing the ball to the Phoenix (9-3) at their 29. Riddle completed four straight passes, three to Hudgins, moving the ball to the Spiders' 10, setting up second and 3.

Riddle, who was 25-of-42 for 309 yards, tried to hit split end Aaron Mellette on a down-and-out pattern in the end zone, but Mellette caught it clearly out of bounds. On his next pass, Riddle tried to find Hudgins on a similar pattern.

Hudgins made the catch, but his left foot appeared to land on the sideline and it was ruled incomplete.

"I give a lot of credit to Richmond's defense," Riddle said. "They forced us to not do some things we normally do on offense. We made some adjustments at halftime and put in a few kinks. Terrell came alive in the second half and showed how good of a player he is."

The first one came when redshirt freshman Adam Shreiner, who had connected from 24 and 18 yards earlier, pushed a 27-yard field goal attempt wide right with 1:30 to go. Elon's defense forced a three-and-out, and the Phoenix got the ball back with :25 left.

Riddle moved Elon close enough for Shreiner to try a 47-yarder with :07 remaining that could have send it to OT. But UR's Parker Miles was able to get a hand on the ball and cause the kick to fall far short.

The fourth-seeded Spiders (11-0) will meet Appalachian State (10-2) on Saturday in Richmond.

Elon 0 3 3 7 -- 13

Richmond 3 10 0 3 -- 16

Rich--FG Howard 27

Rich--Ward 74 run (Howard kick)

Elon--FG Shreiner 24

Rich--FG Howard 33

Elon--FG Shreiner 18

Rich--FG Howard 42

Elon--Hudgins 22 pass from Riddle (Shreiner kick)

A--6,143.

Elon Richmond

First downs 20 20

Rushes-yards 22-27 42-260

Passing 309 140

Comp-Att-Int 25-44-0 14-26-3

Return Yards 1 57

Punts-Avg. 6-42.3 3-36.7

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 4-25 7-67

Time of Possession 25:17 34:43

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Elon, A.Harris 8-22, Newsome 8-20, Riddle 4-0, Camp 1-(minus 1), Team 1-(minus 14). Richmond, Ward 10-136, Forte 25-96, Grayson 1-15, Gaskins 2-6, Keating 1-4, Wilkins 3-3.

PASSING--Elon, Riddle 25-42-0-309, Team 0-2-0-0. Richmond, Ward 14-26-3-140.

RECEIVING--Elon, Hudgins 12-167, Camp 7-109, Labinowicz 3-23, Newsome 1-6, Peterson 1-6, A.Harris 1-(minus 2). Richmond, Grayson 6-50, Forte 3-45, D.Boston 2-11, Gray 1-17, Mitchell 1-10, Wilkins 1-7.