HARRISONBURG – This one was and wasn’t like the last few.

It was decided in the final minutes, but defined by stingy defenses instead of explosive offenses.

And senior linebacker Kyle Hawkins, who mans the middle of top-ranked James Madison’s defense made two tackles to prevent rival Richmond from gaining a lead in the fourth quarter of the 35th meeting between the two in-state foes.

“He’s had a year that few players have had at the linebacker position,” second-year JMU coach Mike Houston said.

Hawkins’ takedown of Richmond fifth-year senior quarterback Kyle Lauletta at the line of scrimmage on a third-and-10 from the Dukes’ 19-yardline forced the Spiders to kick a game-tying field goal instead of trying for a go-ahead touchdown with less than five minutes to play.

That was all JMU’s offense needed.

The Dukes capitalized on Hawkins’ key stop, engineering a 10-play, 71-yard, game-winning drive capped by junior running back Trai Sharp’s 7-yard touchdown jaunt to survive the Spiders, 20-13 in front of 24,586 on Saturday at Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg.

Sharp’s dash into the purple paint came with 44 seconds left on the clock.

“It’s a great feeling,” Sharp said of his game-deciding score. “To accomplish something so great for your teammates, it’s a great feeling.”

The win pushes JMU’s Division I-best winning streak to 22 straight victories while also keeping hopes of an outright Colonial Athletic Association title alive for the Dukes (10-0, 7-0 CAA). Richmond’s playoff hopes are likely gutted at 5-5 overall and 3-4 in the CAA.

Until the final drive, JMU had struggled to run the ball.

For the first 56 minutes of the game the Dukes were limited to 51 rushing yards while Richmond had racked up eight tackles for loss and four sacks.

But Sharp was a spark, carrying seven times for 54 yards and the touchdown during the last drive. JMU had 62 rushing yards as a team on its final charge down the field.

“I went to the o-line [before the last drive] and said 'We’re going to ride you guys now, let’s go do this thing,” JMU senior quarterback Bryan Schor said. “Go put us in the end zone.'

“That last drive was special by our o-line.”

Houston said he thought Sharp best fit what JMU wanted to do with its attack on the final drive. Sharp, senior Taylor Woods and junior Marcus Marshall had all split carries through most of the game.

“We were playing the run really, really well,” first-year Richmond coach Russ Huesman said. “We were defending it … but then they chunked it pretty good there.

“They just find ways to win and they’re an excellent football team.”

Huesman, Lauletta and company had chances to propel past the top team in the country with the Spiders reaching the red zone four times, but the offense could only come away with 13 points.

“Anytime you get down there with your vertical passing game, you don’t have it,” Lauletta, who threw for 304 yards, a touchdown and an interception, said. “Defenders can play tighter and they have an outstanding defensive line and guys that can cover.

“My mistake down there was taking sacks.”

Lauletta was sacked four times in total.

The only time Richmond didn’t come away with at least a field goal was when Huesman called for a fake field goal early in the fourth quarter on a fourth-and-2 from the JMU 16.

Spiders holder Joe Mancuso took the snap and scurried to his left, but Hawkins was there to thwart any idea of surprise score, tackling Mancuso before he could reach the sticks.

“I just saw everybody coming off the ball,” Hawkins said. “[JMU senior safety] Jordan [Brown] was there to set the edge along with [junior cornerback] Curtis Oliver. We played it perfectly.

“It wasn’t anything we hadn’t practiced or didn’t expect. In a big game like this, we expected them to throw it all at us.”

Hawkins finished with six tackles in total.

Huesman said with the way JMU’s defense performed in the red zone, he thought it was a good time for the fake.

“I knew it was going to be hard to score a lot of points on these guys,” Huesman said.

JMU has now captured two straight against the Spiders – last year the Dukes beat Richmond 47-43 at Robins Stadium. But Richmond still leads the all-time series 18-17.

“I’ve been in two of these now and they both went down to the final drive,” Houston said. “I guess this is what I better get used to every year.”