Photo courtesy of James Madison University

James Madison return specialist Scotty McGee has 930 return yards for the Dukes, who play in the Division I-AA playoffs tonight.

Not too many years ago, James Madison football was probably best known as the program that launched Charles Haley and Gary Clark into the NFL.

Then came 2004, when JMU beat Montana to capture the Division I-AA crown. And now the Dukes are two wins from bringing another national title to Harrisonburg.

Top-seeded JMU (12-1), which hosts fourth-seeded Montana in the semifinals tonight, isn't the only Virginia school with a shot at the I-AA title. Richmond, which reached the semifinals last season for the first time, is back in the final four. The Spiders (11-3) visit third-seeded Northern Iowa on Saturday.

This season shows that JMU and Richmond have built high-level programs. This year's JMU team features a different set of players than the 2004 squad. And Richmond has made another playoff run even though it lost the star running back and head coach of last year's team.

JMU and Richmond get good preparation for the playoffs by playing in the best I-AA league in the nation. The Colonial Athletic Association put five members in the playoffs this year for the second straight season.

Seventeen of JMU's 22 offensive and defensive starters are from Virginia, as are the punter, place-kicker and the team's standout return specialist, Scotty McGee. Most of the second string are also Virginia natives, including receiver Bosco Williams (Alleghany) and safety Jon Williams (Magna Vista).

"Ninety percent of our recruiting is in the state of Virginia because we can compete against any [school] that's out of state, and we've got a chance to sign a Virginia kid," said coach Mickey Matthews, a former Marshall and Georgia assistant in his 10th year at the helm of the Dukes. "We can sign some dadgum good football players in-state.

"But we leave the state, we're just another I-AA school."

Senior quarterback Rodney Landers, one of the best players in JMU history, is a Virginia Beach native. He is one of three finalists for the Walter Payton Award, which will be presented next week to the I-AA player of the year.

"When Virginia Tech and Virginia and North Carolina finish in the Tidewater [area], there's still a lot of good football players," said Virginia Tech assistant coach Curt Newsome, who was on Matthews' staff from 1999-2005.

Newsome recruited Landers to Madison. Landers joined the Dukes out of high school, unlike Louisville transfer Justin Rascati, the QB of JMU's 2004 and 2006 playoff teams, or Syracuse transfer Mike Cawley, the QB of JMU's 1994 and 1995 playoff squads.

Tech and UNC eyed Landers as a defensive back, but he wanted to play quarterback. He picked JMU over one of the Dukes' CAA rivals, Delaware.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Landers needed work on his throwing mechanics, so he didn't start until last year, when the Dukes lost in the first round of the playoffs.

This season, he has thrown for 1,519 yards and 21 touchdowns and has run for 1,686 yards and 16 TDs. Matthews now considers him "an SEC or ACC quarterback."

"He can win a game by himself," said Andy Talley, the coach of CAA rival Villanova. "Landers is almost unstoppable."

Matthews said JMU battles Conference USA and Mid-American Conference teams for many of its recruits. Defensive end Arthur Moats, for example, picked JMU over Kent State and East Carolina.

"If we lose kids, it's usually to a MAC school, an ACC school," Matthews said. "We believe that's the kind of football players you're going to have to have to go where we want to go.

"We keep signing better players year after year."

Improved facilities have aided recruiting. JMU unveiled a $10 million football building, which includes a weight room, locker room, coaches' offices and academic advising offices, in 2005. JMU's 15,000-seat stadium will be expanded in the coming years.

The football building "has made all the difference in the world in our recruiting," Matthews said. "I had actually forgotten how facilities affect recruiting. It's amazing."

Since opening with a loss at Duke, JMU has won 12 straight, including regular-season victories over Appalachian State and Richmond.

The Spiders are coming off a quarterfinal victory over Appalachian State, which won the I-AA title the past three years and beat UR in the 2007 semifinals.

The star of last year's UR team was All-American running back Tim Hightower, now with the Arizona Cardinals. But Richmond did return 16 starters, including QB Eric Ward.

Hightower's successor at tailback, Josh Vaughan, has rushed for 1,636 yards.

Richmond also had to replace head coach Dave Clawson, who left to be the offensive coordinator at Tennessee, a job he just lost because new coach Lane Kiffin didn't keep him.

Mike London, a former UR player and assistant, left the Virginia staff to become the Spiders' head coach.

"I'm a passionate, energetic, emotional guy," London said. "Players respond to positive reinforcement.

"We practice the same way we play, and that's fast, hard and aggressive."

London retained five assistants, including defensive coordinator Russ Huesman. The Spiders' strength this year is their defense, which forced seven turnovers last weekend.

"The smartest thing Mike London did when he took over the job was he didn't change anything," Matthews said.

Richmond does not have a new football building to attract recruits, although it plans to build a new stadium. The private school has tough academic requirements and casts a wider recruiting net than JMU. Only eight starters are from the commonwealth, plus the place-kicker.

"Not everyone can get into school here," London said. But "you have a chance to attract a lot of really good players. What you get is that young man who values an education and also wants to go somewhere he can win."