ODAC Football Report: Week 11
Hampden-Sydney Enters NCAA Tournament
The 2009 ODAC football season has come to an end, but gridiron
action at the NCAA Division III level will continue for several
more weeks as the postseason tournament is set to begin.
Hampden-Sydney joins 31 other teams looking to make their way to
Salem for the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl on December 19. The
Tigers topped Randolph-Macon, 34-17, to earn its place in the NCAA
tournament. They will host Johns Hopkins University next
Saturday in the first round. Emory & Henry closed out its
season with a 17-3 win over Guilford. Bridgewater closed 2009
with a 30-13 win over Catholic.
The 115th edition of "The Game" was more like a mud bowl
following days of rain throughout the Commonwealth, but that didn't
stop Hampden-Sydney from finishing the regular season
undefeated. Big plays and lofty stats filled the stat sheets
in Ashland on Saturday despite the field conditions. The
biggest came from H-SC return man Steven Fogleman. Following
a touchdown run from R-MC's Thaddeus Scruggs that put the Yellow
Jackets ahead 27-26, Fogleman darted 90 yards with the ensuing
kick-off to provide the game's final and decisive score with 12:47
showing on the fourth quarter clock.
The two foes combined for 629 yards of total offense, most of which
came through the air for both teams. Randolph-Macon wide
receiver, Earl Peoples, had the best individual offensive day with
15 catches for 199 yards and a touchdown. Defensively,
Hampden-Sydney safety Trevor Ikwild led all players with 13 tackles
while lineman Will Riggenbach made nine stops that included three
quarterback sacks.
The Yellow Jackets opened the game's scoring late in the first
quarter. Akeem Hardy's interception setup a five-yard pass
from Austin Faulkner hit Dwayne Jenkins for the five-yard score for
a 7-0 R-MC lead. Adam Gillette hauled in his second pass of
the drive for the tying score. Randolph-Macon continued the
one-upsmanship by retaking the lead on its ensuing
possession. Faulkner and Peoples capped a nine-play 54-yard
drive with a 26-yard touchdown pass. Hampden-Sydney evened
the count with 3:00 minutes left in the half. Sedlar
completed all four of his passes covering a 53-yard drive,
including a six-yard scoring toss to Craig Warnement. H-SC
added a rushing touchdown before the half, setup by an interception
by Bill Doody at the Tigers' 37-yard line. Kirk Rohle ran in
from three yards out.
R-MC took the kickoff in the second-half and ate up just under
eight minutes, driving 76 yards on 15 plays, tying the score at
20-20 on a one-yard plunge by Thaddeus Scruggs. The score
remained that way until nine seconds left in the third stanza when
Sedlar found Kirk Rohle on a screen pass for a 25-yard touchdown to
put H-SC back out in front 26-20 after its point after attempt was
no good. Randolph-Macon responded on its next possession, going 60
yards in six plays to push ahead, 27-26, on a 10-yard scamper by
Scruggs with 13:02 to play.
Caleb Jennings rushed for 239 yards and a touchdown in visiting
Emory & Henry's win at Guilford Saturday. Jennings added
64 punt return yards and finished with 297 all-purpose yards in
both teams' season finale. The Wasps closed the campaign with
three straight wins to finish with a 7-3.
Guilford's Chris Jessup forced and recovered on the game's opening
possession, which led to a 32-yard Brad Scott field goal. The
scoring drive proved costly as Guilford starting quarterback Billy
Watkins was injured in the series and did not return. Without a
game-tested backup, junior receiver Justin Parker, a high school
option quarterback, took over under center. He ran for a team-high
98 yards, but completed just one of eight pass attempts. Teammate
Earl Womble added 90 rushing yards for the Quakers.
The Wasps tied the score on Matt Turchin's 39-yard field goal late
in the first quarter and took the lead with two second-quarter
scores. Jennings had 133 rushing yards and a touchdown in the
second quarter alone and 195 rushing yards by halftime. His 59-yard
scoring run early in the second quarter gave Emory & Henry a
10-3 lead. Piscopo's 14-yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Hawkins 11
seconds before halftime provided the game's final margin.
Shane Wicks paced the Wasps' tacklers with 11 stops and one forced
fumble. C.J. Hodges made two of his five tackles behind the line of
scrimmage and broke up two passes. Guilford senior linebacker
Richie Paul, who entered the contest ranked third among NCAA
Division III tackles leaders, made a game-high 13 stops in his
final Quakers' contest. Jessup added 10 stops.
Behind two 100-yard rushers and 468 yards of total offense,
Bridgewater was victorious in the season finale against Catholic at
Jopson Field. Brad Jones crossed the 100 yard plateau for the
first time in his career with 112 yards on a career-high 25
carries. Thomas Tate rounded out the season with his seventh 100
yard game, this time gashing the Cardinals for 152 yards on 13
runs. Tate's 81 yard burst with 10:42 left in the game was BC's
longest run of the season and the longest of Tate's career.
Bridgewater got on the board first when Will Davis' 43 yard field
goal split the uprights to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead with 5:40 to
play in the opening frame. Catholic answered the Eagles two drives
later when the Cardinals marched 70 yards on six plays to take a
7-3 lead after a Rich Barry one-yard blast reached the endzone with
14:31 to play in the second quarter. The Eagles would then
immediately answer when a seven play, 62 yard drive was capped off
by a Hagan Driskell four-yard pitch and catch to Ryan Richmond to
give the Eagles a 9-3 lead.
Driskell connected with Tyler Beiler on a 20 yard strike to give
the Eagles a 16-7 lead as the game headed to the fourth quarter.
With 10:42 to play, Tate took a handoff and broke
through the Catholic defense and found pay-dirt 81 yards later to
give the Eagles a 23-7 advantage.
Catholic then came up with a huge defensive score when Avatus Stone
picked off a Hagan Driskell pass at the two and returned the ball
the entire way to the endzone to get the Cardinals to within 10 at
a 23-13. Bridgewater then put the game effectively out of
reach when senior quarterback Vince Reese capped off a 10 play, 53
yard drive with a two yard bootleg run to put the Eagles ahead
30-13.
For more on this weekend's ODAC football action, click to read the
entire ODAC Football
Report: Week 11.
