FOOTBALL TIGERS TURN BACK GENERALS, 31-28

Game Box Score

              LEXINGTON, VA (October 16, 2004)—Hampden-Sydney’s football team scored a 31-28 victory over Old Dominion Athletic Conference-foe Washington and Lee University Saturday to improve to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the ODAC.  The win handed the Generals their first loss in conference play as they fell to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the ODAC. 

Hampden-Sydney charged up 467 yards of offense, including 363 in the first half, as junior quarterback JD Ricca (Gaithersburg, MD/St. John’s) completed 17-of-30 passes for 326 yards and two touchdowns.  Junior receiver Brian Rolander (Exmore, VA/Broadwater) caught five passes for 153 yards and one touchdown, while senior running back CW Clemmons (Covington, VA/Alleghany) ran for 118 yards and one touchdown as the Generals, ranked second in Division III in rush defense entering the game, surrendered 166 yards on the ground to the Tigers. 

Hampden-Sydney’s defense turned in a solid performance as Washington and Lee managed just 245 yards, including just 56 on the ground.  General receiver Colton Ward turned in a stout performance with all four of W&L’s touchdowns as he racked up 263 all purpose yards on the day.  

Meanwhile, Hampden-Sydney picked off W&L quarterback Greg Tweardy twice, including on the final play of the game as Tiger senior safety Charlie Glenn (Roanoke, VA/North Cross) made his third interception of the season to hold off a potential game-tying or game-winning drive by the Generals.  

Hampden-Sydney got on the board first with a 23-yard field goal by Alex Bland (Midlothian, VA/Clover Hill) midway through the first quarter.  The Tigers then made it 10-0 on CW Clemmons’ four-yard scamper on the first play of the second quarter.   

The Generals answered just three minutes later as Tweardy connected with receiver Colton Ward for a 52-yard scoring strike, cutting the Hampden-Sydney advantage to three.  JD Ricca then went to work for the Tigers, connecting for the eighth time this season with freshman Drew Smith (Richmond, VA/Mills Godwin) for a 21-yard touchdown to gave the team a 17-7 lead. 

Colton Ward then returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown to again slice into the Hampden-Sydney lead, making the score 17-14.  With 37 seconds to play before halftime, Ricca found Rolander open on the sidelines for a 63-yard catch and run touchdown that made the intermission score, 24-14. 

Johnny Junes (Richmond, VA/Mills Godwin) added a one-yard touchdown scramble for the Tigers with just under six minutes to play in the third quarter to make it 31-14, but Tweardy again connected with Ward on a 31-yard touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter to make it 31-21. 

Ward capped off his fine performance with his fourth touchdown of the game, a six-yard run, at the 3:51 mark of the final stanza to make it 31-28.  However, that would be as close as the Generals could get as Glenn ended the W&L rally with his final-play interception to seal the Tiger victory. 

Wes Hall (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) and Daniel Park (Richmond, VA/Fork Union) led the Tigers with five tackles on the day, while Lloyd Wilson and Liam Murray had 11 and ten tackles respectively for the Generals. 

Hampden-Sydney returns to action next Saturday, October 23, as the Tigers host Catholic University at 1 pm at Hundley Stadium and Fulton Field.  The contest will be broadcast live on FM 95.7 WFLO and on the internet at www.hsc.edu/athletics.