FOURTH-QUARTER COMEBACK LIFTS TIGERS PAST DICKINSON, 18-14

Game Box Score

              HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA (October 30, 2004)—Hampden-Sydney scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns, erasing a 14-3 deficit, en route to defeating Dickinson College, 18-14, Saturday in H-SC’s annual Hall of Fame Game.  With the win, the Tigers improve to 7-1 overall as the Red Devils fall to 4-4. 

Hampden-Sydney running backs C.W. Clemmons (Covington, VA/Alleghany) and Johnny Junes (Richmond, VA/Mills Godwin) each had a touchdown run, while Clemmons tacked on a two-point conversion to give the Tigers the 15 point fourth-quarter.  The Tiger defense did the rest as senior linebacker Ty LaFlame (Mechanicsville, VA/Atlee) forced a fumble by Dickinson quarterback Keven Williams on the Red Devils final drive to stifle DC’s comeback effort with under 90 seconds remaining in the game. 

The stats were nearly identical for the two teams as Hampden-Sydney held a slight, 379 to 335, advantage in total yards, while the Red Devils had 151 yards on the ground compared to 147 for the Tigers.  Hampden-Sydney put up 232 passing yards while Dickinson had 184, but the Red Devils had a 30:12 to 29:48 time of possession advantage. 

Dickinson’s Dwight Phyall scored on a one-yard dive over the middle to start the second quarter, giving the Red Devils a 7-0 lead midway through the first half.  Dickinson had two other chances to put points on the board in the half, but field goal attempts from 37 and 30 yards by Drew Magyar allowed Hampden-Sydney to trim the lead to four points, 7-3, by the halftime break thanks to an Alex Bland (Midlothian, VA/Clover Hill) 20-yard boot. 

Dickinson then went ahead, 14-3, late in the third quarter on an eight-yard pass from Williams to wide receiver Scott Dominick.  After both teams traded a pair of punts to start the fourth quarter, Hampden-Sydney finally put its first TD on the board with 4:57 to play as Clemmons, who became Hampden-Sydney’s all-time leading rusher on the afternoon, finished off a seven-play, 70-yard drive, with a two-yard run and then tacked on the two-point run just moments later to make the score, 14-11. 

Hampden-Sydney’s defense then forced a three-and-out, thanks to a sack by Daniel Park (Richmond, VA/Fork Union) on a crucial third down play.  After starting the drive at their own 45 yard line, the Tigers marched 55 yards on seven plays as Johnny Junes scored from 11 yards out on a draw up the middle to finish the scoring for both teams. 

Clemmons finished the game with 140 yards on 29 carries as he moved past Hampden-Sydney Hall of Famer Jimmy Ferguson to first on the all-time rushing yardage list and he now has 3,626 career rushing yards.  Meanwhile, Tiger freshman receiver Drew Smith (Richmond, VA/Mills Godwin) surpassed the century mark for the third time this season with 127 yards on six catches.  Sophomore quarterback Brett Delk (Columbus, MS/Caledonia) completed 10-of-19 passes for 132 yards, while junior Ben Dull (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) completed four-of-eight passes for 100 yards, while also tossing two interceptions for the Tigers who were playing without injured All-American quarterback J.D. Ricca (Gaithersburg, MD/St. John’s). 

For Dickinson, Phyall finished the day with a team-high 88 yards on the ground to go with his touchdown.  Ryne Cantwell led the team with five receptions, while Gerald O’Hara had a team-high 71 yards on four catches.  Keven Williams finished the day 15-of-27 for 184 yards and one touchdown, along with one interception. 

Defensively, Louis Burrell (Richmond, VA/Highland Springs) and Ryan Still (Salem, VA/Glenvar) led the Tigers with ten tackles each.  Dickinson’s Matt Williams finished with a game-high 14 tackles to go with a forced-fumble and a sack, while Todd Bagnull had nine tackles, two for a loss and one sack. 

Hampden-Sydney returns to action with its final road contest of the regular season next Saturday, November 6, as the team travels to Baltimore, MD, to take on Johns Hopkins University at 1 pm.