RICCA, ROLANDER HELP TIGERS ROLL SEWANEE, 52-7

Game Box Score

              HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA (September 3, 2005)—Hampden-Sydney College senior quarterback J.D. Ricca (Gaithersburg, MD/St. John’s) passed for an Old Dominion Athletic Conference single-game record 494 yards and six touchdowns, while senior receiver Brian Rolander (Exmore, VA/Broadwater) caught six passes for a career-high 209 yards and three TDs to lead the 23^rd ranked (Lindy’s) Tigers to a 52-7 victory over The University of the South (Sewanee) Saturday in the 2005 season opener for both squads.  With his six TD passes, Ricca also became the Tigers’ all-time leading TD passer, surpassing Mac Russell’s (’02) career record of 53. 

Ricca completed 28-of-36 (78%) passes en route to the record-setting 494 yards, while also throwing a career-high three interceptions.  Ricca’s first touchdown pass of the day came with 12 minutes left in the first quarter as he hit Rolander on a 60-yard route for the first of four first-half TD passes.  Just over four minutes later he connected with senior tight end Ben Dull (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) from six yards out, then found Rolander again at the 5:53 mark on a 40-yard scoring pass.  Tiger freshman kicker Reed Westra (Chester, VA/Lloyd Bird) hit on his first career field goal attempt with a 33-yard boot late in the first quarter, while Rolander and Ricca again connected, this time from 32 yards, to give the Tigers a 31-0 advantage with 2:30 to play in the half. 

Sewanee got on the scoreboard with just one second to play in the half as Patrick Meighan hit Chris Murphy from 20 yards out to cut the Tiger advantage to 24 before heading into the locker room.  After intermission, Ricca tossed a six-yard scoring pass to junior tight end Dane Williams (Farmville, VA/Fuqua School) and then came back with a 12-yard scoring pass to sophomore receiver Drew Smith (Richmond, VA/Mills Godwin) en route to breaking Emory and Henry’s Todd Woods’ record for most passing yards in a game. 

Hampden-Sydney sophomore running back Michael Baggetta (Fairfax, VA/Oakton) finished off the scoring with a ten yard scamper midway through the fourth quarter.   Baggetta racked up 93 yards on ten carries for the Tigers, who played without starting running back Johnny Junes (Richmond, VA/Mills Godwin) and backup Charlie Omick (Lawrenceville, VA/Brunswick Academy) who were both injured. 

Defensively, the Tigers limited Sewanee to just 228 yards of offense, including just 103 in the second half.  Senior linebacker Louis Burrell (Richmond, VA/Highland Springs) led all players with nine tackles to go with 1.5 tackles-for-loss and a sack.  Seniors Zach Price (Richmond, VA/James River), Jeff Inman (Virginia Beach, VA/Ocean Lakes) and Asim Wilson (Richmond, VA/Varina) each ranked second on the squad with seven tackles. 

Harlin Hickerson led Sewanee with eight tackles, while he also forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and picked off a Ricca pass.  Meanwhile, Mike Glanton and Will Smith both tallied seven tackles for the Purple Tigers. 

Hampden-Sydney racked up 656 yards of offense and surpassed the half-century mark for the 13^th time overall and the tenth time in the last 19 games under head coach Marty Favret.  Meanwhile, the team also set a new Hampden-Sydney record with 52 points in a season opener, surpassing the 51 scored in a 51-17 win over Sewanee in 2002. 

The Tigers return to action next Saturday, September 10, as they host Gettysburg College at 1 pm at Hundley Stadium and Fulton Field.  The contest will be broadcast live on FM 95.7 WFLO (Farmville, VA) and on the internet at www.hsc.edu/atheltics.