WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 22, 2005)—Hampden-Sydney’s football team overcame a rain-drenched DuFour Field en route to a 28-21 victory over Old Dominion Athletic Conference-foe Catholic University Saturday as the Tigers’ won for the fifth time in seven games this season.  The win also improved the Tigers to 3-2 in the ODAC, while Catholic dropped to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in conference play. 

The Tigers got 218 all-purpose yards from freshman back Josh Simpson (Richmond, VA/Mills Godwin), while senior safety Jeff Inman (Virginia Beach, VA/Ocean Lakes) picked off two Keith Ricca passes and returned them into Catholic territory to set up a pair of Tiger touchdowns.  Keith Ricca, younger brother of Tiger quarterback J.D. Ricca, completed 30-of-50 passes for 397 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, while the elder Ricca orchestrated four scoring drives, completed 21-of-31 passes for 258 yards, and tossed three touchdowns, compared to just one interception. 

Tiger junior running back Charlie Omick (Lawrenceville, VA/Brunswick Academy) put the Tigers on the scoreboard first with a nine-yard touchdown reception off a J.D. Ricca shovel pass with 12:12 to play in the second quarter.  On Catholic’s ensuing drive, Inman picked off his first pass of the game and returned it back to the H-SC 43-yard line, setting up a five-play, 57-yard drive by the Tigers that was capped off on a six yard scoring scramble by Simpson with 6:52 remaining in the half. 

Keith Ricca answered for the Cardinals two plays later as he hit Ryan Bowman from 34 yards out to cut the Tiger lead to 14-7.  Then, with just over a minute to play in the half, Inman again intercepted a Ricca pass, this time in Catholic territory, setting up a six-yard touchdown pass from Ricca to sophomore Drew Smith (Richmond, VA/Mills Godwin) to give the Tigers a 21-7 advantage at halftime. 

In the second half, the Tigers held possession of the ball for 12:46 as the team executed ball control offense to perfection.  The Tigers scored their fourth touchdown of the game in their second possession of the second half as Drew Smith caught his second touchdown pass of the game to cap off a 12-play, 70-yard, drive that ran 5:13 off the clock. 

The Cardinals responded with a pair of touchdowns on nine-yard passes from Ricca to Bowman and Ricca to Noah Rogers, with Rogers’ touchdown coming on a fourth-down desperation play with 5:44 remaining.  The Tigers ran all but 1:25 off the clock on their final possession before punting the ball to the Cardinals, who then ran ten plays, including a last-second hook and lateral that got them to the Tiger 21-yard line before time expired. 

Overall, the two teams combined for 48 first downs on the muddy track, with Catholic out-gaining the Tigers, 462 to 445, in terms of total yardage.  Simpson led the offense for Hampden-Sydney with 150 yards rushing on 24 carries, while also making two catches for 50 yards and returning one kickoff 18 yards, amounting to 218 yards of total offense.  Drew Smith meanwhile, finished with six catches for 52 yards and two scores, while Charlie Omick had 41 yards on the ground and 59 receiving to go with his one score. 

The Tiger defense limited the nation’s leading scorer, Nick Bublavi, to just six catches and 113 yards while also keeping him out of the end zone.  Meanwhile, Greg Brown racked up 144 yards of total offense with 35 yards on five carries and 109 yards on nine catches. 

Hampden-Sydney’s defense recorded four sacks in the game as John Fowler (Southern Pines, NC/Pinecrest) recorded a team-high four tackles to go with one sack, while Inman finished with three tackles to go with two interceptions and 54 return yards.  Junior Ryan Callahan (South Hill, VA/Park View) finished with four tackles and had a batted pass, while Zach Price (Richmond, VA/James River) had just one tackle, but it went for a sack. 

Catholic was led by linebackers Avatus Stone and Bobby Stutz who each recorded nine tackles and each came up with two sacks.   

Hampden-Sydney returns to action next Saturday as the team travels to Carlisle, PA, to take on Dickinson College at 1 pm.