H-SC | Athletics: Football

HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA (November 3, 2007)—Hampden-Sydney junior running back Josh Simpson (Richmond, VA/Mills Godwin) gained 245 yards of total offense as the Tigers earned a 34-21 victory over Huntingdon College on Saturday at Everett Stadium in the first meeting between the two schools. With his four total touchdowns, Simpson became the school record holder for rushing touchdowns in a season (19), tied for first with 146 points in a season, and is now the career record holder with 300 points in just three seasons. On Senior Day, the Tigers racked up 559 yards of total offense on the afternoon, while the Tiger defense forced three turnovers. With the victory, Hampden-Sydney improves to 7-2 overall, while the Hawks fall to 4-5 on the season.

Hampden-Sydney tallied just 97 yards on the ground, but racked up 462 yards passing in the victory over Huntingdon. Simpson recorded a team-high 60 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. Huntingdon was led by senior quarterback Zach Golson, who led the team with 66 yards rushing on 14 carries, while Miguel Gilmore and Jamal Gardner had 59 and 47 yards rushing respectively.

In the first quarter, Hampden-Sydney capitalized on a Huntingdon fumble by marching 90 yards on just six plays, scoring on a Simpson 68 yard strike from sophomore Corey Sedlar (Richmond, VA/Mills Godwin) to give the Tigers a 6-0 advantage only six minutes into the game. On the next possession for Huntingdon, Hampden-Sydney's Jamie Edlow (Williamsburg, VA/Bruton) intercepted a pass, setting up another Simpson touchdown to increase the lead to 14-0.

With 12:48 remaining in the second quarter, Simpson increased the Tigers lead, 20-0, on a touchdown run from 19 yards out. Huntingdon finally got on the scoreboard as Rishard Davis scored from one yard out to cut the lead to 13 points, 20-7, with 4:18 remaining. Only three minutes later, Huntingdon would score another touchdown on five yard touchdown pass from Golson to Frankie Vorross to make the score 20-14. With just a minute remaining on the clock, the Tigers drove done the field and on a second-and-goal from the four yard line, Sedlar found Simpson for his fourth touchdown of the afternoon, giving the Tigers the 28-14 halftime lead.

On the Hawks first series in the second half, Golson connected with Broderick Smith for a 19 yard touchdown pass, cutting the lead to 28-21. Both teams' defenses would prevail for the remainder of the quarter, limiting the only scoring chance to a Tiger field goal attempt that missed wide right.

Holding on to the 28-21 lead, Hampden-Sydney added to their lead on a one yard rush from Sedlar, increasing the Tigers advantage to 34-21 with 6:35 left in the fourth quarter. Huntingdon would have several opportunities but were unable to convert on several fourth downs, giving the Tigers the win, 34-21.

Sedlar completed 29-of-43 passes for 462 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, while Huntingdon's Zach Golson completed 14-of-26 passes for 173 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Josh Simpson led all receivers with 11 catches for 185 yards and two touchdowns, while senior receiver Drew Smith (Richmond, VA/Mills Godwin) had another solid performance with ten catches for 169 yards. Broderick Smith was the leading receiver for the Hawks with four catches for 85 yards and one score, while Miguel Gilmore had four receptions for 29 yards.

The Tiger defense was led by senior linebacker Kyle Booker (Gloucester, VA/Fork Union) as he recorded a game-high 12 tackles, including three solo stops. Sophomore linebacker Thomas Hovis (Richmond, VA/St. Christopher's) recorded 11 tackles on the afternoon, and recovered one fumble. Mike Payson and Caleb Hartin led the Hawks with eight total tackles each, while Payson recorded two tackles-for-loss.

Hampden-Sydney will return to action next week as the Tigers will compete for the 2007 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championship against the Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets on Saturday, November 10. The game will be played at Day Field in Ashland, VA with kick-off schedule for 1:00 pm.