Simpson Sends H-SC to ODAC Title with 31-13 Victory over Randolph-Macon
ASHLAND, VA - Hampden-Sydney College’s Josh Simpson rushed for 169 yards on 40 carries and scored three touchdowns as he led the Tigers to their first ODAC Championship since 1987 with a 31-13 victory over home standing Randolph-Macon College in the 113th edition of the oldest small college rivalry in the South know as “The Game.”
With the win, H-SC improves to 8-2 on the season and 5-1 in the ODAC while R-MC drops to 8-2 overall and 5-1 in the ODAC. The eight wins for the Yellow Jackets is the most for the program since the 1997 season. R-MC’s five league wins is the most for the program since the 1993 camagin.
Randolph-Macon was paced by sophomore running back Zak Thornton who rushed for 94 yards on 23 carries and had one score. For the season, Thornton finished with 1,596 yards which breaks the previous R-MC single season record held by Howard Stevens who set the mark back in the 1968 season. Thornton’s yardage ranks third all-time in ODAC single season history while his 341 carries is the most by a runner in league history.
In addition to Simpson, the Tigers were led by wide out Drew Smith who nabbed 12 balls for 107 yards. Quarterback Corey Sedlar completed 24-of-34 passes for 210 yards and two scores.
H-SC went up 14-0 just 4:57 into the game after Michael Brooks returned the opening kick 51 yards to set up the Tigers on the R-MC 30 to start the game and Simpson scored four plays later on a 12 yard run for the first score of the afternoon.
The Tigers then used a surprise onside kick and recovered the ball at their own 39 yard line, leading to a seven play, 61 yard drive that was capped off by a nine yard scoring pass from Sedlar to Josh Baumgartner.
R-MC answered back on its ensuing possession, driving 50 yards on seven plays in 3:24. Brandon Braner hooked up with Alex Ramirez on an 11 yard scoring strike to cut H-SC’s lead in half at 14-7 with 6:32 left in the first quarter.
H-SC took a 21-7 lead into the intermission after scoring the lone touchdown of the second quarter when Sedlar completed a pass to Smith who executed a hook and ladder pass to Simpson who then ran 15 yards to the end zone for the score.
Randolph-Macon cut the lead to one score with 9:08 left in the third quarter after stringing together a 12 play, 74 yard drive to open up the second-half. Thornton scored from two yards out to record his 15th rushing touchdown of the season, tying Remon Smith for the R-MC school record which Smith set in 1986. The 15 touchdowns is good for fifth all-time in ODAC single season history.
That would be as close as the Jackets would get as H-SC added a field goal with less than seven minutes left in the third quarter and Simpson capped off the scoring with a two yard run with 9:50 to play in the game.
The Randolph-Macon defense was led by Nate Shook and Eric Dardozzi who each had 14 tackles on the afternoon. H-SC was led by Michael Ware and Thomas Hovis who had seven and five tackles respectively.
-Yellow Jackets-