Tigers’ Sensational Season Ends in First Round of Playoffs
by: Jarrod Ficklin ‘11
The Tigers’ sensational season concluded with a first round loss against Johns Hopkins University at Lewis C. Everett Stadium. Throughout the regular season, the Tigers went undefeated, took home four of the six major ODAC awards, placed 12 players on All-ODAC teams, and gave Tiger fans a season to remember.
The 8-2 Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins came into the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament as the underdog against the undefeated Tigers, but the Blue Jays proved they deserved to be there, dominating the time of possession and downing the Tigers 23-7. The Blue Jays had the ball for 44 minutes while the Tigers only had the ball for 16 minutes—less than 4 minutes the entire second half. Johns Hopkins took advantage of that statistic, especially in the 4th quarter by reeling off 16 points. Johns Hopkins continued their upset streak the next week knocking off the formerly undefeated Thomas More College 31-29 on the road in the second round of the playoffs. The Blue Jays will look to continue their streak on Saturday, December 5th when they travel to take on the #3 nationally ranked Wesley College.
The week before they hosted Johns Hopkins, the Tigers won a thrilling version of “The Game.” For the third year in a row, the winner of “The Game” decided the ODAC champion. Because of that fact, fans packed an extremely muddy Day Field in Ashland to watch the Tigers take on Randolph-Macon in the 115th meeting between the two schools. The teams went back and forth in the first half, but a Tigers push late in the first half gave Hampden-Sydney a 20-14 going into the locker room. The Yellow Jackets came out ready to play the second half, and with 13 minutes remaining, they took the lead 27-26, but most importantly, they stole the momentum. The Tigers needed a big play to stay in the ball game, and they got exactly that when Tiger freshman Steven Fogleman returned the ensuing kick-off 90 yards for a Hampden-Sydney touchdown. A two point conversion made the score 34-27. On Randolph-Macon’s last drive, they converted a 4th and 13, marched down inside the red-zone, and looked poised to tie the game. However, as it had all season, the Tiger defense held strong in the red-zone, and pressure up the middle caused Austin Faulkner’s pass to come up short on 4th and 4 at the 18 yard line, giving the Tigers the ball with 32 seconds left, consequently giving the Tigers the win, the school’s 6th ODAC championship, and an undefeated season.
The six major awards in the ODAC are the team championship, Coach of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Rookie of the Year. The Tigers took home four of these awards. Obviously an undefeated season – the second in school history—resulted in the Tigers’ 6th ODAC Championship. Coach Marty Favret was named ODAC Coach of the Year after leading his Tigers to the conference title, and he currently sits at 8th place in the Liberty Mutual National Coach of the Year Award voting. Will Riggenbach’s record breaking season landed him the ODAC Defensive Player of the Year Award. Riggenbach broke Hampden-Sydney’s single season sack record by tallying 14.5 sacks; that mark was also good enough for best in the nation. Josh Miller took home the last of the major awards by defining the term Student-Athlete. Miller was named Scholar-Athlete of the Year because of his 71 tackles, 3 sacks, but most importantly, his 3.82 GPA.
Corey Sedlar finished the season with over 3,000 yards and 30 touchdowns for a career record of over 10,000 yards.
Hampden-Sydney’s career passing leader Corey Sedlar was named 1st Team All-ODAC quarterback. Throughout the course of the season, Sedlar surpassed the 3,000 yard single-season mark, the 30 touchdown mark, and the 10,000 career yardage mark. Joining him on the All-ODAC 1st team’s offensive side of the ball were sophomore wide receiver Sean Cavanagh and sophomore center Ben Rogers. On the defensive side of the ball, the aforementioned Will Riggenbach and Josh Miller, senior linebacker Andrew Sellers, and junior safety Bill Doody garnered 1st team All-ODAC awards. Doody tied Hampden-Sydney’s single season interception record by hauling in 9 picks. Tight end Andrew Bruckner, cornerback Boaz Young-el, and linebacker Trevor Ikwild were named to the All-ODAC 2nd team. Young-el made a name for himself on special teams as well by blocking 3 field goals this year. Ikwild led the team and was fourth in the ODAC with 94 tackles—13.5 of those for loss. Seniors Thomas Hovis and E.K. Smock garnered Honorable Mention Awards.
The 2009 football season was definitely a season to remember. The Tigers completed the regular season undefeated, won their 6th ODAC title, and tied the school record for wins. Since the preseason, the Tigers certainly wanted to “Prove It” to the rest of the ODAC–as the Randolph-Macon 2008 ODAC Championship shirt asked them to do. It is safe to say that they certainly did that and more.
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