KING'S FALLS 22-6 AGAINST HAMPDEN-SYDNEY
HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA – Senior tailback Josh Simpson accounted for 200 yards of all-purpos yardage and scored two touchdowns as host Hampden-Sydney College posted a 22-6 victory ver King's College Saturday in Hampden-Sydney, Va.
With the win, Hampden-Sydney improved to 3-0 on the year while King's slipped to 1-2.
Hampden-Sydney would score the game's first points on the second possession of the opening quarter. Corey Sedlar opened the drive by tossing a 26-yard pass to Travis Wertz to the King's 49. On the next play Sedlar found tailback Josh Simpson down the left sideline for a 49-yard touchdown pass. T.C. Stevens made good on the conversion as Hampden-Sydney took a 7-0 lead with 11:09 left in the first quarter.
King's looked to counter on the ensuing possession when Monarch quarterback Olayinka Soda hit Mike Verbitski for 14 yards to the Monarch 41. On a third-and nine from the 42, Hampden-Sydney was flagged for a personal foul giving King's a first down at the Tiger 43. King's would reach the Tiger 37, but on a fourth-and-four play Jeramia Jones was stopped for a two-yard rushing gain to give giving the Tigers possession on downs at their own 35.
Hampden-Sydney would drive again and were keyed by a 27-yard run by Simpson to the to the King's 36. After two incomplete passes set up third-and-10 for the Tigers, Sedlar hit Adam Gillette for seven yards at the King's 29. On fourth-and-three, Simpson carried for four yards and a first down at the Monarch 25. The Tigers would reach the King's five-yard line where the Monarch defense held, Hampden-Sydney would settle for a 20-yard field goal by Stevens to give the Tigers a 10-0 lead with 1:44 left in the first quarter.
King's when miss out on another chance when Victor Sierra intercepted a Sedlar pass, giving the Monarchs possession at the Tiger 24. But the Monarchs gave the ball right back on the next play when Soda was picked off by Billy Doody at the Tiger 14 to end the threat.
Hampden-Sydney responded as Sedlar found Wertz for 15 yards to the Tiger 32. After Simpson carried for 13 yards to the King's 48, Craig Warnement rushed for 12 yards to the Monarch 36. Sedlar then found Gillette for six yards to the 30 before hooking up with Wertz for eight more yards to the 22. Two plays later Simpson would score on a 16-yard run to pad the Hampden-Sydney lead. Steven's extra-point kick was wide, but the Tigers held a 16-0 lead with 10:34 remaining in the second quarter.
King's would look to get on the scoreboard late in the half when the Monarchs gained possession at their own 32 following a Tiger punt. A 12-yard pass from Soda to Bob Cirko was followed by a 12-yard run by Brandon Murray to the Hampden-Sydney 46. Fullback Doug Mucha would carry for 13 yards to the 33 before Murray picked up six yards to the 27. The Monarchs would reach the Tiger 22 where the drive stalled. Hampden-Sydney would keep King's off the scoreboard when Boaz Young-al blocked Andrew DeRito's 23-yard field goal attempt with 1:38 left in the half as the Monarchs trailed 16-0 at the break.
In the first-half, Hampden-Sydney out gained King's 227-to104 yards in total offense, holding the Monarchs to just 34 rushing yards on 20 carries.
The score would remain the same until late in the third quarter when the Tigers assumed possession at the King's 47 following a punt. Sedlar connected with Simpson for 23 yards and a first down at the King's 18. Three plays later Sedlar connected with Warnement for a three-yard touchdown pass. Stevens would again miss the extra-point but Hampden-Sydney took a 22-0 lead with 0:16 left in the third quarter.
King's had another scoring opportunity on the ensuing drive when Soda hit Ritter for 26 yards to the Tiger 41. Soda would later connect with Ritter for nine yards and a first down at the 16. Jones would rush for five yards but was stopped for no gain on the next play. On third-and-five from the 11, Soda's pass to Ritter in the end zone fell incomplete. On fourth down, Soda's pass to Cirko was off the mark as Hampden-Sydney assumed possession at its own 11 with 9:14 left in the contest as the Tigers maintained a 22-0 lead.
King's would finally get on the scoreboard when the Monarchs regained possession following a punt at the Tiger 45 with 5:59 left in the contest. Soda completed a 27-yard pass to Lane at the 23. Three plays later, Soda would find Mike Verbitski in the end zone on a 23-yard scoring toss. The two-point conversion failed as King's would cut the lead to 22-6 with 5:28 remaining.
King's would force a Tiger punt and an errant snap sail over the head of punter Stevens as the Monarchs assumed possession at the Hampden-Sydney 22 with 3:43 remaining. After an 11-yard pass to Cirko gave King's a first-and goal at the seven, Kevin Morrison intercepted Soda's pass to Rick Ritter in the end zone to thwart the Monarch scoring opportunity with just over two minutes left in the contest.
Simpson finished with 126 rushing yards on 17 carries and caught three passes for 74 more yards. Sedlar completed 22-of-31 passes for 275 yards and two scores. Warnement posted a team-high seven receptions for 64 yards as the Tigers out-gained King's 367-to-296 on the day in total yards.
The Monarch defense played admirably in holding the Tigers to their lowest point total of the year. Hampden-Sydney entered the game averaging 38 points and 539.0 yards of total offense per-game.
For King's, Soda completed 21-of-43 passes for 214 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Verbitski had six catches for 70 yards while Cirko also added six receptions for 61 yards. King's, which was limited to 82 yards on the ground, was led by Jones with 31 yards on 13 carries Brandon Murray added 24 yards on seven attempts.
King's will enjoy a bye week before returning to the field on October 4 with a 1:30 p.m. home game against Delaware Valley College.
