Photos courtesy of Roanoke College
Several local players are members of the RC team
In the program’s first game since 1942, the Roanoke College football team defeated the visiting Hampden-Sydney College junior varsity squad 34-27 in front over 9,000 fans at Salem Stadium.
This year’s squad includes former Christiansburg running back Stephan Myrthill, Blacksburg’s Javier Waldron, Eastern Montgomery’s Seth Burleson, and Radford linebackers Charlie Davis and Brandon Thompson.
Roanoke took the lead for good on a Blake Moore to Ethan Graves connection for a 27-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to cap an 11-play, 80-yard drive. The Maroon defense sealed the win on a Connor Pleasants interception in the closing seconds.
The Maroons are competing this year as a club team before achieving full varsity status in 2025 and becoming a full member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC).
Roanoke got on the scoreboard first at the 5:43 mark of the first quarter as Tyson Miller caught a Moore pass for an 11-yard score.
Hampden-Sydney found the end zone twice to go ahead 14-7 before Moore hit Cole Chizuk for a 37-yard touchdown early in the second quarter to knot the game at 14-all.
The Maroons erased a 21-14 deficit with two touchdowns before halftime. Brayden Andrews ran the ball in from nine yards out and Wyatt Bach took an interception into the end zone to give RC a 26-21 edge at intermission.
HSC went ahead 27-26 with a TD and failed two-point conversion. The Maroons succeeded in their two-point conversion on Graves’ touchdown and the defense made the seven-point lead stand up.
Moore completed 19-of-36 passes for 269 yards, three touchdowns and just one interception.
Chizuk caught all seven of his targets for 110 yards receiving, while Andrews had a team-high 44 yards on the ground on 10 carries.
Issac Rivera made a team-high eight tackles and Gavin Thompson had three sacks.
Staff report
