EMORY, VA-Hampden-Sydney was able to get up early and hold on as Emory & Henry was five yards away from scoring with just over a minute to play in a one possession game, but the Tigers came away with a 38-30 win after stopping the Wasps on a turnover on downs. Emory & Henry rallied to come back in the game, trailing as much as 29-10, but the Tigers were able to maintain their lead and improve to 5-3 on the season and 3-1 in ODAC play. The Wasps drop to 2-6 overall and 1-4 in conference. Hampden-Sydney now sits with Shenandoah and Washington & Lee in a three-way tie for first place at 3-1.

The high scoring affair was actually started by both defenses with each team scoring on an interception in the first quarter. The Tiger defense wasted no time as Griffin Davis (Charlottesville, VA/Monticello) intercepting the first play from scrimmage and taking it 23 yards for a touchdown. Alec Cobb (Jamestown, NC/Ragsdale) then hit Cam Johnson (Dillwyn, VA/Buckingham) on the two-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead just 14 seconds into the game.

Six minutes after Emory & Henry hit a 30-yard field goal, Josh Fleenor intercepted Cobb deep in Wasp territory and gave Emory & Henry a 10-7 lead with a 95-yard interception return.

That lead lasted less than a minute as the Tigers drove down and scored on a seven-yard touchdown catch from Major Morgan (Onancock, VA/Broadwater Academy).

The Tigers added to the lead in the second quarter as Mike DeMasi (Virginia Beach, VA/Frank W. Cox) capped off a 66-yard drive with a 32 yard run with just over three and a half minutes to go in the half. Johnson scored his second two-point conversion to give the Tigers a 23-10 lead.

Hampden-Sydney then got the ball back half a minute later with a Brian Gwaltney (Colonial Heights, VA/Colonial Heights) interception. The offense quickly capitalized as Morgan caught a 53-yard touchdown pass with 2:54 to go in the half. A failed two-point conversion put the score at 29-10 in favor of the Tigers.

The exciting first half was not over, however, as Emory & Henry took the ensuing drive 92 yards in 75 seconds to score and make it a 29-16 game going into the half.

Emory & Henry continued their comeback in the third quarter, getting a stop on the Tigers' opening drive and then scoring to make it a 29-23 game.

The Tigers responded four minutes later with Johnson finding the end zone on a 28-yard pass. Another failed two-point conversion attempt made it a 12 point game at 35-23 in favor of the Tigers.

Emory & Henry scored early in the fourth quarter to make it a five point game, but after ten scoreless minutes, Hampden-Sydney pushed the lead to eight as Steven Hall (Mechanicsville, VA/Lee-Davis) hit a 25-yard field goal to go up 38-30 with 3:09 to play.

The Wasps drove the field well, getting deep into Hampden-Sydney territory. Emory & Henry got all the way to the Tiger five-yard line, but Hampden-Sydney's defense got a game saving stop on fourth down at the five.

On the day, the Tigers had 506 yards of offense with 448 through the air and 58 on the ground. Cobb was 28-of-37 for 408 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Morgan and Johnson were unstoppable each recording over 200 receiving yards. Morgan had seven catches for 209 yards and two scores, and Johnson had 12 grabs for 204 and a touchdown.

DeMasi had a game-high 99 rushing yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.

Defensively, the Tigers allowed 440 yards with 434 passing and just six rushing. Gwaltney led the unit with 14 tackles, one interception, and a blocked field goal. Ryan Mallory (Mechanicsville, VA/Hanover) and Chad Vanlandingham (Mechanicsville, VA/Hanover) had seven and six stops, respectively, and four players had five tackles. Tanner Ramey (Mechanicsville, VA/Atlee) led the unit in the backfield with one sack and 1.5 tackles for a loss of four yards.

Hampden-Sydney will return home next Saturday, November 4 as the Tigers host Shenandoah University. Kickoff is set for 1:00 PM.