2021 H-SC Roster | 2021 H-SC Schedule

HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. -- When Hampden-Sydney College begins the unprecedented 2021 Spring Football campaign, it will have been 469 days since the Tigers last played on the gridiron. H-SC will open its long-awaited, yet abbreviated five-game season against visiting Southern Virginia University on Saturday, February 27, at 1 p.m. on Fulton Field at Lewis C. Everett Stadium. It will be the first of four regular season Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) games, before a final weekend of pairings based on the previous games played this spring.

Veteran 21st-year head coach Marty Favret returns 44 lettermen among the 104-man roster, including 18 starters with significant career playing time, while the roster includes 48 newcomers to the program, as well. Coach Favret is the second-winningest coach in school history with 131 victories in 20 seasons, including 14 winning campaigns, and is a five-time ODAC Coach of the Year. His program is 83-45 in ODAC games, while earning five ODAC Championships and making six NCAA Division III Football Championship playoff appearances.

"We have a special group led by our 24 seniors who have endured a lot over the past 16 months," said Favret. "I feel the energy every day and the 2021 Tigers will have a totally revamped look. I can't wait for the ball to be set in the air at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Roll Tigers!"

Offensively, the Tigers return junior all-purpose running back Kaleb Smith/Rocky Mount—a two-time All-ODAC honoree who has rushed for 964 career yards on 245 carries with nine rushing touchdowns, adding 103 career receptions for 953 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns. He was the 2018 ODAC Rookie of the Year, and the VaSID College Division Offensive Rookie of the Year. Smith had a career-high 214 yards rushing while totaling a career-high 332 all-purpose yards against Guilford (NC) College in 2018.

Other top returners at the skill positions include senior wide receivers Dillon Costello/South Riding, Blake Page/Richmond and Nick Kallivokas/Purcellville, senior tight end Ed Newman/Farmville, along with senior running back Cole Becker/Spring Lake, NC. Costello is serving as a team captain this spring and has 98 career receptions for 906 yards and 10 touchdowns. Page has 78 career receptions for 876 yards and four touchdowns. Kallivokas has 32 career receptions for 272 yards and one touchdown. Newman, a local standout from the Fuqua School, has 40 career receptions for 553 yards and four touchdowns. Becker has rushed for 313 career yards on 84 carries with two rushing touchdowns, including a career-high 172 yards rushing and the two touchdowns at Guilford in 2019.

Veteran starters on the offensive line this spring include seniors Tyler Howerton/Alexandria, Brad Gholson/Montpelier and Blair Page/Richmond. Howerton is serving as a team captain, as well, and has started in all 29 career games. Also a standout in the classroom, Howerton was selected as one of 12 finalists for the prestigious William V. Campbell Trophy®, awarded to the nation's top football scholar-athlete by the National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame, as a member of the 2020 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class. Gholson has started 17 of 19 career games, including all 10 played in 2019. Page has started nine of 14 career games on the defensive side of the ball, but is moving to the O-line this spring.

Defensively, H-SC returns senior team captains Riggs Jordan/Spencer and Phil Pullen/Manassas—Jordan a versatile veteran defensive back and Pullen with plenty of experience on the defensive line. Jordan is a two-time captain and has started 14 of 29 career games with 82 total tackles, including 46 solo and 36 assists, 9.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one interception (returned for a touchdown) and one blocked kick. Pullen has started 19 of 27 career games with 80 total tackles, including 37 solo and 43 assists, four sacks, 14 tackles for loss and one forced fumble—he is the Student Body President at H-SC during this academic year.

Other top defensive returners include senior linebacker Brendan Weinberg/Apex, NC, senior defensive back Brad Jeffers/Warrenton, junior linebacker Stephen Cash/Kill Devil Hills, NC, along with junior cornerbacks Jordan Fields/Chapel Hill, NC and Dallas Robinson/Lorton. Weinberg has started 26 of 27 career games with 188 total tackles, including 109 solo and 79 assists, 20.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, four interceptions and six broken up passes—he earned All-ODAC honors in 2018. Jeffers has started eight of 23 career games with 73 total tackles, including 37 solo and 36 assists, two tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one interception and three broken up passes. Cash has started eight of 10 career games with 56 total tackles, including 27 solo and 29 assists, four tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Fields has started six of 10 career games with 23 total tackles, including 16 solo and seven assists, and one interception. Robinson has started five of 15 career games with 29 total tackles, including 19 solo and 10 assists, 2.5 tackles for loss and four broken up passes.

Sophomore running back Talen Smith/Ruther Glen is the top return specialist from 2019 after leading the team with 22 kickoff returns totaling 414 yards, averaging 18.8 yards per return with a long return of 29 yards.

Among the top newcomers to the program are junior quarterback Tanner Bernard/Lynchburg, along with some talented freshmen—including quarterback Hayden Shinn/Bluffton, SC, running back Melik Frost/Bluffton, SC, wide receiver Braeden Bowling/Cary, NC, offensive linemen David Haley/Norfolk and TJ Minter/Chester, defensive linemen Kevin Gholson/Montpelier and Tramell Thompson/Queens, NY, linebackers Dalton Collins/Midlothian and Dorian Green/Axton, cornerback Tobias Lafayette/Charleston, SC, as well as defensive back Will Pickren/Mt Pleasant, SC.

Bernard started 15 of 16 career games at NCAA Division II UVA Wise during 2018-19, completing 238-404 passes for 2,336 yards and 15 touchdowns. Shinn led Hilton Head Christian Academy to an 11-2 record, finishing as the South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA) 2A State Runners-Up, while earning All-State and LOWCO Player of the Year honors with school-records for single season touchdown passes (50) and passing yards (3,600-plus). Frost and Pickren each earned All-State honors in South Carolina, as well, while Gholson, Minter and Thompson were All-State selections here in the Commonwealth.

Sophomore placekicker Jack Breedlove/Atlanta, GA, a transfer from Rhodes (TN) College, is expected to handle the placekicking duties, while freshman George Langhammer/Roanoke looks to manage the punting.

In addition to the opener against Southern Virginia, H-SC is scheduled to play road games at Shenandoah University on Friday night, March 5, at 7 p.m. in Winchester and at Guilford on Friday evening, March 19, at 5 p.m. in Greensboro. The Tigers return home to welcome archrival Randolph-Macon College on Saturday, March 27, at 1 p.m. at Everett Stadium—the 125th edition of The Game.

Coach Favret is joined on his experienced coaching staff this spring by defensive coordinator Wes Dodson, running backs coach Zeke Traylor '06, wide receivers coach Daryl Grose, special teams coordinator Eli Wicklund, offensive line coach Zach Zullinger '07, defensive line coach Joe Freeland, tight ends coach Peter Carpenter and safeties coach Tony Talbert '20.