The Roanoke College football team will look to clinch a winning season in their first year of varsity competition when the Maroons travel to Lexington Saturday to take on Washington & Lee at 1 pm. The Generals are 5-3 overall and 5-1 in ODAC games. Ryan Clemens was the ODAC Offensive Player of the Week last week in a 61-21 win over Averett. Clemens helped Washington and Lee’s offense explode for nearly 700 yards of offense with almost 600 on the ground. Clemens carried the ball 15 times and collected a career-high 164 yards and three touchdowns.
Roanoke is 5-3 overall and 3-3 in ODAC games after downing Guilford last Saturday evening, 21-20, at Salem Stadium. The Maroons need one more win in their last two games to clinch a winning season. They end the season at Averett University on November 15.
Last Saturday in Salem Roanoke opened the scoring with a 12-play 69-yard drive, capped with a Kam Hill to Polo Hill four-yard touchdown pass. Guilford countered with its own touchdown less than two minutes later, aided by a 68-yard kickoff return from Tristan Bailey.
The Maroons found paydirt just 1:13 before intermission as Kam Hill completed a 22-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Graves and RC went into halftime ahead 14-7.
Linwood Johnson ran it in from five yards out with four minutes left in the third quarter to forge a 21-7 lead but Caleb Robles scampered 51 yards for the Quakers to make it a one-score game at 21-14 with two minutes remaining in the third quarter. GC scored again on an interception early in the fourth quarter but missed the extra point and the Roanoke defense held firm down the stretch to seal the one-point victory.
Kam Hill complet
ed 17 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns and added 62 yards rushing. Graves caught five passes for 74 yards and Polo Hill compiled 59 total yards.
On defense Charlie Davis made seven stops and Isaac Rivera, Javier Waldron, Lane Shoemaker and Luke Conner each made five tackles. Conner also made 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and one quarterback hurry. Ethan Mapstone had two sacks and four tackles.
Zack Nicklas, a sophomore from Centreville, Va., was named the ODAC Special Teams Player of the Week. He helped give the Quakers long fields most of the evening, punting six times during the contest for an average of 37.8 yards per kick. He booted one 50 yards and saw four punting plays end inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
