The Roanoke College football team will take the field as a varsity program this Saturday when the Maroons host Virginia University-Lynchburg. Game time is 2 pm at Salem Stadium.
The Maroons had a successful jayvee season last fall, winning all four of their games against three Old Dominion Athletic Conference jayvee teams and Fork Union Military Academy. This year the Maroons will play a full ODAC varsity schedule. They’ll take over Ferrum’s schedule from last year with the Panthers leaving the ODAC and joining Division II.
Roanoke will open the season with two non-conference games, at home against Virginia University-Lynchburg this week and at Greensboro College on September 13. The Maroons then have a week off before opening their conference schedule with Gallaudet University, another newcomer to the ODAC, on September 27. Seven more ODAC games will follow, three at home and four on the road.
The Maroons were picked sixth among nine teams in the ODAC preseason poll despite the fact that they haven’t played a varsity football game in 83 years. The poll is voted on by the league’s head coaches.
Defending champion Randolph-Macon College earned eight of the nine first-place votes to rank atop the ODAC, followed by Washington & Lee, Shenandoah, Bridgewater and Hampden-Sydney. Three teams, Roanoke, Averett and Guilford, came within one point of each other for sixth through eighth place and Gallaudet ranked ninth.
The Maroons open the season with a 93 player roster, comprised mainly of freshmen and sophomores. Due to transfers Roanoke has a dozen juniors on the team and two seniors.
The team has 11 players who played their high school football at either Salem or Glenvar. Former Spartan Khamari Garner is a sophomore after playing for the RC jayvee team last year. He’s a receiver and kick returner and he’ll wear number 12.
Josiah Moyer is also a wide receiver from Salem High. Josiah transferred to Roanoke from Christopher Newport University and he’ll wear number 16.
Freshman Maroons from Salem include quarterback Eli Taylor(#11), linebacker Connor Cox(#40) and tight end Jack Camper(#82).
Junior Jackson Swanson, from Glenvar, has transferred to Roanoke after two years on the Emory & Henry track team. He was a standout wing back and return man during his days with the Highlanders he’ll be a receiver for RC and wear number 1.
Two other former Highlanders are returning juniors, tight end Aiden Wolk(#87) and kicker Tyler Pierce(#80). Also back from last year’s team are Glenvar grads Nate Johnson(#75) and Ben Holliday(#74). Both are offensive linemen, as is freshman Rhett Henderson from Glenvar who will wear number 73.
This is the first season of varsity football for Roanoke College since 1942, when it was forced to disband the program because of the constraints of World War II. The team has hired former Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring to be head coach and he has a full staff of assistants as the Maroons head into Saturday’s season opener.
Virginia University-Lynchburg opened against Valparaiso University in Indiana last Saturday and lost to the host Beacons, 67-10. It was just 26-10 at the half before Valparaiso put 35 unanswered points on the board in the third period to win going away.
Virginia University-Lynchburg (VUL) is a private historically black Christian university in Lynchburg. The university is a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). The Dragons finished 2-8 in football in 2024.
