Friday, April 9, 2021

Ferrum Finished Fourth Place in ODAC

By Lindsey Foster

The Panthers ended their first-ever winter season with a loss against the Tigers of Hampden-Sydney College. Hampden-Sydney defeated Ferrum with a score of 49-21 at Everett Stadium. This loss led to Ferrum a fourth-place finish of the season in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. 


(The Ferrum College Football team grouping together on the field at Everett Stadium. Photo courtesy of Ferrum Athletics.)
“Although our season didn’t end the way we wanted it to, we learned to play for each other and we strived to work hard and give it all we had, day in and day out,” said Junior and defense player Billy Higgins.

At the beginning of the game, Ferrum’s player Zeb Dyer took a snap and lost the ball before he could throw. This led Hampden-Sydney to take an eight-yard rush and get a lead of 7-0 two plays later. The Tigers then took another touchdown with 4:08 left on the clock, ending the first quarter with Hampden-Sydney leading the game with 14-0. 


In the second quarter, the Tigers made two more touchdowns by Kaleb Smith from three yards and 20 yards out. This brought the game to halftime with Hampden-Sydney still in the lead with a score of 28-0.


Third-quarter began with the Tigers scoring another touchdown by Blake Page, who made a 33-yard pass from Tanner Bernard. After two-quarters of silence, Ferrum finally made it on the board with a one-yard touchdown by senior Joey Lama. The Tigers then furthered their score with a 20-yard touchdown by Page. The third quarter ended up with Hampden-Sydney leading with 42-7.


The Panthers were the focus of sight during the fourth quarter, which opened with a Titus Jones bomb to Tmahdaw Penn, who then made a 44-yard touchdown. Hampden-Sydney also added to their score with a six-yard touchdown made by Justin Pollard. Ferrum concluded the game with another touchdown by Penn, finishing the game with 21-49. 


A few new changes to the conference are worthwhile of notice. Emory & Henry College will move up to Division 2 and leave the ODAC; and Averett University will become the 15th full-time member of the conference on July 1, 2022. Since Ferrum’s Head Football Coach Cleive Adams came from Averett, he will be able to have a friendly competition in 2022 once Averett comes to ODAC.