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CNU's late rally not enough; fall in OT to Tigers

Senior kicker Dylan Curran's 40-yard field goal briefly gave CNU its first advantage, 24-21, but the Tigers responded by winning in overtime 27-24.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — It was an uphill battle for Christopher Newport's football squad Saturday night, as the Captains never took the lead until overtime in their Family Weekend battle against Hampden-Sydney at TowneBank Stadium. Senior kicker Dylan Curran's 40-yard field goal briefly gave Christopher Newport its first advantage, 24-21, but the Tigers responded by reaching the end zone in overtime to pull out a 27-24 victory.

Tigers senior quarterback Clay Vick flipped the ball to junior wide receiver Dillon Costello on an end-around, and Costello scampered in from four yards out to record the win. Hampden-Sydney improved to 1-1 on the season, while the Captains dropped to 0-2. The game was played in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 5,343, the ninth-largest crowd in Christopher Newport football history.

"It's tough because we were so close all night," Head Coach Art Link said. "I told my guys at halftime we just have to finish...the better conditioned team was going to win. I thought we battled hard...made some big mistakes at bad times...and just came up short."

Hampden-Sydney scored two of its four touchdowns on interception returns, and picked off Christopher Newport senior quarterback Jack Anderson three times. Anderson was 16 of 33 for the night for 220 yards through the air. Vick, who completed 27 of 49 passes for 203 yards, was intercepted four times by the Captains and twice by senior defensive back Damian Jiggetts.

The Tigers held a 7-0 lead at halftime thanks to a 30-yard runback following a pick by junior safety Riggs Jordan. The Captains finally got on the board early in the third quarter thanks to a scoring pass from senior wide receiver Nick Hunter to fellow senior wide receiver Cole Blais from 35 yards out.

Hampden-Sydney re-claimed the lead on a seven-yard scoring run by Vick midway through the third quarter. Again, the Captains answered by pulling even at 14 on a one-yard plunge by Anderson with less than a minute to go in the third quarter. In the opening minute of the final quarter, junior linebacker Brendan Weinberg returned an Anderson pass 20 yards to give the Tigers a 21-14 edge. Christopher Newport tied the game with 5:28 remaining when backup quarterback Brock Carnes ran in from two yards out to make it 21-21. Carnes carried the ball six times for the Captains, registering 16 yards on the ground. 

Christopher Newport opened the overtime with the ball and the Captains managed just three yards on three plays from scrimmage, all on a three-yard run from Carnes. Curran, who had missed two field goals during regulation, entered and booted the 40-yard attempt to put Christopher Newport ahead. Hampden-Sydney then moved down the field thanks in part to two Captains penalties to advance to the four yard line to set up the winning flip pass.

The Captains out-gained the Tigers, 273-244, in total yardage. Senior wide receiver Major Morgan caught ten passes for 132 yards for the Tigers. Blais led Christopher Newport receivers with seven grabs for 101 yards and a score.

Junior Jake Herzog and freshman Deiontae Curry each intercepted passes for the Captains along with Jiggetts' two picks. Jiggetts now has nine interceptions in his career, tied for second in program history with Rob Rodriguez, and just two behind all-time leader Cameron Barlow.

The victory evened the all-time series with Hampden Sydney at 4-4, and snapped a three-game Christopher Newport winning streak against the Tigers.  

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