By Ryan Tipps
D3sports.com

SALEM, Va. -- It had a championship venue, two defending conference championship teams and a handful of championship-caliber performances. Yet none of those stood taller than the championship cause.

On Saturday, the lights began blazing just before dusk at Salem Stadium, home of the Stagg Bowl, where Washington and Lee and Averett were meeting for the first time. And no matter what happened on the field, Habitat for Humanity International was going to walk away a winner.

All revenue from ticket sales was benefiting Habitat, and hundreds of fans, parents and visitors turned out to see the Generals outmaneuver the Cougars in a 35-21 victory.

"The thought occurred to us that if we're going to do this, let's do it as a charity game," said Chuck O'Connell, Washington & Lee's former interim athletic director, who was integral in the events early planning. "And what better charity than Habitat because they're the NCAA's charity of choice."

Averett's John Garcia intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown in the first D-III game played on Salem Stadium's new turf. Averett photo by David Conner II

Those in attendance helped raise $2,408 for Habitat in a game that was also inspired by Averett's former athletic director.

"Charles Harris, who is on the Habitat for Humanity's board in Danville, was the AD at Averett last year and is now the vice president for student services," Sam Ferguson, sports information director and acting director of athletics at Averett, told me Saturday night. "He has been very involved with Habitat for Humanity and he has been very involved in the NCAA ... which does a lot with Habitat for Humanity. And so his association with the Habitat board and the NCAA helped brainstorm this idea."

This year, the host team was W&L, and next year will be AU's turn. Nonetheless, Salem (new turf and all) was certain to be something special for the players and fans.

"We thought it would be a great place to play this football game," Ferguson said. "A great experience to come here where they play the national championship. ... We don't mind giving up a home game for something like this."

Deeper behind the scenes, O'Connell explained more of the early stages of the event's evolution.

"Both of us wanted a home game this year, because of the balance of our schedules," O'Connell said about the W&L and AU teams. "And that got mentioned in the presence of Carey Harveycutter, who is one of the prime movers in the city of Salem with hosting all the various sporting events. ...

"It worked out very well, from the standpoint that we both wanted to play, and we were willing to do what had to be done to get the event off," he said. "When it became evident that Salem would be the site, it became really easy from there. With Salem's experience with hosting a variety of events, all that was needed was one phone call. ... The city of Salem did a great job."

While Harris, O'Connell and Harveycutter made it happen for Habitat, the players made it happen on the field.

Jack Martin, W&L's standout wide receiver, put the first points on the board, taking a pass 36 yards to the end zone only 60 seconds into the game. But that play was far from Martin's only highlight of the day.

In the second quarter, the preseason All-American caught a pass that put him in the Generals' record book with the most career receiving yards in school history. He finished with 166 yards for the day and, so far, 2,403 yards over his four years. 

In Martin's eyes, though, the day was about more than him.

"I've had the pleasure of playing with some great offenses, and we're not worried about individual records," Martin said after the game. "We're excited about the win. Our offense put up 35 points. We didn't do that last year."

Martin wasn't the team's only star, with quarterback R.J. Varner connecting for 193 yards and running back Stuart Sitterson opening up two 55-yard returns on special teams.

The Generals posted more than 400 yards of offense, but much of the team's successes were countered by an array of nasty penalties: three personal fouls, one roughing the kicker and an unsportsmanlike conduct.

A level head is going to be needed as the defending ODAC champion heads into conference play next weekend.

"We try not to look ahead," Martin said, "but if you look at the ODAC, the conference as a whole has a pretty good record. The conference is more competitive this year, and it's going to be a lot tougher to win."

Washington and Lee was a league leader in defense last season -- "Those guys are going for shutouts every time," Martin explained. "That's their philosophy." But the team finally seems to have found its groove on offense as well.

And Salem was a great place to showcase the talents across the board.

"The opportunity to play in this stadium is a plus. It's a recruiting tool for both teams," said Ferguson. "I'm sure that there are kids who are looking at Averett and Washington and Lee for next year, and they know that if they come to either of these schools that they'll get to play where the national championship is decided."

The USAC defending co-champion Averett kept the game close, even going into the fourth quarter. A Brian Daniels 1-yard run in the third quarter gave the Cougars their first lead of the season, going ahead 21-20. 

Throughout the night, Averett hung tight by forcing three turnovers, including an interception early in the game that John Garcia took into the end zone for the team's first six points. Senior lineman Jason Hill was the linchpin for the defense and even thwarted what appeared to be a certain touchdown by chasing down W&L running back Tom Pacicco, who was stopped 44 yards into his scamper.

In the past two years, Averett has been getting used to tougher teams such as Washington & Lee.

Ferguson recalled an instance in Alliance, Ohio: "Coach Dunlevy made a comment at Mount Union, when someone asked him why he would want to play a team like Mount Union. He wants our guys to see what it's like to play at that level. He wants to play good teams. Because that's how you get better."

Since the Cougars' first season in 2000, the team has never had a worse record than the year before. However, things are not looking up for Averett. The team has started the season 0-3, its first such start in school history. But with conference play still to come, it's like hitting a reset button on the season: a clean slate to the automatic qualifier.

With the Habitat charity as the backdrop, can we expect to see these two teams play again? Yup. It's a two-year agreement, though Ferguson said that doesn't limit a future beyond 2008.

"I would like to see it continue. I'm sure there are plenty of teams that want to play on a field like that, in a venue like this. ... I'd love to see us continue to play Washington and Lee."

O'Connell said many of the Washington and Lee students poured their efforts into this event, helping to ensure its success now -- and possibly in the future.

"We've worked very hard in the recent past with our kids, not only the athletic teams, but with the student body to be involved in the community," he said. "This was a chance for some of our people to step up, and our campus contacts for Habitat did a great job of promoting the game. ... It really was a nice rallying point for a variety of reasons. It wasn't just a football game. There was a flavor of involvement in a community activity."

Teams, fans and school officials, it seemed, got all they could have hoped for.

"We've never done anything like this," Ferguson said. "We didn't know what to expect. ... I'm not at all disappointed. Each team has a strong representation tonight.

"Plus," he said, "it's a great cause."

Eighth time's still a charm

Hampden-Sydney might have been the only team to enter Saturday's game against Guilford with a blemish on its record, but the Tigers made sure the Quakers' left with one, too. But neither team was exiting without a fight, and the offenses proved that. HSC's Josh Simpson, in his season debut, rushed for an ODAC-record six touchdowns as the Tigers won the 56-49 shootout. And records fell on the other sideline as well, with Guilford quarterback Josh Vogelbach breaking conference and team records with 592 passing yards. Saturday marked Hampden-Sydney's eighth-straight win over Guilford.

Elsewhere in the Old Dominion

It's been three years since the Randolph-Macon Yellowjackets have logged a season with at least three wins, and only four games into '07, they've done just that. Sophomore running back Zak Thornton has been the key to this offense by averaging more than 131 yards per game. And R-M has yet to give up more than 20 points in a game this season, something that happened six times in 2006. Of course, the schedule doesn't get any easier down the stretch, with big-dogs Bridgewater and Washington and Lee still on tap as well as rival Hampden-Sydney.

No shutout, but still a win

Gettysburg was able to take advantage of a short field to put six points on the board against Muhlenberg, the first time anyone has scored on the Mules all season. But the Bullets were kept out of the end zone the rest of the day as Muhlenberg muscled through the third quarter with two touchdowns, one each from sophomore Phil Cresta and junior Eric Santagato. Still, the game came down to some 11th-hour heroics with the score at 14-13 in favor of the Mules. With just over 30 seconds left in the game, Gettysburg lined up for a 33-yard go-ahead field goal. Muhlenberg junior Chris Swenson sliced through the line, blocking the attempt and securing his team's first win in a Centennial opener since 2002.

I haven't forgotten about you, FDU

I'm sure FDU-Florham fans have been waiting for their team's turn in the spotlight. After all, FDU is the only mid-Atlantic team that really hasn't gotten much attention yet in my column, but the Devils have earned the right to break that press drought.

Just three games into the season, the Devils have matched their 2006 win total, standing at 2-1 and in a first-place tie in the MAC. On Saturday, FDU, led by its defense, edged out William Paterson 14-13. The Devils compiled a couple of big fourth-down plays on both sides of the ball and forced three turnovers to beat the Pioneers, which had proved to be a thorn in Wilkes' side earlier in the season. And at least five FDU players, led by senior Dan Harrison, took turns carrying the ball for 146 rushing yards. FDU's two wins come by a combined four points, but the Devils now are showing up on some radars, along with Albright. And those two teams, which were each at the very bottom of the MAC last year, are at the top going into conference play -- and they face each other next weekend. 

Poison IV

Contributing to some rare losing streaks, Week 4 certainly seemed to be poison for some teams ...

Longtime Centennial Conference contender Johns Hopkins has been clipped. The Blue Jays haven't lost three games in a row since 1999. Saturday's three-point loss to undefeated Moravian put Johns Hopkins at 0-2 in conference play. And the team's next three games are against the other currently undefeated Centennial opponents. The Blue Jays should be looking for that wing and a prayer right about now.

McDaniel has taken the field four times, and marked an "L" each week. The last time the Green Terror started 0-4 was back in 1996; and prior to that it was 1987. Smells like the roughly decade-long cycle is rearing its head again.

Delaware Valley has limped to its first 0-3 start since 2002, which was the last year the Aggies didn't participate in a postseason game. In his first three seasons at the helm, coach Jim Clements had tallied an impressive 28-2 regular-season record. And he has already lost more games this season than in those prior years combined.

I have seen the lights

Prior to last season's Stagg Bowl, I had never seen a football game under the lights. My high school didn't have them, and my college didn't either. A game set to the backdrop of the dusk and night skies has a different personality than an afternoon game, and I enjoy the night ones much more. As luck would have it, dating back to that championship game in December, four of the past seven games I've seen have been under the lights. That's a pretty good ratio, and I'm looking forward to my next one -- though, unfortunately, I'm not sure when that will be.

High five

The Around the Mid-Atlantic top teams:
1. Bridgewater
2. Christopher Newport
3. Ursinus
4. Dickinson
5. Widener

Things in the High Five are still shaking up, especially after Widener dropped hard against Rowan last weekend. Despite the loss -- which wasn't in itself unexpected, though its severity was -- the Pride is my MAC frontrunner, and thus gets to squeak onto the list at No. 5. Although Albright is definitely playing well and drawing some attention, past years' records have me hesitant to hitch my wagon to the team just yet. Conference play is here, and teams will start sorting out soon enough. Right now, it seems the CC and the ODAC -- with four and two undefeated teams, respectively -- are the region's only conferences that have a shot at sending two teams to the playoffs. Everyone else has likely dug themselves in too deep, leaving the AQ as their only option.

At the head of the class

By grade level, here are the mid-Atlantic's players of the week:
Freshman
Matt Cook, running back, Delaware Valley: Led his team with 71 yards rushing, including almost 6 yards per carry, in the 36-16 loss to Salisbury. Cook has one of the best per game rushing averages in the conference.

Sophomore
Eric Zwilsky, running back, McDaniel: Punched into the end zone three times against Dickinson, tying Zwilsky in the year's No. 2 spot for touchdowns in a game by a Centennial player.

Junior
Josh Simpson, running back, Hampden-Sydney: Rushed for 207 yards and a conference record six touchdowns, breaking a mark set almost 15 years ago. 

Senior
Jack Martin, wide receiver, Washington and Lee: Hauled in six catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns. Martin set a Generals all-time receiving record with 2,403 yards.

Games of the week

Josh Simpson racked up 293 all-purpose yards in Hampden-Sydney's win.  Courtesy of ImagePro Photography

Dickinson at Moravian: Meeting for the first time as conference foes, the Red Devils and the Greyhounds are the Centennial's only 4-0 teams. The playoffs are at stake for both teams. Dickinson has been averaging 28 points per game, while Moravian puts up an average of 45 points each time out. 

Bridgewater at Hampden-Sydney: Bouncing back from a rocky start, the Tigers are on track to erase the memories of last year's sub-.500 season. In similar fashion, the Eagles are doing well to put last year's non-playoff season behind them. The Eagles have a knack for shaking the foundations at Hampden-Sydney as Bridgewater has won every meeting in recent years, including ruining the Tigers' otherwise perfect season in 2003. I will be there to see it for myself this year.

Guilford at Greensboro: The crosstown rivals have been at it since 1997, and the series is tied at five wins apiece. A canned good will get fans into the game, which has a charitable twist. Each team is coming off a loss and could use a win to wrap up nonconference play.

Contact me

I would be happy to hear from anyone who has questions or feedback regarding the Around the Mid-Atlantic column. Please write to me at ryan.tipps@d3sports.com. Or, if there is an idea you'd like to see me write about, I'm always open to hearing about that, too.