By VIC DORR JR.
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

Ogun leads CNU
with imposing effort

Christopher Newport coach Matt Kelchner says he likes what he saw from running back Tunde Ogun in last Saturday’s 17-7 victory over Shenandoah. Now, Kelchner says, he’d like to see more of it.

Ogun, a junior from Douglas Freeman High School, rushed 26 times for 195 yards and a touchdown against the Hornets. En route, he lifted CNH to a 2-1 record and earned USA South player of the week distinction.

“Outstanding effort,” Kelchner said. “Probably the best game he’s player for us since he’s been here. He ran extremely hard. He broke many, many tackles. He made a lot of big plays out of nothing.”

Kelchner said Ogun has all the tools – size, strength, speed and vision – to be “an exceptional running back at this level.” The extent to which he succeeds, Kelchner said, is up to him.

“He can be a complete back. Absolutely. There’s no question about it,” Kelchner said. “If he works hard, stays focused and pays attention to the details” that accompany duty as a first-line running back, “he has a chance to be very, very good.”

Ogun led Christopher Newport on the ground last year with 672 yards and 10 touchdowns on 134 carries. He will likely see the football frequently in the next week or so. Mike Thomas, the Captain’s No. 2 rusher, tweaked his knee against Shenandoah and could miss Saturday’s game at Greensboro.

Simpson probable
for date with E&H

Hampden-Sydney running back Josh Simpson, the ODAC’s reigning offensive player of the year, is expected to play – and quite possibly start – in Saturday’s home game against Emory & Henry. Simpson, a senior from Mills Godwin, has missed the Tigers’ past nine periods because of a toe injury suffered in the third quarter of his club’s Sept. 20 victory over King’s.

Simpson intended to play in last weekend’s 37-34 victory over league rival Bridgewater but experienced discomfort in his foot during warmups.

Extended absence notwithstanding, Simpson still leads the 5-0 Tigers in rushing (506 yards, eight touchdowns) and ranks second in receiving (21 catches for 322 yards and a pair of scores).

R-MC’s ground game:
cause for concern

Randolph-Macon, idle this weekend, will almost certainly use the break to examine its struggling ground game. The Yellow Jackets (2-3) are averaging only 137.6 yards per game on the ground – nearly 60 fewer than they produced during last year’s 8-2 season. R-MC rushed for only 92 yards in last week’s 28-16 loss at Washington and Lee. Yellow Jackets senior Zak Thornton, last year’s ODAC rushing champion, was held to a career low 37 yards on 14 carries.

One needn’t look far for an explanation. R-MC started three all-conference performers along its offensive front in 2007. Two of those players have since graduated. The third, Kevin Wagner, missed two early-season games because of illness and returned to the Yellow Jackets’ lineup only last week. He was joined by freshmen and sophomores.

R-MC’s inability to sustain a rushing game has created two significant problems. The first: Yellow Jackets quarterback Austin Faulkner, a Doug Flutie play-alike, is listed – generously, perhaps – at 5-10. Faulkner is most effective as a passer when rolling out, often having first frozen opposing linebackers with a run-action fake. If there is little reason to respect the run, there is little reason to acknowledge a run-action fake.

The second: Randolph-Macon is a team designed to grab and sustain a lead by chewing up both yardage and time. It is not designed to come from behind. Washington and Lee was all but secure when it carried a 21-3 advantage into halftime in last week’s contest in Lexington. 

Murray lets fans
do the talking

Washington and Lee senior Billy Murray has quietly constructed a nice career as an efficient – if seldom-thrown-to – wideout. His unofficial fan club, which has a game-day enrollment of several hundred, is quite willing to engage in NFL-style trash talking on Murray’s behalf.

Royal blue t-shirts that support Murray while poking fun at two legendary NFL loudmouths, Keyshawn Johnson and Chad Johnson, have become hot properties among W&L students. More than 400 were snapped up in half an hour earlier this season. The shirt’s front carries a quote from Keyshawn Johnson: “Throw me the damn ball.” On the back: Murray’s number (25) and a name (Dos Cinco). Bengals receiver Chad Johnson formally changed his last name to Ocho Cinco to match the number (85) on his jersey.

Murray, normally rendered inconspicuous by an offense with distinct option tendencies, made big noise in last week’s 28-16 victory over Randolph-Macon. He caught two passes for 81 yards and a touchdown. Sounds as though someone must have been listening. Or reading.

Business as usual
for Ferrum’s Goode

Maureik Goode, Ferrum’s junior lnebacker from Powhatan High School, earned second-team all-USA South distinction in 2007 and appears intent upon more of the same this year.

Goode, a 5-11 218-pounder, leads the Panthers with 20 solo and 21 assisted tackles. He contributed six solo and six assisted stops to last weekend’s 30-9 victory over Averett.

Scanning local and state Division III programs