There must have been some sore bodies in the Hampden-Sydney College locker room Saturday night.
The small Virginia school took on Linfield College in a the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs over the weekend, and one third-quarter play ended with three Hampden-Sydney players lying flat on their backs.
The play was a punt, which Linfield return man Spencer Payne fielded at his own 30-yard line. As Payne sprinted to his right across the field, linebacker Tyler Robitaille flew in and blew up an unsuspecting member of the Hampden-Sydney coverage team with a blindside hit.
Less than a second later, Wes Meng followed with a crushing block of his own, leveling one defender and taking another out of the play. Those two hits cleared a huge alley for Payne down the sideline, and another by Jordan Giza near midfield allowed him to race all the way down to Hampden-Sydney’s 36-yard line, where he was finally brought down by the punter.
The return was part of a furious second-half comeback by the undefeated Wildcats, who outscored the visitors 21-0 over the final two quarters to clinch a date with Wisconsin-Whitewater — winner of three of the last four D-III national titles — in this weekend’s quarterfinals.
Check it out in the video below, with a helmet sticker to BarstoolU.
