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The Hampden-Sydney football program starts the 2023 campaign at home against Wabash (IN) College this weekend in the Gentlemen’s Classic. That’ll take place Saturday afternoon, September 2, at 1 p.m. on Fulton Field at Lewis C. Everett Stadium. The host Tigers and the visiting Little Giants are two of the remaining three all-male, four-year schools in the country. H-SC and Wabash have met just three times previously and the Little Giants have won each game, including a 52-48 shootout last Sept. 3 in Crawfordsville, Indiana. 

Hampden-Sydney comes into this game looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2022. The team went 5-5 overall, including 4-3 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), where they finished in fourth place. This year, the polls picked Hampden-Sydney to finish fifth. Wabash finished 2022 with a final record of 7-3 overall, including 6-3 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) for fourth place, and were picked second in the preseason this year. 

Hampden-Sydney football says goodbye   

Now this season is unique in that it’ll be the last one for Hampden-Sydney head coach Marty Favret. The all-time winningest coach in program history announced August 20 that he’ll be retiring after this season. In 23 seasons with the Tigers, he has attained 145 victories (145-86) and led Hampden-Sydney to 15 winning seasons with five ODAC Championships (2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014) and six NCAA Division III Football Championship appearances (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014). Favret is currently the longest-tenured collegiate football head coach in Virginia.

The Gentlemen’s Classic series

Among rivalries for Hampden-Sydney, this one’s fairly new. Wabash leads The Gentlemen’s Classic, 3-0. The Little Giants won the inaugural meeting by a score of 34-21 on September 6, 2014 in Crawfordsville, Indiana, before taking the second meeting by a score of 35-3 on Sept. 5, 2015 at Hampden-Sydney. Wabash won the third meeting in the renewal of the Classic last season by a score of 52-48 on Sept. 3, 2022 in the Hoosier state.

Hampden-Sydney football captains

Leading the Tigers are senior offensive tackle TJ Minter, senior safety Will Pickren, senior safety James-Ryan Salvi and senior defensive end Tramell Thompson. Minter becomes a two-time team captain after serving in the leadership role last season, as well, while Pickren, Salvi and Thompson are each first-time team captains. TJ is the son of the late Tony Minter and Catherine Minter. Will is the son of Wilson and Renee Pickren. James-Ryan is the son of Ryan and Denise Salvi. Tramell is the son of Chelsea Thompson.

Can I follow the Gentlemen’s Classic? 

The Gentlemen’s Classic can be heard locally on WVHL Radio, Kickin’ Country 92.9 FM, and will also be available worldwide on the Internet at wvhl.net or via the TuneIn Radio App, while available to watch as well on the Tiger Sports Network live video stream at hscathletics.com, pregame airing at 12:30 p.m.