Cavs’ Hippeard and Haley Selected Gridiron Mid-South Players of the Week

October 15, 2007

Randy Hippeard

James Haley

Wise, Va. – The 11^th-ranked University of Virginia’s College at Wise ighland Cavalier football team was honored on Monday when record-setting quarterback Randy Hippeard and strong safety James Haley were named Mid-South Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the week.

The Highland Cavaliers come off a victory over Belhaven (Miss.) College by a 69-28 final score.  The 69 points tied the 17^th-year program history for most points scored in a game by a UVa-Wise gridiron squad.  The Cavs are 6-1, 1-0 in the Mid-South East Division and were rated 11^th in last week’s NAIA national poll, the next poll is released on Monday evening.

The junior Hippeard (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) had another outstanding contest on his record-setting career.  The signal-caller threw for 259 yards on 13 completions in 18 attempts with five touchdowns.  The 6-3, 216-pound quarterback set the program’s career passing record with 6,694 passing yards to break David Nara’s (1991-94) 6,517 yards. 

The school record is Hippeard’s fourth he has shattered in the 2007 season.  He also now hold the career marks for pass completions (446), passing touchdowns (61) and total offense (6,738 yards).  The third-year player also set the single game numbers at North Greenville on September 1^st with 564 passing yards, 32 completions, six passing touchdowns, 565 yards of total offense and seven total touchdowns, with a one-yard scoring run.

 Hippeard leads the Cavs offense which leads the NAIA in scoring offense (52.3 ppg) and total offense (525.3 yds/gm).  Individually, he is the national leader in pass efficiency (178.3) while third in total offense (311.3 yds/gm) and passing yards (306.6 yds/gm).  The junior has completed 133 of 213 passes for 2,146 yards with 25 touchdowns to eight interceptions while rushing 17 times for 33 yards and two scores.

Haley (Gladys, Va./William Campbell) paced the UVa-Wise defense to its best outing of the season.  The sophomore led the unit which recorded seven sacks, forced three fumbles, picked off two passes and held Belhaven scoreless in the second half.  The strong safety posted 10 total tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack, forced a fumble, returned another fumble 46 yards to set up another Cavs’ touchdown and broke up two passes.

On the season, the 5-11, 181-pound defensive back is fourth on the UVa-Wise defense with 42 tackles in seven games.  He also had 10 tackles, nine solo, at fifth-ranked Bethel College and nine stops and a forced fumble against defending Mid-South East champ Georgetown (Ky.) College.

The nationally-ranked Highland Cavaliers will next play host to region rival Pikeville College this Saturday, October 20^th with a 1:30 kick-off at Carl Smith Stadium.