Photo courtesy of Hampden-Sydney

Hampden-Sydney linebacker and two-year captain Andrew Sellers starred at Cave Spring.

If Hampden-Sydney has some extra commemorative items from its Old Dominion Athletic Conference football team or a rare appearance in the Division III playoffs, a good place to display them would be Corned Beef and Company in downtown Roanoke.

That's where the table was set.

The Tigers were coming off a disappointing season-ending loss to Randolph-Macon when Hampden-Sydney coach Marty Favret came to the Roanoke Valley to watch the Stagg Bowl, the Division III championship game that is held annually at Salem Stadium.

While in the area, Favret said he "bumped into" two of his 2008 seniors, quarterback Corey Sedlar from Richmond and linebacker Andrew Sellers from Cave Spring High School in Roanoke.

Maybe it was more than a chance meeting.

Both players had played three years for the Tigers, Sedlar after spending his freshman year at James Madison and Sellers because he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament that caused him to miss his sophomore year.

Unlike Division I-A, where many players are on full scholarship for five years, nobody in Division III is on an athletic scholarship and full rides are almost non-existent. All financial aid is need- or academic-based.

Favret is in his 10th season as Hampden-Sydney's head coach and said he can remember four players who returned for a fifth.

Sellers never expected to be on that list.

"I had made up my mind," said Sellers, who earlier had suffered a torn ACL at Cave Spring. "My body was getting more and more beat-up every week and I told coach [Favret] midway through last season, 'I'm not coming back.' "

Sellers finished as the leading tackler on a Hampden-Sydney team that finished 8-2 but dropped its season finale to archrival Randolph-Macon, 31-21.

It wasn't the way Sellers wanted to go out -- without an ODAC title, without a D-III playoff bid and without a victory over Randolph-Macon.

The month between the end of the season and the Stagg Bowl had added fuel to his fire.

"When we met at the restaurant, coach Favret already knew that Corey was coming back," Sellers said. "When I told him that I was coming back, he grabbed a napkin and Corey and I both guaranteed an ODAC championship in 2009.

"We wrote, '2009 ODAC champs' on the napkin and we signed it and he signed it. That was in December, so it's kind of cliche now, but coach Favret still has it. He had it in his pocket during the Macon game."

With an unbeaten regular season on the line, the Tigers trailed three times before pulling out a 34-27 victory on the road last Saturday.

"There were horrible conditions," said Sellers, referring to the remnants of Hurricane Ida. "They had to bring in helicopters to try and dry off the field. We knew we were going to get their best shot. We get everybody's best shot."

It was the second ODAC championship in three years for Hampden-Sydney, which will serve as host to a playoff game for the first time since 1977 when Johns Hopkins (8-2) visits.

"When our 2007 team went to the playoffs, we were happy just to be there," said Sellers, referring to a 45-17 loss to Wesley in Dover, Del. "We were surprised to win the conference, whereas this 2009 team has higher goals."

Sellers has been a three-year starter and a two-year captain. A 6-foot, 215-pounder he was recruited by many of the ODAC's top programs but had received an early introduction to Hampden-Sydney from one of his Cave Spring coaches, Deke Summers.

Sellers has had a total of three knee operations. The one that caused him to miss the 2006 season was not related to football. He had come home for Christmas break and had blown out his knee in a benefit wrestling tournament.

"That didn't go over too well," he said.

Then again, if he had played in 2006, he wouldn't be around for this experience.

"He's been a great kid; it's been a neat story with him," Favret said. "And maybe we've learned our lesson about offseason wrestling tournaments."