The Roanoke College football team will take the field as a varsity program this Saturday when the Maroons host Virginia University-Lynchburg. Game time is 2 p.m. at Salem Stadium.
The Maroons had a successful club season last fall, winning all four of their games against three Old Dominion Athletic Conference jayvee teams and Fork Union Military Academy. This year the Maroons will play a full ODAC varsity schedule. They’ll take over Ferrum’s schedule from last year with the Panthers leaving the ODAC and joining Division II.
Roanoke will open the season with two non-conference games, at home against Virginia University-Lynchburg this week and at Greensboro College on September 13. The Maroons then have a week off before opening their conference schedule with Gallaudet University, another newcomer to the ODAC, on September 27. Seven more ODAC games will follow, three at home and four on the road.
The Maroons were picked sixth among nine teams in the ODAC preseason poll despite the fact that they haven’t played a varsity football game in 83 years. The poll is voted on by the league’s head coaches.
Defending champion Randolph-Macon College earned eight of the nine first-place votes to rank atop the ODAC, followed by Washington & Lee, Shenandoah, Bridgewater and Hampden-Sydney. Three teams, Roanoke, Averett and Guilford, came within one point of each other for sixth through eighth place and Gallaudet ranked ninth.
The Maroons open the season with a 93-player roster, comprised mainly of freshmen and sophomores. Due to transfers Roanoke has a dozen juniors on the team and two seniors.
The team has four players with Botetourt County ties. Hunter McLain is one of the two seniors after transferring to RC from James Madison, and he’ll be No. 66 on the Maroon roster. After starting four years at LB he went to Virginia Tech as a three-star prospect by 247 Sports, then transferred to JMU. He’s a 6’5”, 310-pound offensive lineman.
Another LB product, KJ Bratton, is a junior receiver for the Maroons. He was an All-Region 3D all-purpose player for the Cavaliers before heading to the University of Virginia, then transferring to RC. He’ll wear No. 3.
Cody McConnaughey is a freshman linebacker from Lord Botetourt. He was first team All-Region and second team All-State as a senior. He’ll wear No. 39.
George Toliver, a freshman from James River High, is a tight end for the Maroons. He comes to Roanoke after transferring from Ferrum and he’ll be 47 in the program.
Also, former LB lineman DJ Toliver has enrolled in Roanoke College but is ineligible for the football team this season. DJ committed to Brown University after graduating from LB and is now back in the Roanoke Valley.
This is the first season of varsity football for Roanoke College since 1942, when it was forced to disband the program because of the constraints of World War II. The team has hired former Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring to be head coach and he has a full staff of assistants as the Maroons head into Saturday’s season opener.
Virginia University-Lynchburg opened against Valparaiso University in Indiana last Saturday and lost to the host Beacons, 67-10. It was just 26-10 at the half before Valparaiso put 35 unanswered points on the board in the third period to win going away.
Virginia University-Lynchburg (VUL) is a private, historically Black Christian university in Lynchburg. The university is a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). The Dragons finished 2-8 in football in 2024.
