DANVILLE, Va. – The Washington and Lee football team dropped its 22nd-straight opener on the road, falling to Averett by a score of 20-17 on Saturday at the Cougar Den.

W&L (0-1) has not won the road to open the season since posting a 14-13 win at Towson State to open the 1969 campaign.

The season got off to a sound start with the Generals taking the opening kickoff and marching 83 yards on 15 plays for a 7-0 lead.  Sophomore running back Marshall Hollerith (Richmond, Va. / St. Christopher's) finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run at 7:53 of the first quarter.

Averett (1-0) responded with a 15-play, 82-yard drive that knotted the game at 7-7 on the next possession.  Junior running back Xavier Morgan finished the drive with a 20-yard touchdown run at the 1:41 mark of the first quarter.

W&L drove into Cougar territory on its next two possessions, but was stopped both times and Averett took a 10-0 lead with 4:40 left in the half when junior placekicker Hobie Proctor capped a 77-yard drive with a 29-yard field goal for a 10-7 AU lead.

The Generals drove to the Averett 9-yardline on the next possession and sophomore placekicker Matt Underhill (Bethesda, Md. / Landon) tied that game at 10-10 with a 26-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.

Averett grabbed a 17-10 lead on the first drive of the second half, keyed by a 49-yard rush from first-year running back Travis Jones on the first play of the series.  He finished the drive five plays later with a 1-yard plunge at the 12:16 mark.

Two possessions later, W&L senior safety Brandon Taylor (Petersburg, Va. / Dinwiddie) intercepted AU senior quarterback Kirkland Brown at the 50-yardline and returned it to the Averett 48-yardline.  However, the Generals could not capitalize on the field position and punted after a 3-and-out.

The Generals got another short field a few series later when junior defensive lineman Tim Joyce (Richmond, Va. / Benedictine) picked off a pass at the Averett 37-yardline and returned it to the 3-yardline with 1:47 left in the third quarter.  W&L fumbled two plays later and the Cougars recovered to end the threat.

Sophomore running back Connor Chess (Fairfax, Va. / Flint Hill) knotted the game at 17-17 with 9:59 remaining when he scored on a 33-yard touchdown run, but the Cougars marched 60 yards on 11 plays on the next possession, grabbing a 20-17 lead on a 28-yard field goal by Proctor with 4:31 remaining.

W&L advanced to the Averett 38-yardline on the next possession, but a fumble on a 4th-and-3 with 1:35 remaining ended the drive and allowed the Cougars to walk away with the season-opening win.

Hollerith led the Generals' offense with 94 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.  Senior running back Austin Eisenhofer (Mooresville, N.C. / Lake Norman) rushed for 75 yards on 16 carries and Chess finished with 49 yards and a score on three carries.  Sophomore quarterback Charlie Nelson (Redding, Conn. / St. Luke's) rushed 10 times for 32 yards and completed 8-of-21 passes for 76 yards.  On defense, sophomore linebacker John Carrick (Charlotte, N.C. / Providence Day) led the way with eight tackles.  Taylor had seven tackles and one interception.

Jones finished with 105 yards rushing and one touchdown on 23 carries to lead the Cougars.  Brown completed 17-of-28 passes for 165 yards and two interceptions, while junior wide receiver Bryan Finney caught eight balls for 71 yards.  Senior safety Brian Fuquay paced the defense with 13 tackles.

Washington and Lee returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Sewanee for a 1:00 pm CDT contest. 

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