LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee football team used a 28-point second quarter to produce a 36-6 victory over Hampden-Sydney on Saturday afternoon at Everett Stadium.

Neither team could find a score in the first quarter of play, as both were stopped on fourth down attempts early in the game.  W&L (5-2, 2-1) failed on a 4th-and-1 from its own 47-yardline on the opening series and the Tigers (4-3, 2-1) were stopped on a 4th-and-goal from the 6-yardline with just under two minutes left in the opening quarter.

After the Generals' defense held the Tigers on fourth down, the offense marched 94 yards on 11 plays to draw first blood on a 15-yard touchdown run by junior running back Collin Sherman (Virginia Beach, Va. / Cox) at 11:09 of the second quarter.  W&L received sacks from sophomore defensive lineman Trip Calihan (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shady Side Academy) and junior defensive lineman Alex Cantrell (Charlotte, N.C. / Providence Day) on the ensuing series to force a punt, and the Generals' offense once again drove for a touchdown.  This time, it was a 7-play, 78-yard drive that resulted in a 31-yard touchdown run by first-year tailback Josh Breece (Lorton, Va. / Stone Bridge) at the 5:36 mark that gave W&L a 14-0 lead.

The Blue & White forced another H-SC punt on the next possession, and sophomore quarterback Drew Richardson (Watkinsville, Ga. / Athens Academy) capped a 4-play, 71-yard drive with a 56-yard touchdown pass to sophomore running back Jimmie Johnson (Hoover, Ala. / Hoover).  The play gave W&L a 21-0 lead with 2:47 remaining in the half.

Five plays into Hampden-Sydney's next series, senior linebacker Dominic Volpe (Germantown, Tenn. / Christian Brothers) intercepted H-SC junior quarterback Alec Cobb on the Tigers' 37-yardline and rumbled in for a touchdown that gave W&L a 28-0 lead at the intermission.

The Generals' offense stalled for much of the third period, but the defense continued to hold the Tigers at bay.  H-SC drove to the W&L 15-yardline midway through the quarter, but the Blue & White once again held on fourth down to give the ball back to the offense.  The Tigers finally broke through with a 5-yard touchdown strike from Cobb to senior wide receiver Cam Johnson with 49 seconds left in the quarter.  Sophomore cornerback Matt Dodson (Oxford, Conn. / Oxford) blocked the PAT attempt and senior cornerback Grey Reames (Nashville, Tenn. / Montgomery Bell) returned the ball all the way for a defensive two-point conversion, W&L's first since the 1996 season.  The score made it a 30-6 game in favor of W&L.

W&L used a 13-play, 74-yard drive to respond to the Tiger score and make it a 36-6 game.  Sherman scored his second touchdown of the day on a 1-yard run and the PAT failed.

The Washington and Lee defense continued to hold the Tigers when it counted, forcing H-SC to misfire on fourth down inside Generals' territory two more times, as W&L won its third straight against Hampden-Sydney.

The W&L defense forced one turnover and produced six sacks in the contest.  The Generals now have 15 sacks over their last three games.  The offense totaled 429 yards and 372 rushing yards, while avoiding a turnover for the third straight game.

Breece led the offense with 131 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.  Sherman produced 118 yards and two scores on 14 carries, while Johnson rushed for 15 yards on three carries and had one catch for 56 yards.  Richardson completed 1-of-2 passes for 56 yards and a score, and rushed 11 times for 37 yards.  On defense, senior linebacker Max Garrett (Fairfield, Conn. / Choate Rosemary Hall) finished with a team-best nine tackles, while sophomore defensive lineman Riley Bartlett (Rockville, Md. / Georgetown Prep) had three tackles and a pair of sacks.

Hampden-Sydney managed just 282 yards of total offense led by Cobb, who completed 27-of-42 passes for 221 yards and one touchdown with one interception.  Senior wide receiver Carter Cunningham had seven catches for 61 yards and senior safety Kendall Blankenship produced a game-high 12 tackles.

Washington and Lee returns to action next Saturday when it travels to Randolph-Macon for a 1:00 pm contest.  

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