EMORY, Va. – Junior wide receiver Max Yates hauled in a 39-yard hail mary pass from junior quarterback Hunter Taylor just across the goal line with no time remaining to lift the Emory & Henry football team to a 48-42 victory over Washington and Lee at Fred Selfe Stadium on Saturday.
 
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for W&L (4-2, 3-1), which never trailed in the contest until the clock hit :00.
 
The Blue & White assumed a 7-0 lead on the first offensive snap of the game when junior wide receiver Montgomery Owen (Nashville, Tenn. / Montgomery Bell) hauled in a pass from junior quarterback Trey Laughlin (Henrico, Va. / Douglas Freeman) and finished off the final 45 yards of a 75-yard touchdown catch.  After forcing a 3-and-out for the Wasps (4-2, 3-1) on the next series, W&L marched 66 yards on 12 plays, scoring on a 17-yard touchdown run by senior running back Jimmie Johnson (Hoover, Ala. / Hoover) for a 14-0 lead with 7:39 left in the first quarter.
 
Emory & Henry made it a 14-7 game just 2:30 later, but a 67-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Coby Kirkland (Duncan, Okla. / Duncan) once again gave W&L a 14-point lead (21-7) that it took into halftime.
 
The Generals pushed out to a 28-7 advantage with 9:56 left in the third quarter when senior defensive lineman Riley Bartlett (Rockville, Md. / Georgetown Prep) sniffed out a screen pass, picking it off and meandering 23 yards to paydirt.
 
The rest of the third period belonged to E&H, however, as the Wasps scored three touchdowns before the end of the quarter to tie the game at 28-28 entering the final stanza.  The tying score came on a 19-yard fumble return for a touchdown by sophomore linebacker Ivan Phillips on the last play of the quarter.
 
W&L responded by scoring the game's next two touchdowns to assume a 42-28 lead with 6:24 left in the contest.  Kirkland scored both rushing touchdowns, one from three yards out and another from 21 yards out.
 
Emory & Henry continued to fight back, scoring three touchdowns in the final 4:53 to claim victory.  First-year running back T.J. Tester made it 42-35 on a 3-yard touchdown run with 4:53 left and then Taylor tied the game up with 1:40 remaining on a 4-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Jeff Wallace. 
 
W&L gained one first down on the next drive, but was forced to punt with just over 40 seconds remaining.  E&H took over on its own 20-yardline with 35 seconds left and drove to the W&L 39-yardline with just two seconds remaining.  Hunter then found Yates in a crowd for the game winner.
 
W&L finished with 501 yards of total offense led by Owen, who went over 100 yards receiving for the fourth straight game.  He finished with five catches for 143 yards and one touchdown.  Kirkland rushed for a career-high 118 yards and three touchdowns, while Laughlin completed 7-of-18 passes for 174 yards and one touchdown.  He also rushed 17 times for 86 yards.  Junior linebacker Fred Benham (Chesapeake, Va. / Grassfield) led the defense with nine tackles and one interception.
 
The Wasps finished with 540 yards of offense, with Taylor completing 30-of-47 passes for 368 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions.  Senior wide receiver Derrick Yates caught 13 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns, while Tester tallied 107 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries.  Phillips finished with 11 tackles and the fumble return for a touchdown.
 
Washington and Lee will return to action on Saturday when it hosts Bridgewater for a 1:00 pm contest.