GAME 7:
W&L (4-2, 3-1) vs. BRIDGEWATER (6-0, 4-0)
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Lexington, Va. • 1:00 pm

WASHINGTON AND LEE HEAD COACH GARRETT LeROSE:
Garrett LeRose (W&L '07) is in his second season as the W&L head coach.  He carries a 9-6 overall record across his first 15 games.  LeRose had served as an assistant coach with W&L ever since finishing his playing career with the Generals in 2006.  He has had a hand in five ODAC titles as a player (2006) and coach (2010, 2012, 2015, 2017).

BRIDGEWATER HEAD COACH MIKE CLARK:
Bridgewater is led by 25th-year Head Coach Mike Clark (Cincinnati '80), who is 160-100-1 (.615) for his career with the Eagles. Under Clark's direction, BC has played in 16 postseason games and has won two NCAA South Region Championships and five ODAC titles.  He is 12-12 all-time against the Generals.

THE SERIES:
Washington and Lee and Bridgewater will be meeting for the 50th time, with the Generals holding a 29-20 advantage in the all-time series that began during the 1964 season.  W&L has won two straight in the series and hasn't lost to the Eagles at home since a 35-34 setback in 2009, a string of four straight home wins over BC.

ALL-TIME RECORD:
W&L has a storied tradition that began with the first officially recognized game in the South, an 1873 matchup with neighboring VMI.  The first official season was 1890 and over their 127 seasons, the Generals have compiled a 526-536-39 (.495) overall record.

SCOUTING BRIDGEWATER:
The Eagles are undefeated (6-0) and are ranked 25th in the AFCA Division III Poll.  Last week, Bridgewater posted a 53-10 win over Ferrum, BC's 10th straight win dating back to last October.  The Eagles broke the game open with 24 straight points across the first and second quarters to assume a 32-7 lead at the halftime break.  Senior quarterback Jay Scroggins completed 20-of-27 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns, while junior tailback Demetreus Jalepes tallied 57 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.  Senior wide receiver Trey Stephens added 11 catches for 142 yards and one touchdown.  Senior linebacker ReShaun Myers paced the defense with eight tackles and a sack.  On the year, Scroggins has completed 70.8 percent of his passes for 1,312 yards and 15 touchdowns without an interception.  He has also rushed for 78 yards and two more scores.  Jalepes has 83 carries for 491 yards and seven touchdowns, and he has also caught 11 balls for 228 yards and another touchdown.  Stephens has a team-high 23 catches for 334 yards and five scores.  Myers leads a defense that claims 21 sacks with 49 tackles and a team-best five sacks.  Senior linebacker Gary Ramey, Jr., also has 41 stops and four sacks.

LAST TIME OUT:
(E&H 48, W&L 42 - 10/19/19 - EMORY, VA)
Max Yates hauled in a 39-yard hail mary from Hunter Taylor with no time remaining to lift Emory & Henry to a 48-42 victory over Washington and Lee at Fred Selfe Stadium.  The game-winner was part of a 21-point E&H barrage in the final 4:53 of the game.  W&L never trailed in regulation after taking a 7-0 lead on the first offensive snap of the game when junior wide receiver Montgomery Owen hauled in a 75-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Trey Laughlin.  After forcing a 3-and-out for the Wasps 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 for a 14-0 lead with 7:39 left in the first quarter.  The Generals carried a 21-7 lead into the intermission and grabbed a 28-7 lead just 5:04 into the third period on a 23-yard interception return by senior defensive lineman Riley Bartlett.  However, things turned from there as Emory & Henry scored three touchdowns over the final 9:56 of the period to tie the game at 28-28 entering the fourth quarter.  The tying score occurred on a 19-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Emory & Henry's Ivan Phillips.  W&L rebounded with a pair of scores by sophomore running back Coby Kirkland to grab a 42-28 lead with 6:24 left in the game, but the Wasps scored with 4:53 and 1:40 left to tie the game at 42-42.  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.  Taylor stepped up in the pocket and tossed a high ball to the goalline, where Yates snatched the ball in the midst of three W&L defenders to seal the win.  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 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.  Derrick Yates caught 13 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns, while T.J. Tester tallied 107 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries.  Phillips finished with 11 tackles and the fumble return for a touchdown.

LAST MEETING WITH BRIDGEWATER:
(W&L 30, BC 20 - 10/6/18 - BRIDGEWATER, VA.)
W&L erupted for 23 points in the second quarter in producing a 30-20 victory over Bridgewater at Jopson Field.  The Blue & White held a 7-6 lead early in the second quarter courtesy of a 4-yard touchdown run by senior running back Collin Sherman.  After the Eagles booted a field goal at the 12:44 mark to pull within one point, Sherman opened the second quarter scoring for the Generals with a 67-yard touchdown run on the first play of the ensuing series for a 14-6 lead.  On the third play of the next possession for Bridgewater, linebacker Fred Benham picked off BC quarterback Jay Scroggins, returing the ball to the Bridgewater 33-yard line.  Quarterback Drew Richardson hooked up with senior tight end Reid Ostrom for a 33-yard touchdown pass on the next play to give W&L a 20-6 lead with 11:26 left in the half.  The W&L defense forced a 3-and-out on the next series, and the offense drove to the Eagle 18-yardline before stalling on downs.  However, the defense stepped up again, with senior cornerback Patrick Ryan scooping up a fumble and returning it 37 yards for a touchdown and a 27-0 lead with 4:49 left in the half.  Bridgewater went 3-and-out on the next possession, and W&L drove to the BC 1-yardline before eventually settling for a 25-yard field goal by placekicker Jarrett Wright, giving W&L a 30-6 lead at the break.  Bridgewater took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched 82 yards on eight plays, scoring on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Scroggins to senior wide receiver Dakoda Shrader.  BC converted on a 2-point conversion to pull within 30-14 at the 10:36 mark of the third quarter.  The W&L offense struggled to find traction in the early portion of the second half, and the Eagles crawled to within 10 points on an 11-yard touchdown run by running back Demetrius Jalepes with 4:06 left in the third quarter.  The Generals began chewing up clock in the fourth quarter, though Bridgewater put another good potential scoring drive together midway through the final period.  However, placekicker Logan Weis missed a 38-yard field goal with 8:12 left, and W&L ended the final Bridgewater possession with an interception from Ryan with 4:30 remaining.  The Generals then ran out the clock for their first ODAC win of the season.  W&L finished with 334 yards of total offense, including 276 on the ground.  Running back Josh Breece totaled 150 yards on a career-high 35 carries.  Sherman added 83 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries, while Richardson completed 2-of-4 passes for 49 yards and one touchdown.  He also rushed four times for 15 yards.  On defense, linebacker Sam Murphy led the way with eight tackles.  Ryan finished with four tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery.  Bridgewater had 341 yards of offense paced by Jalapes, who gained 96 yards and a touchdown.  Scroggins completed 14-of-26 passes for 149 yards and one touchdown (2 INT), and rushed six times for 27 yards.  Shrader caught three passes for 54 yards and a touchdown, while junior linebacker Re'Shaun Myers had a game-high 13 tackles.

CHASING HISTORY:
A winning season in 2019 would make five straight for the Generals.  That would be the fourth-longest stretch of consecutive winning seasons in program history and the longest such streak since posting six straight winning campaigns from 1980-85.  W&L also had six straight from 1919-24 and a record 13-straight from 1905-17.

SUSTAINED SUCCESS:
Since the begining of the 2010 season, W&L has produced a 64-35 (.647) overall record and a 45-19 (.703) mark in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.  The Generals have also claimed four ODAC titles during that stretch.

THE MAGIC NUMBER:
The magic number for success for W&L is 400.  The Blue & White has managed 400 rushing yards in a game 41 times since 2010 (97 games).  In those games, the Generals are 38-3, scoring an average of 44.5 points per game with a scoring margin of +20.4 points per game.  To contrast this point, when W&L fails to rush for 400 yards during the same span, it is just 26-32 with an average of 24.0 points per game and a scoring margin of -1.5 points per game.

NUMERO UNO:
Junior running back Josh Breece claims 317 rushing yards and four touchdowns this season on a team-high 66 carries.  Breece currently ranks third on W&L's career rushing list with 3,261 yards, and he can move past Marshall Hollerith '17 for second-place with 185 more yards.  Breece also has 31 career rushing touchdowns which rank fourth all-time.  He can move past Marc Watson '01 for third-place with two more touchdown runs.

THE FULL MONTY:
Junior wide receiver Montgomery Owen is having the best season of his Washington and Lee career.  Owen currently has a career-high 23 catches for a career-high 599 yards and five touchdowns.  That is already the most season receiving yards by a W&L player since Jack Martin '08 tallied 893 yards during the 2007 season.  Owen has had over 100 receiving yards for four straight weeks, totaling 129 yards and two touchdowns against Guilford, 134 yards against Hampden-Sydney, 152 yards and two touchdowns against Ferrum and 143 yards and one touchdown last week against Emory & Henry.  Martin was the last W&L player to have four straight 100-yard receiving games, achieving the feat during the 2005 campaign.  No W&L player has ever recorded five consecutive 100-yard receiving games.

BIG PLAYS:
The W&L offense produced 15 plays of 30 or more yards across its last four games.  Sophomore running back Coby Kirkland scored on an 80-yard touchdown reception against Hampden-Sydney and then on a 76-yard touchdown run the next week against Ferrum.  The catch was the longest passing play for W&L since Nick Lombardo '14 found Brett Murray '13 with an 84-yard touchdown against Catholic in 2012.  The run was the longest for W&L since junior running back Josh Breece scampered 95 yards for a touchdown against Shenandoah in 2017.  Last week, junior wide receiver Montgomery Owen scored on a 75-yard touchdown reception and Kirkland scored on a 67-yard touchdown run.

TALKING OFFENSE:
Washington and Lee leads the ODAC and ranks 10th in Division III in total offense, racking up an average of 492.5 yards per game.  The Generals also lead all of Division III in rushing offense, averaging 337.2 rushing yards per game.  As for passing, W&L ranks eighth nationally in passing yards per completion, averaging 17.92 yards per completion.  Individually, Owen ranks sixth among Division III players in yards per reception, averaging 26.04 yards per catch.

TALKING DEFENSE:
The W&L defense has already produced 20 sacks on the season (3.3 per game), a total which ranks second in the ODAC, just one sack shy of Bridgewater's 21.  The W&L rush defense has been stellar for much of the season, allowing just 67.2 yards per game and 2.1 yards per attempt.  W&L had held four straight opponents to 50 rushing yards or less, before allowing 172 yards to Emory & Henry last week.

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