GAME 3:
W&L (1-1) vs. GUILFORD (1-1)
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Lexington, Va. • 1:00 pm
MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS
VIDEO BROADCAST:
https://team1sports.com/generalssports/
LIVE STATS:
http://washingtonlee.sidearmstats.com/sidearmstats/football/summary
WASHINGTON AND LEE HEAD COACH GARRETT LeROSE:
Garrett LeRose (W&L '07) is in his second season as the head coach at Washington and Lee. He carries a 6-5 overall record across his first 11 games. LeRose had served as an assistant coach with W&L ever since finishing his playing career with the Generals in 2006. He won one ODAC title as a player (2006) and has had a hand in four more (2010, 2012, 2015, 2017) as a coach.
GUILFORD HEAD COACH CHRIS RUSIEWICZ:
Guilford is led by Chris Rusiewicz (DeSales '01), who is in his ninth season as the head coach. He carries a 43-38 (.531) overall record with the Quakers and he is 3-8 all-time coaching against the Generals.
THE SERIES:
Washington and Lee and Guilford will be meeting for the 33rd time, with the Generals holding an 18-14 advantage in the all-time series that began during the 1965 season. W&L has won six of the last nine meetings between the two teams, but Guilford took last year's contest, 40-3.
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 523-535-39 (.495) overall record.
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 61-34 (.642) overall record and a 42-18 (.700) mark in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The Generals have also claimed four ODAC titles during that stretch.
HOME SWEET HOME:
Since the turn of the century (2000), Washington and Lee is a combined 66-27 (.710) in games played at Wilson Field. The Generals have won 34 of their last 46 (.739) home contests dating back to the 2010 season. That being said, the Blue & White has won just two of its last six home games across the last two seasons.
THE MAGIC NUMBER:
The magic number for success for W&L is 400. The Blue & White has managed 400 rushing yards in a game 40 times since 2010 (95 games). In those games, the Generals are 37-3, scoring an average of 44.3 points per game with a scoring margin of +19.9 points per game. To contrast this point, when W&L fails to rush for 400 yards during the same span, it is just 24-31 with an average of 23.2 points per game and a scoring margin of -2.2 points per game.
LAST TIME OUT:
(W&L 42, SEWANEE 7 - 9/14/19 - LEXINGTON, VA.)
Washington and Lee erupted for 411 yards and 42 points in the second half en route to posting a 42-7 victory over Sewanee at Wilson Field. W&L accumulated just 128 yards in the opening half and Sewanee opened a 7-0 lead following a 9-yard touchdown pass from Alex Darras to Cyrus McCullough with 3:32 left in the second quarter. The Generals strung together their best drive of the opening half late in the second quarter, driving 66 yards on seven plays. Junior running back Josh Breece appeared to have reached across the pylon for the Generals' first score, but it was ruled he fumbled before crossing the goal line and the Tigers recovered in the end zone to end the threat. The Blue & White received the opening kick of the second half and moved the ball almost immediately, gaining 69 yards on nine plays to knot the game at 7-7 on a 4-yard touchdown run by Breece. After forcing a 3-and-out on Sewanee's next series, W&L marched 63 yards on six plays, assuming a 14-7 lead with 7:22 left in the third quarter on a 3-yard Breece touchdown run. Another fumble thwarted the Generals' next offensive possession, but senior quarterback Drew Richardson made it a 20-7 game with 23 seconds left in the third period when he scored on a 5-yard touchdown run. W&L continued its' second half domination in the fourth quarter, wearing down the Tiger defense and scoring three more touchdowns. Sophomore running back Alex Wertz scored on an 8-yard touchdown run with 5:23 left and sophomore quarterback Jack Pollard added a 28-yard touchdown run at the 3:07 mark. First-year running back Harry Crutcher capped the scoring with a 13-yard touchdown scamper with just 1:07 remaining. W&L amassed 28 first downs and 539 total yards, including 498 yards on the ground. Richardson led the way with 131 rushing yards and one touchdown on 16 carries. He also completed 4-of-10 passes for 34 yards and one interception. Breece gained 83 yards and scored twice on 15 carries, while Wertz tallied 64 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Sewanee finished with 364 total yards, but the W&L defense limited the Tigers to just -7 yards rushing on 26 attempts. Senior defensive lineman Connor Corbett and junior defensive lineman Andrew Frailer tallied four tackles and 1.5 sacks each.
SCOUTING GUILFORD:
The Quakers are 1-1 following a 19-14 road victory over Methodist on Saturday. After falling behind 7-0 early, the Quakers scored three straight touchdowns across the first and second quarters for a 19-7 lead. However, Guilford wouldn't score for the final 40:55 of the game, but the defense made the score hold up by forcing six turnovers, including five interceptions. First-year running back Desmond McDowell paced the offense, totaling 71 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. Junior quarterback Alex Manley completed 12-of-30 passes for 176 yards and one touchdown, but was picked off twice. Junior wide-out Jermaine Russell hauled in a team-best six passes for 106 yards, while senior tight end Evan Carnes had two catches for 30 yards and the other score. First-year defensive back KeAndre Buyna had four tackles, two interceptions and forced a fumble for the Quaker defense. For the year, Manley has completed 48.3 percent (28-58) of his passes for 465 yards and five touchdowns with three interceptions. Sophomore running back Damien Reid has a team-high 102 yards and one touchdown on 28 carries, while McDowell claims 90 yards and two scores on 18 carries. Russell has a team-best nine catches for 251 yards and one touchdown, while Carnes has seven catches for 76 yards and a team-best four touchdowns. Senior linebacker Khayree Lundy leads the defense with 22 tackles and one interception.
NUMERO UNO:
Any talk of the Washington and Lee offense has to begin with its numero uno, junior running back Josh Breece. Breece totaled 83 yards and two touchdowns against Sewanee last week, moving him into fifth-place on the school's all-time rushing list with 3,095 yards. He also moved into a tie for fourth-place on the career rushing touchdowns list and now has 29 rushing scores. Breece can move into third on the rushing yards list with just 46 more yards. He is currently just 423 yards away from moving past Luke Heinsohn '13 for the most rushing yards in program history.
IT'S BEEN A WHILE:
There were a pair of interesting stats from the Sewanee game last Saturday. First, W&L limited the Tigers to just -7 yards rushing in the contest. That marked the fewest rushing yards allowed by the Generals since allowing -28 in a 28-0 win over Catholic on October 7, 2006. W&L also scored 42 points in the second half, the most points scored by W&L in any single half of football since defeating Guilford by a score of 63-0 on October 1, 2011. W&L posted 49 points in the first half of that victory.
IT'S BEEN A WHILE -- PART TWO:
Junior wide receiver Montgomery Owen returned six punts for 101 yards on Saturday against Sewanee. It is the fifth-most in a game in program history and the most since Steve Corbeille '83 compiled 113 against Hampden-Sydney in 1979.
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