GAME 4:
W&L (2-1, 1-0) at HAMPDEN-SYDNEY (1-2, 0-1)
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Hampden-Sydney, Va. • 1:00 pm
MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS
VIDEO BROADCAST:
https://boxcast.tv/view/hampden-sydney-football-vs-washington-and-lee-501363
LIVE STATS:
https://www.hscathletics.com/sports/fball/2019-20/boxscores/20190928_6boa.xml
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 7-5 overall record across his first 12 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.
HAMPDEN-SYDNEY HEAD COACH MARTY FAVRET:
Hampden-Sydney is led by 20th-year Head Coach Marty Favret (Catholic '84), who is 131-68 (.658) overall with the Tigers. Favret has led H-SC to five conference championships over his first 19 seasons and he is 11-8 all-time against the Generals.
THE SERIES:
W&L and Hampden-Sydney will be meeting for the 78th time, with the Tigers holding a 39-36-2 advantage in the all-time series that began during the 1899 season. W&L has claimed three of the last four meetings, but H-SC posted a 24-20 win last season in Lexington. The Generals have won two straight at Everett Stadium, including a 36-6 victory in 2017.
SCOUTING HAMPDEN-SYDNEY:
The Tigers are 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the ODAC following a 29-17 loss to Southern Virginia on Saturday in Buena Vista. H-SC held a 17-7 lead at the halftime break, but four of the Tigers' nine offensive possessions in the second half ended with an interception. The Knights took advantage by scoring three fourth-quarter touchdowns en route to the win. Senior quarterback Clay Vick tossed five interceptions overall, completing 31-of-49 passes for 279 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore running back Kaleb Smith rushed 23 times for 110 yards and one touchdown, while senior wide receiver Major Morgan caught seven passes for 81 yards. Junior linebacker Brendan Weinberg led the defense with 12 tackles and a sack. For the year, Hampden-Sydney averages 365.0 and 20.0 points per game on offense. On defense, the Tigers are allowing 338.0 yards and 27.0 points per outing. Vick has completed 59.6 percent of his passes for 842 yards and three touchdowns with nine interceptions. Smith has rushed for a team-best 219 yards and one touchdown on 47 carries, while Major has a team-high 30 catches for 382 yards. On defense, Weinberg and senior linebacker Griffin Davis lead the way with 23 tackles each. both have an interception as well.
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 524-535-39 (.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.
LAST TIME OUT:
(W&L 52, GUILFORD 14 - 9/21/19 - LEXINGTON, VA.)
Sophomore quarterback Jack Pollard tallied 306 yards of total offense and accounted for three touchdowns in his first career start to lead the Washington and Lee football team to a 52-14 win over Guilford at Wilson Field. Despite the lopsided victory for W&L, it was Guilford who scored first, taking the opening kickoff and driving 74 yards on 12 plays for a 7-0 lead at the 10:12 mark of the first quarter. Alex Manley tossed an 18-yard touchdown pass to Tre Alexander to finish off the drive. W&L got on the board with four seconds left in the opening period on a 46-yard touchdown run by junior running back Josh Breece. The Generals made it a 10-7 game at the 5:29 mark of the second quarter when junior placekicker Jarrett Wright booted a 21-yard field goal to finish off a 9-play, 51-yard drive. The Blue & White carried a 17-7 lead into the break after Pollard found junior wide receiver Montgomery Owen with a 39-yard touchdown pass with 4:36 left in the first half. A week after erupting for 42 points in the second half, the Generals continued the second half dominance by producing 35 more points across the third and fourth periods. Pollard scored on a 21-yard touchdown run on the first series of the third quarter and W&L forced a Guilford turnover on the 1-yardline on the following possession. The Blue & White scored four plays later when Pollard found Owen again, this time for a 71-yard touchdown reception and a 31-7 lead. W&L's lead swelled to 38-7 on a 6-yard touchdown run by first-year wide receiver Luke Alison at the 1:50 mark of the third quarter, and sophomore running back Alex Wertz made it 45-7 with a 19-yard touchdown run at the 13:08 mark of the fourth quarter following another GC turnover. The Generals capped their scoring with 11:33 left in the game when sophomore running back R.J. Milligan scampered 65 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the series. Guilford finished off the scoring with a 65-yard touchdown pass from Manley to Jermaine Russell with 6:40 remaining. W&L finished with 622 yards of total offense, including 426 yards on the ground. Pollard led the team in rushing with 110 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries. He also completed 7-of-10 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns. Wertz finished with 74 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, while Breece totaled 72 yards and a score on nine carries. In the process, Breece moved into third-place on W&L's career rushing list with 3,167 yards. Owen caught three passes for a career-high 129 yards and two touchdowns, amassing 163 all-purpose yards.  The W&L defense forced five turnovers and produced six sacks in the contest, limiting the Quakers to just 43 rushing yards on 33 attempts. Sophomore safety Dean Johnson led the way with nine tackles, one interception and one forced fumble. Senior defensive linemen Riley Bartlett and Jay Roberts, and senior linebacker Will Corry all had 1.5 sacks in the game. Guilford totaled 369 yards in all, led by Manley, who completed 26-of-37 passes for 326 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. Russell finished with 11 catches for 181 yards and one touchdown, while Khayree Lundy notched a game-high 10 tackles.
LAST MEETING WITH HAMPDEN-SYDNEY:
(H-SC 24, W&L 20 - 11/3/18 - LEXINGTON, VA.)
W&L fumbled on the Hampden-Sydney 2-yardline with just 1:04 remaining in the game in falling to the Tigers by a score of 24-20 at Wilson Field. The Generals forced H-SC to punt from its own 11-yardline with 2:16 remaining in the contest. The punt was shanked out of bounds at the Tiger 31-yardline, setting up W&L for a potential game-winning drive down 24-20. Quarterback Trey Laughlin completed a 13-yard strike to wide receiver Montgomery Owen at the 2-yardline on the fourth play of the series, setting up a first-and-goal. Running back Josh Breece took the first down handoff and was met in the backfield by a Hampden-Sydney defender. Breece broke free and made a second effort for the end zone, before H-SC linebacker Brendan Weinberg stripped the ball free at the 2-yardline to end the threat. W&L had taken a 20-17 lead with 14:00 left in the fourth quarter when Laughlin capped a five-play, 76-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown run. His 62-yard run on the second play of the series set everything up. Hampden-Sydney marched right down the field on the next series to wrestle the lead back (24-20). The 14-play, 75-yard drive was finished off with a 6-yard touchdown run by running back Justin Pollard at the 7:15 mark of the fourth quarter. It appeared as though the Generals were going to take the lead right back, as running back Alex Wertz took the ensuing kickoff back 73 yards to the Tiger 21-yardline. A shoestring tackle by H-SC senior defensive back Matt Dooley was all that prevented Wertz from finding paydirt. Five plays later, the Generals faced a 4th-and-goal from the Hampden-Sydney 4-yardline, but running back Jimmie Johnson was stopped for a 1-yard gain on the play by senior linebacker Chad Vanlandingham. The Generals forced the Hampden-Sydney offense into a 3-and-out, setting up the game's concluding moments. W&L opened a 13-7 lead in the second quarter on touchdown runs by Wertz and Breece, but the Tigers grabbed the halftime advantage (14-13) on a 3-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Alec Cobb to wide receiver Major Morgan with just 12 seconds remaining before the break. W&L gained 323 yards of total offense paced by Laughlin, who rushed 15 times for a career-high 112 yards and one touchdown. Breece had 89 yards and a score on 18 carries, but fumbled twice. Wertz amassed 56 yards and a touchdown on seven carries. Safety Davis Waldrop led the defense with seven tackles and a pass breakup. Hampden-Sydney gained 337 yards, with Cobb completing 35-of-50 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns. Pollard rushed 19 times for 54 yards and a touchdown, while Morgan caught nine passes for 89 yards and two touchdowns. Dooley notched a game-high 11 tackles and a fumble recovery to lead the defense.
SUSTAINED SUCCESS:
Since the begining of the 2010 season, W&L has produced a 62-34 (.646) overall record and a 43-18 (.705) 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 (96 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 24-31 with an average of 23.2 points per game and a scoring margin of -2.2 points per game.
NUMERO UNO:
Any talk of the Washington and Lee offense has to begin with its numero uno, junior running back Josh Breece. Breece leads the team in rushing this season with 218 yards and three touchdowns on 37 carries. Against Guilford, he tallied 72 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries. In the process, Breece moved past both Marc Watson '01 and Chris Sullivan '03 for third-place on W&L's career rushing list with 3,167 yards. He also recorded his 30th rushing touchdown, which gives him sole possession of fourth-place on the W&L career rushing TD's list. Breece can move past Marshall Hollerith '17 (3,450) for second-place with 284 more yards. He can also surpass Luke Heinsohn '13 (3,517) for the top spot with just 351 more yards.
JACK OF ALL TRADES:
Sophomore quarterback Jack Pollard has quite literally been a jack of all trades. Currently, he is the Generals' starting quarterback. However, prior to becoming the starting signal-caller last week, Pollard had served as the team's backup quarterback, long-snapper, and occasionally a wide receiver, recording a pair of spectacular catches in the opener against Dickinson. Pollard made the most of his debut as the starting quarterback against Guilford on Saturday, rushing 15 times for a career-high 110 yards and one touchdown. He also completed 7-of-10 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns. His performance was the first where a W&L quarterback ran for 100 yards and passed for more than 150 yards since Charlie Westfal '12 passed for 214 yards and rushed for 121 in a 17-14 win over Emory & Henry during the 2011 season.
IT'S BEEN A WHILE:
Junior wide receiver Montgomery Owen caught three passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns in Saturday's win over Guilford. The 129 yards receiving were the most by a W&L player since Ryan Welsh '10 caught nine passes for 156 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-31 loss to Hampden-Sydney during the 2009 season. One of Owen's catches went for a 71-yard touchdown, the longest pass play for W&L since Nick Lombardo '14 found Brett Murray '13 with an 84-yard touchdown against Catholic during the 2012 campaign.
MORE ON OWEN:
Owen has also been effective in the return game for W&L. Through just three games, he ranks second in Division III with a league-best 153 yards on 12 returns (12.8 ypr). Owen's total is already the best single-season total by a General since Brett Murray '13 tallied 160 punt return yards during the 2009 campaign. Owen can move past current Baltimore Ravens quarterbacks coach James Urban '96 for sixth on the W&L single-season punt returns list with just 59 more yards.
SACK ATTACK:
The W&L defense has already produced 12 sacks on the season (4.0 per game), a total which ranks second in the ODAC to Bridgewater's 18. No other team in the league has more than three. The Generals have recorded 11 sacks in the last two weeks, including six last week against Guilford. Due in large part to the number of sacks, W&L currently ranks 25th nationally in rushing defense, allowing an average of just 58.7 yards per game.
DEAN OF DEFENSE:
Sophomore safety Dean Johnson is the reigning ODAC Defensive Player of the Week following his performance against Guilford. Johnson tallied nine tackles (7 solo), one interception and he forced a fumble in the victory over the Quakers. Entering this week's contest, Johnson ranks second on the team in tackles with 19 stops.
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