GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Washington and Lee University football team pounded the rock past Guilford College, 31-6 in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference contest on Saturday afternoon.
The Generals (4-1, 2-0 ODAC) spoiled the Quakers' (1-4, 0-2) homecoming weekend on the heels of 411 yards of total offense, all on the ground, and four rushing touchdowns.
The Blue and White dominated in the possession stat line; the offense was on the field for 43:56 on Saturday and allowed the defense to be fresh and pin their ears back every time they were called to step onto the field.
In just 82 snaps, the offense tallied 26 first downs and moved the chain crew nearly every three plays. Led by Eli Hildebrandt (Milton, Ga. / Fellowship Christian) under center, the Generals ran the ball 78 times, averaged 5.3 yards per carry and only recorded negative yardage on three occasions all day. The loss of four yards came in the final stanza on one tackle for a loss and a pair of kneel downs to run out the clock.
Washington and Lee found the endzone four times with Harry Crutcher (Dallas, Texas / Cistercian) punching across the goal line the first, second and fourth quarters. Jacob Romero capped an 18-play and 99-yard drive with a 2-yard TD run.
Crutcher, who recorded his first career 100-yard rushing game in Blue and White on Saturday, accumulated 148 yards and led the rushing attack and Hildebrandt added 93 yards of his own. Eight Generals recorded rushing attempts and sophomore Aiden Boeshans (Simsbury, Conn. / Simsbury) popped-off a 35-yard run, the longest play of the contest before lining up in victory formation.
On the other side of the ball, the defense held the Quakers to 217 total yards and half of the first downs W&L tallied, 13, in just 15 minutes of possession. Guilford's Bailey Baker completed 17 of his 23 pass attempts for 201 yards. The quarterback and Kyle Lovett connected in the second quarter for a 5-yard touchdown pass, the only score for the home team. WLU blocked the extra-point attempt.
The Generals went into halftime with a 14-6 advantage then scored 17 unanswered points after the break.
Robert Harvey (Lenk im Simmental, Switzerland / Gymnasium Thun),
Uno Christopher (Fredericksburg, Va. / Massaponax),
Nathan Unger (Virginia Beach, Va. / Cox) and
Robert Poindexter (Atland, Ga. / Lovett) combined for five tackles for a loss of 15 yards.
Jonathan Gagnon (Leesburg, Va. / Potomac School) forced a fumble that
Jalen Todd (Louisvilley, Ky. / Kentucky CountryDay) scooped up for the Blue and White.
David Onyejekwe (Falls Church, Va. / McLean) recorded a team-high seven tackles with five solo wrap-ups.
Both Charlie Fleming (Atlanta, Ga / Marist) and Cole Cameli (Mooresville, N.C. /Southlake Christian) hauled in interceptions. As the third quarter wound down, Cameli grabbed the ball out of the air at the Washington and Lee 30-yard line, and took off for a 63-yard return. His run was stopped just short of the endzone on the GC 7. The Generals were able to get a play off before the end of the quarter and Crutcher's rush put WLU on the one yard line to start the final stanza.
Crutcher's number was called again on the opening play of the fourth quarter, his run up the middle resulted in a one-yard touchdown.
Arturo Ramirez (Providence Village, Texas / Braswell) was a perfect 4-for-4 on extra points and drilled a 30-yard field goal at the 3:13 mark to close out the W&L scoring.
Next week, the Blue and White will travel to Ferrum for a 2 p.m. ODAC contest on Saturday, October 15. Washington and Lee has a 3-0 lifetime record over the Panthers and first met in 2018 when FC joined the ODAC. In last year's matchup, the Generals won 28-24 at home.
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