SEWANEE, Tenn. - Washington and Lee University shut out Sewanee, 44-0, in a non-conference football game on Saturday afternoon.
In contest No. 70 of a historic matchup, the Generals (1-1) went ahead, 7-0, on the first drive of the game and held the Tigers (1-1) scoreless, but continued to light up the scoreboard throughout the afternoon.
Starting on the W&L 40, the visitors opened up the offense. A four-play, 60-yard drive ended in a Stephen Murrin (Fort Worth, Texas/ Fort Worth Country Day) 48-yard run with 11:46 on the clock, the Generals' first touchdown of the 2022 season. Following the Arturo Ramirez (Providence Village, Texas/ Braswell) extra point, the Blue and White remained on top for the rest of the day.
Ramirez went on to drill a 40-yard field goal on the ensuing possession for the Generals to cap a two-minute drive, despite the Tigers holding the option offense to just 13 yards.
Washington and Lee opened up the second quarter with another touchdown. Alex Wertz (Sterling, Va./ Dominion), the game's leading rusher, scored his first of two off a 57-yard rush. Two possessions later, Wertz found the endzone again to turn a 13-play drive into six more points for the Blue and White and chewed up five minutes off the clock. On 18 carries, Wertz recorded 145 yards from the line of scrimmage, his second career 100+ yard game in a Generals' uniform.
The second half of play featured the defense on both sides and six fruitless possessions for the offensive play-callers. During that span, W&L recovered two Sewanee fumbles, the first by Robert Poindexter (Atlanta, Ga./ Lovett) and the latter by Mustafa Alkhatib (Lawrenceville, Ga./ Discovery). The Tigers forced three turnovers as well, a fumble, interception and turnover on downs, keeping the Generals' offense tame after halftime.
Washington and Lee notched 20 more points on the scoreboard in the final quarter. Murrin and Burke Cigelske (Atlanta, Ga./ Riverwood) each rushed for 1-yard touchdowns. Cogelske's touchdown run was set up by a 63-yard Connor Lehman (Weston, Mass./ Weston) interception return. The game ended on a Jack Willi (Middletown, N.J./ Middletown South) 35-yard pick six for the Blue and White. Time expired after the extra point attempt missed wide.
Defensively, Ronny Williams (Douglasville, Ga. Holy Innocents' Episcopal) put another strong performance together. He notched three solo and assisted four to record a team-high seven tackles. Johny McGrath (Las Vegas, Nev. / Bishop Gorman) and Jonathan Gagnon (Leesburg, Va./ Potomac School) split a pair of W&L sacks. The Tigers controlled the ball for 32:36, including an 11-minute stint in the opening quarter, but the Generals blanked Sewanee for the eighth time in history between the two programs.
Washington and Lee will continue the road streak at Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C. next Saturday. The non-conference contest on September 17 is slated for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff, and the two schools will meet for just the third time ever. W&L defeated the Monarchs in 1989 and 1990, 47-0 and 10-0, respectively.
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