LEXINGTON, Va. - Visiting Christopher Newport University held Washington and Lee to just 174 yards of total offense en route to a 9-3 opening weekend loss for the Generals on Saturday night at Wilson Field.
The Generals' (0-1) defense held the Captains (1-0) to 5-of-14 on third down conversions, but Ryan Castle's leg put the visitors on top, drilling field goals of 32, 27 and 19-yards to earn a non-conference win.
The loss was W&L's first at home since October 26, 2019 when the Generals fell to Bridgewater, 31-14, snapping a six-game home winning streak.
The Blue and White offense struggled to find a rhythm under the lights, as the first six drives ended in four punts, an interception and turnover on downs. The last drive for the Generals, the longest of the evening, resulted in a 34-yard Arturo Ramirez (Providence Village, Texas/ Braswell) field goal with 4:55 remaining in the final quarter.
The Captains maintained an advantage in possession, holding the ball for 35:29 of the contest and were successful on all three fourth down conversions.
Both teams recorded an interception and the Generals forced a fumble at the CNU 47 but were unable to take advantage of the turnover, as the drive ended in three plays on an interception.
Ronny Williams (Douglasville, Ga. Holy Innocents' Episcopal) had a stellar night on defense, responsible for forcing a fumble that was ultimately recovered by the Captains and an endzone interception to provide a spark for the Generals. He also recorded a pass break-up and teamed up with Robert Poindexter (Atlanta, Ga. Lovett) for a tackle for loss in the fourth quarter, bringing his night to a total of seven.
Connor O'Malley (Darien, Conn. / Darien) led the home team with nine tackles, with Robert Harvey (Lenk im Simmental, Switzerland / Gymnasium Thun) adding seven and two pass break-ups. Nathan Unger (Virginia Beach, Va./ Cox) was able to stall the CNU option offense with 2.5 sacks for 19 yards and Uno Christopher (Fredericksburg, Va./ Massaponax) recovered a wild snap in the middle of the field, and added two tackles for loss and a QB hurry.
First-year punter Everett Andersen (Wilton, Conn. / St. Luke's), in his first collegiate action, sent off four punts for 158 yards, a long of 44 yards and notched two rolls inside the 20-yard line.
Offensively, quarterback Stephen Murrin (Fort Worth, Texas/ Fort Worth Country Day) went 6-of-9 from the pocket for 61 yards including a 25-yard pass deep up the right side for first-year wide receiver Dryden Duggins (Baton Rouge, La./ Episcopal), ultimately setting up the Ramirez field goal. Andrew Bland (Richmond, Va./ Douglas Freeman) added two more completions for a total of 74 passing yards between the two quarterbacks.
On the ground, Murrin led the team with 39 rushing yards, while Alex Wertz (Sterling, Va. / Dominion) and Jacob Romero (Fredericksburg, Va./ Massaponax) were also in double digits with 34 and 21 net yards, respectively.
This marked the second-ever matchup between the two programs. Last year's Week One was the inaugural game in the series, and CNU came away as the victors in a higher scoring, 28-24, contest in Newport News.
Washington and Lee football will return to action next Saturday, September 10, at Sewanee for a 1 p.m. (ET) kickoff. W&L owns a 46-23 record over the University of the South, most recently a 52-0 victory at Wilson Field, and a six-game winning streak over the Tigers but the non-conference foe owns a slight 18-16 advantage over the Generals on their home turf in Tennessee. Sewanee is coming off a Week One 50-0 home win over St. Scholastica, snapping a 22-game losing skid spanning back to November 3, 2018.
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