Washington and Lee Football - Centre Game Notes

GAME 2:
W&L (1-0) at CENTRE (2-0)
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Lexington, Va. • 2:30 pm

PDF Version of Notes
 

GAME INFO:
DATE: September 21, 2013
TIME: 2:30 pm
STADIUM: Farris Stadium (2,500)
TV/INTERNET: College TV Ticket (http://collegetvticket.com/)
SERIES RECORD: Centre leads 36-23-2
CURRENT SERIES STREAK: W&L +1
RECORD VS. CC AT CC: 9-22
RECORD VS. CC AT W&L: 13-12-2
LAST MEETING: 9/15/2012 at W&L (34-16 W&L)
FIRST MEETING: 10/30/1897 at CC (22-0 F&M)
LAST CC WIN: 9/17/11 at CC (42-35)

BREAKING DOWN THE 2013 SCHEDULE:

THE SERIES:
W&L and Centre will be meeting for the 62nd time, with the Colonels holding a 36-23-2 advantage in the all-time series that began during the 1897 season.  The two teams met every season from 1955-2006, but the series experienced a five-year hiatus until the teams met again starting in 2011. Centre has won five of the last eight meetings, but W&L took last season’s encounter by a score of 34-16 in Lexington.  The Generals are just 9-22 all-time in games played in Danville and haven’t won at Farris Stadium since claiming a 24-15 win in 2006.

HEAD COACH SCOTT ABELL:
Scott Abell (Longwood ‘92) is in his second season as the Generals’ head coach and he claims a 9-3 overall record.  His first season resulted in an 8-3 overall record, an ODAC Championship and a berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.  Abell was honored as the ODAC Coach of the Year, and he also received the VaSID College Division Coach of the Year and the Williard Bailey Award as the top NCAA Division II/III Coach in the State of Virginia.

CENTRE HEAD COACH ANDY FRYE:
Centre is led by Andy Frye (Muskingum ‘89), who is in his 16th season as the head coach.  Frye carries an 95-57 (.625) overall record with the Colonels, including a 5-6 overall record against the Generals.

W&L’S ALL-TIME RECORD:
Washington and Lee has played 1,034 games in the entire history of the program, compiling a 487-509-39 (.489) overall record.  Only five other schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia have played more games than W&L, which played the first intercollegiate football game in the South, an 1873 matchup with neighboring VMI.

ON THE ROAD:
This week’s game at Centre marks the Generals’ only road contest in the opening five weeks of the season.  Since 2000, the Generals are a combined 46-17 (.730) at home, but just 30-40 (.429) on the road.

LAST TIME OUT:
(W&L 14, Franklin & Marshall 13 • 9/7/13 • Lexington, Va.)
The Washington and Lee defense forced four turnovers and came up with a key stop on a two-point conversion attempt with 29 seconds remaining to preserve a 14-13 victory over Franklin & Marshall at Wilson Field.  The Generals broke a 7-7 tie with 4:16 left in the game when junior running back Austin Eisenhofer scored on a 23-yard touchdown run.  Eisenhofer’s run came three plays after an interception by W&L senior cornerback Mitchell Thompson that set the offense up on the F&M 29-yardline.  W&L received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty following the PAT attempt and kicked off from its own 20-yardline.  During a 10-yard return by the Diplomats, the Generals were whistled for a 15-yard facemask penalty and F&M began the drive on the W&L 46-yardline.  Eight plays later, F&M senior quarterback E.J. Schneider found junior wide receiver Paul McGann with a 12-yard scoring strike on a fourth-and-six play to make it a 14-13 game with 29 seconds left.  Following a time out, the Diplomats decided to go for two points.  Schneider rolled to his right and passed back to his left but pressure by the Generals forced his pass to fall short of the goal line and his intended receiver. The Diplomats then successfully recovered an onside kick on their own 48-yardline with 28 seconds remaining.  However, Schneider was intercepted by W&L junior defensive back Brandon Taylor at the Generals’ 19-yardline on the next play and W&L ran out the clock for the win.  F&M opened the scoring with 2:32 left in the first quarter when Schneider found McGann with a two-yard touchdown pass.  The Generals knotted the game at 7-7 with 5:10 left in the second quarter as senior running back Luke Terna scored on a 30-yard touchdown run.  W&L limited the Diplomats to just 247 yards of total offense, including just 128 yards passing.  Offensively, the Generals gained 301 total yards, 282 of which came on the ground.  Senior quarterback Nick Lombardo rushed for a team-high 86 yards on 23 carries and completed 3-of-8 passes for 19 yards and one interception. Terna rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, while Eisenhofer tallied 61 yards a touchdown on 11 rushes.  Defensively, senior safety Walter Ramsey led the way with nine tackles and an interception.  Taylor posted eight tackles and one pick.  Schneider completed 20-of-30 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns, but was intercepted three times.  He also rushed five times for 21 yards.  Junior running back Lamont Jackson totaled 78 yards on 16 carries, while senior wide receiver Tim Muller caught five passes for 33 yards.  McGann snared two passes for 14 yards and two scores.  Senior linebacker Brendan Wengerter paced the F&M defense with 13 tackles and one sack.

W&L’S LAST MEETING WITH CENTRE:
(W&L 34, Centre 16 • 9/15/12 • Lexington, Va.)
The Washington and Lee football team held 23rd-ranked Centre College scoreless for nearly 40 minutes of game action in producing a 34-16 win over the Colonels at Wilson Field.  The Generals led Centre 14-10 after the first quarter of play, but scored the game’s next three touchdowns to push out to a 34-10 lead with 9:33 remaining in the contest.  Senior running back Brett Murray gave W&L a 21-10 lead when he scored on a 17-yard touchdown run with 6:53 left in the first half.  The Generals forced a 3-and-out on the next possession and took over on the Colonel 38-yardline after linebacker Peter Partee blocked the CC punt.  W&L advanced it to the Centre 9-yardline before a fumble gave possession back to the Colonels.  Centre then drove to the W&L 25-yardline with just under a minute remaining, but W&L turned back the Colonels on a 4th-and-1 play.  Centre again drove deep into W&L territory on its first drive of the third quarter, but senior placekicker Jordan Gay missed from 32 yards to keep the score at 21-10.  The Generals made it 27-10 when senior running back Luke Heinsohn capped a 7-play, 80-yard drive with a 28-yard touchdown run with 3:55 to go in the third quarter.  The subsequent PAT was missed, breaking a string of 104-straight made PATs dating back to the 2010 season.  Centre again drove deep into W&L territory on its next possession only to be stopped again on fourth down, this time at the W&L 23-yardline.  The Generals took advantage 12 plays later when quarterback Nick Lombardo hooked up with tight end Alex Evans for a 9-yard touchdown and a 34-10 lead with 9:33 left in the game.  The Colonels retaliated with a 14-play, 71-yard drive that ended with a 7-yard touchdown run by quarterback Heath Haden with 6:00 remaining.  Centre then executed a perfect onside kick to regain possession, but the Generals again held on fourth down and ran out the clock for the win.  Both teams finished with 434 yards of total offense, with the Generals gaining 338 yards on the ground led by Murray, who rushed 16 times for 120 yards and one touchdown.  Heinsohn gained 97 yards on 14 rushes, scoring twice, while Lombardo rushed 19 times for 89 yards.  He also completed 5-of-6 passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns.  Evans caught both touchdown passes, hauling in three balls for 67 yards.  Cornerback Mitchell Thompson led the W&L defense with 10 tackles, including nine solo stops.  Defensive lineman Patrick Wright notched three tackles for a loss, including a sack.  Centre gained 311 yards through the air led by Haden, who completed 22-of-32 passes for 284 yards and one touchdown.  He also rushed 14 times for 28 yards and a score.  Senior running back Monte Scotton was limited to just 58 yards on 17 carries, while wide receiver Rob Melillo caught six passes for 61 yards.  Defensive back Erich Vogelsang recorded a game-high 11 tackles.

SCOUTING CENTRE:
Centre is 2-0 following a 27-17 win at Rose-Hulman on Saturday.  The Colonels racked up 504 yards of total offense in the contest led by junior quarterback Heath Haden, who completed 26-of-46 passes for 309 yards.  Senior running back Harry Meisner rushed 26 times for 106 yards and three touchdowns, while senior wide receiver Greyson Janeway caught nine passes for 108 yards.  On defense, senior defensive back Ben Leahy and sophomore linebacker Nick Dietz each totaled 10 tackles.  Dietz added an interception and a forced fumble.  For the season, Centre is averaging a robust 475.0 yards per game led by the passing of Haden, who has completed 61.6 percent of his passes for 621 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions.  Meisner has a team-best 198 rushing yards and three scores on 42 carries, while senior wide receiver Austin Jones claims a team-best 14 catches for 253 yards and two touchdowns.  Janeway has 11 catches for 136 yards.  On defense, the Colonels are allowing just 98.0 rushing yards per game, but have allowed an average of 321.0 yards per contest through the air.  Dietz is the leading tackler with 22 tackles, a half sack, two forced fumbles and one interception.  Junior defensive tackle Tami Aderoba has 15 tackles and a team-high 3.5 sacks already on the season.

THE MAGIC NUMBER:
Prior to the 2010 season, you could count the number of 400-yard rushing performances during the league’s history on one hand.  While this number continues to be a lofty goal, the Generals have begun to set it as the magic number.  W&L has managed 400 rushing yards in a game 15 times over its last four seasons (33 games).  In those games, the Generals are 15-0, scoring an average of 47.3 points per game with an average margin of victory of 23.1 points per game.  To contrast this point, when W&L fails to rush for 400 yards during the same span, it is just 10-8 with an average of 26.1 points per game and a scoring margin of just +1.6 points per game.

CHASING NUMBER 8:
The Generals will be chasing their eighth winning season in the last 10 years as they take the field for the 2013 season.  Since going 3-7 in 2003, W&L has produced a 58-35 (.624) overall record and a 37-18 (.673) mark in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.  Those numbers improve to 25-8 (.758) overall and 17-2 (.895) in the ODAC over the last three years.

MORE NUMBERS:
W&L’s 14 points scored against F&M were the least amount of points scored in a win since the Generals posted a 10-7 victory over Sewanee on Sept. 17, 2005.  The 13 points allowed are the least allowed since a 28-6 win over Sewanee on Sept. 8 of last season.

TALKIN’ DEFENSE:
W&L allowed just 247 total yards against Franklin & Marshall in the opener, the fewest yards that the Generals have surrendered to an opponent since allowing just 190 yards in a 63-0 win over Guilford on Oct. 1, 2010.

STELLAR SECONDARY:
The Generals’ secondary was a primary factor in the win over F&M, holding the Diplomats to just 128 yards passing.  Senior safety Walter Ramsey finished as the team’s leading tackler with nine tackles, while junior safety Brandon Taylor tallied eight tackles.  Each also recorded an interception in the game.  Senior cornerback Mitchell Thompson added four tackles, one interception and a fumble recovery.

ENTERING THE COMFORT ZONE:
The W&L football team has chosen to support Comfort Zone Camps as its team fundraiser for the 2013 season.  The Generals hope to raise enough money to send 50 children to the camp free of charge.  Throughout the season, we will update you on their progress.  Currently, the team has raised $16,595, enough money to send 33 children to the camp.  To assist the team in their efforts, you can visit their donation website at at https://www.comfortzonecamp.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=18.

-- GENERALS --