Trident Washington and Lee Athletics
 
Athletics Home Athletic Teams Facilities Hall of Fame Sports Releases Contact Sports Information Directions Physical Education Staff Directory Club Sports

WASHINGTON AND LEE FOOTBALL RELEASE

Week 4 • W&L at Randolph-Macon • September 29, 2001 • 1:00 pm

To view the release in pdf format, click here

LAST WEEK'S SCORES:
Bridgewater 50, Johns Hopkins 27
Randolph-Macon 24, Catholic 20
Davidson 23, Emory & Henry 6
Hampden-Sydney 59, Guilford 7
Centre 42, W&L 10

THE SERIES:
This is the 49th meeting between the two schools with Randolph-Macon holding a 24-21-3 advantage in the series that began during the 1903 season. W&L won last season's meeting, 34-6; however, the Yellow Jackets had taken each of the previous 10 meetings dating back to the 1990 season.

SERIES INFO:
Time: 1:00 pm
Site: Day Field (3,500)
Series: R-MC Leads, 24-21-3
Last Meeting: 9/30/00 at W&L (W&L won 34-6)
First Meeting: 10/17/03 at R-MC (W&L won 39-0)
Last W&L Win: 9/30/00 at W&L (34-6)
Last R-MC Win: 10/2/99 at R-MC (30-23)
Current Series Streak: W&L +1
W&L vs. R-MC at W&L: 12-11-3
W&L vs. R-MC at R-MC: 8-13-0

THE HEAD COACHES:
Frank Miriello (East Stroudsburg '67) is in his seventh season as the head coach at W&L and his 34th year of coaching. He claims a 29-32-1 (.476) overall record, 1-5 against Randolph-Macon. The Yellow Jackets are led by 5th-year head coach Scott Boone (Wabash '81). He is 26-18 (.591) at Randolph-Macon and in his career. He is 3-1 against W&L in his career.

ALL-TIME RECORD:
W&L has compiled a 412-459-39 (.474) all-time record. The Generals have been linked to the first intercollegiate football game played in the south, an 1873 matchup with VMI.

R YOU SERIOUS?:
The Generals have been very successful against schools that begin with the letter R. W&L is 52-32 (.619) all-time against these schools.

LAST TIME OUT:
Centre College scored 21 first quarter points en route to a 42-10 win over Washington and Lee in Division III football action on Saturday afternoon. The Colonels (3-0) opened the scoring with 13:53 remaining in the opening quarter as sophomore running back Jeremy Britt scored on a 44-yard touchdown run. Washington and Lee (1-2) responded on its next possession as senior placekicker Brad Wiginton booted a 33-yard field goal with 10:50 left in the quarter. Centre answered right back as senior cornerback Brian Britt returned a punt 57 yards for a touchdown to give the Colonels a 14-3 lead. Senior wide receiver Joe Guthrie rounded out the first quarter scoring as he scored on a 16-yard reception with 3:57 remaining in the quarter. Jeremy Britt scored his second towndown of the day on a 6-yard run with 6:24 left in the third quarter and senior running back Travis Bell extended the Centre lead to 35-3 with a 15-yard touchdown run with 1:40 remaining in the quarter. Washington and Lee capped the scoring as junior tight end Jay Thomas hauled in a 34-yard touchdown reception from sophomore quarterback Sean McGarvey with 12:12 remaining in the game. Jeremy Britt led the Centre attack with 150 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. Senior quarterback Drew Mildren completed 15-of-23 attempts for 190 yards and two touchdowns, while Guthrie caught five passes for 109 yards and two scores. Sophomore defensive back John Ortega led the Colonel defense with nine tackles. Washington and Lee was led by junior running back Chris Sullivan, who collected 74 yards on 15 carries, while Thomas caught two passes for 43 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore quarterback Peter Dean completed just 5-of-20 attempts for 52 yards. He was picked off once. Senior linebacker Jeff Bahl again led the defense with 11 tackles.

THE LAST MEETING WITH RANDOLPH-MACON:
(W&L 34, R-MC 6, September 30, 2000 - Lexington, Va.) Running back Marc Watson set a then-W&L single-game all-purpose yards record by totaling 319 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns to lead Washington and Lee over Randolph-Macon, 34-6. Leading 3-0 at the end of the first quarter on a 24-yard field goal by senior Andy Vendig, the Generals assumed control of the game in the second quarter, scoring 17 points. Watson tallied his first touchdown of the day on a one-yard plunge to give the Generals a 10-0 lead with 10:00 remaining in the half. Randolph-Macon answered on a two-yard run by senior running back Clint Sullivan with 6:00 remaining in the half to make the score 10-6 in favor the of Generals. Linebacker Jeff Bahl then blocked the extra point attempt. W&L upped its lead to 17-6 just 1:02 later as running back Chris Sullivan hauled in a 59-yard touchdown reception. Vendig then nailed his second field goal of the day, a 27-yarder, to give W&L a 20-6 halftime advantage. Watson increased the lead to 27-6 with 7:45 remaining in the third, when he broke off a 50-yard touchdown run and Sullivan capped the scoring with a 31-yard touchdown reception at the 9:01 mark of the fourth quarter. Sullivan finished the game with two catches for 90 yards and the two scores. Quarterback Bobby Littlehale completed 14-of-21 attempts for 171 yards and two touchdowns. The W&L defense allowed just 24 yards rushing and 305 total yards to the Yellow Jackets. Bahl led the Generals with 12 tackles, including one sack. The Generals defense combined to pick off four R-MC passes. Randolph-Macon was led by quarterback Hunter Price, who completed 29-of-53 attempts for 281 yards. Senior wide receiver Michael Becker caught 11 passes for 101 yards.

W&L vs. THE ODAC:
W&L sports a 48-73-1 (.398) all-time record in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and is 88-96-5 (.479) all-time against the current members of the ODAC. The following is a breakdown of the Generals vs. members of the ODAC:

Bridgewater (22-9)
Catholic (4-1)
Emory & Henry (6-24)
Guilford (7-8)
Hampden-Sydney (28-29-2)
Randolph-Macon (21-24-3)

SCOUTING RANDOLPH-MACON:
Randolph-Macon is 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the ODAC after defeating Catholic last week, 24-20. The Yellow Jackets led 21-7 at the half and held on for the victory, their second straight over the Cardinals. The R-MC defense held Catholic to just 94 yards rushing and 290 total yards in the game. Junior quarterback Hunter Price led the way, completing 21-of-35 attempts for 308 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 20 yards and a touchdown in the contest. Junior wide receiver Wes Buckner caught two passes for 73 yards and a touchdown, while junior wide receiver Matt Gardner hauled in two passes for 52 yards and another score. On the season, Price leads the team in rushing with 214 yards and three touchdowns. Through the air, he has completed 57 percent of his passes for 927 yards and four touchdowns. He has been intercepted three times. Senior wide receiver Justin Basdikis leads the team with 15 catches for 165 yards, while senior receiver Tom Bush claims 15 catches for 158 yards. Junior linebacker Sean Jones leads the defense with 29 tackles and four sacks.

FEARSOME FOURSOME:
The strength of the W&L defense has always been its linebacking corps where the Generals have claimed at least one All-ODAC player every year since 1995. This season, W&L's defense is again anchored by its linebackers as all four linebackers are leading the team in tackles. Senior Jeff Bahl leads the team with 36 stops followed by sophomore Ben Krasnoff (23) and juniors Andrew James (18) and Matt Stavish (18). In addition, the four have combined to make 9.5 of the team's 13 tackles for loss and three of the four sacks.

LEFTY QB:
Sophomore Peter Dean is the starting quarterback after switching from the defensive back position he held last season. Dean is the first left-handed quarterback to assume starting duties at W&L in over five decades. Last spring, Dean posted a 6-0 record and 3.10 ERA on the mound for the baseball team.

NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN:
Though Marc Watson has received much of the publicity the last three years, junior running back Chris Sullivan has been very productive at the position. Sullivan was a Second Team All-ODAC selection at running back in 1999 after amassing 722 yards and seven touchdowns. He claims 1,024 career rushing yards and is just 282 yards from moving into the W&L all-time Top 10 in career rushing. A versatile back, Sullivan has also recorded 2,607 career all-purpose yards, just 190 yards from moving into fourth place all-time at W&L. Watson holds the top spot with 4,307 career all-purpose yards.

ONE-TWO PUNCH:
Running backs Marc Watson and Chris Sullivan have accounted for 458 of W&L's 717 yards this season, 64 percent of the team's offensive output. In last season's meeting with Randolph-Macon, the duo accounted for 294 of the team's 380 total yards, 77 percent of the total yards. The duo also combined to score all four of the Generals' touchdowns on the day.

KEEP IN MIND:
Senior running back Marc Watson is on his way to breaking a few more W&L career records. Watson is just three touchdowns from breaking the career TD record held by Kevin Weaver (29) since the 1986 season. Watson is also just 502 yards from breaking Stewart Atkinson's career rushing yards record (3,072).


Contact: Brian Laubscher
Sports Information Director
PO Drawer 928
Lexington, VA 24450
Phone: 540-463-8670