Week 9 • W&L (5-3, 3-2) at Emory & Henry (1-7, 1-3)
November 5, 2005 • 1:00 pm

LAST WEEK'S ODAC SCORES:
Guilford 37, Randolph-Macon 29
Emory & Henry 24, Catholic 21
Hampden-Sydney 66, Dickinson 27

SERIES INFO:
Time: 1:00 pm
Site: Fullerton Field (5,500)
Series: E&H leads 26-8
Last Meeting: 11/6/04 at W&L (W&L won 24-20)
First Meeting: 10/8/21 at W&L (W&L won 27-0)
Last W&L Win: 11/6/04 at W&L (24-20)
Last E&H Win: 11/8/03 at E&H (34-16)
Current Series Streak: W&L +1
W&L vs. E&H at W&L: 7-12
W&L vs. E&H at E&H: 1-14

THE SERIES:
W&L and Emory & Henry will be meeting for the 35th time, with the Wasps holding a 26-8 advantage in the all-time series which began during the 1921 season. W&L has won two of the last three meetings, including a 24-20 win last season at Wilson Field. However, the Generals have not won at E&H since a 24-17 victory during the 1981 campaign. That win is the only one the Generals have claimed at E&H in 15 tries.

THE HEAD COACHES:
Frank Miriello (East Stroudsburg '67) is in his 11th season as the head coach at W&L and his 37th year of coaching. He claims a 52-54-1 (.491) overall record and ranks second all-time at W&L in victories. Gary Fallon holds down the top spot with 77 victories. Emory & Henry is led by Head Coach Dan Montgomery (Mount Union '77), who is 1-7 overall in his first season with the Wasps. Montgomery came to E&H from Mount Union where he had coached for 27 years, including the last 19 as defensive coordinator. During his time with the Purple Raiders, the team claimed seven national championships and reached the NCAA Semifinals 10 times.

ALL-TIME RECORD:
W&L has compiled a 436-481-39 (.477) all-time record. The Generals have been linked to the first intercollegiate football game played in the south, an 1873 matchup with VMI though the University officially recognized football as a varsity sport beginning in 1890.

LAST TIME OUT:
(BC 17, W&L 13; October 29, 2005 - Lexington, Va.)
Bridgewater blocked three kicks and picked off four Washington and Lee passes, including three in the red zone, to defeat the Generals 17-13. The Generals assumed a 6-0 lead just 2:26 into the game as freshman running back Stuart Sitterson scored on a 2-yard touchdown run. BC's Carlton Morrison blocked the ensuing extra point and Deon Mays took the ball the other way for a two-point play. W&L was poised to extend its lead with a 30-yard field goal after Bridgewater fumbled the ensuing kickoff, but junior placekicker Ben Long’s kick was again blocked by Morrison. The Eagles crawled to within 6-5 with 2:13 remaining in the first quarter as David Blackwell booted a 36-yard field goal, but the Generals again threatened by driving to the BC 1 yardline with 3:16 remaining in the second quarter. However, senior quarterback Greg Tweardy’s second down pass was intercepted in the end zone by Mays. After stopping Bridgewater on the following possession, Tweardy found junior wide receiver Colton Ward with a 38-yard scoring strike with 55 seconds remaining in the half and Long’s extra point was good for a 13-5 W&L lead at the half. After a three-and-out by W&L to begin the third quarter, BC blocked a punt by senior punter Donny Banks and Alton Richardson recovered it in the end zone to cut the Generals’ advantage to 13-11 with 13:51 remaining in the third quarter. The Eagles’ attempt at a two-point conversion failed. The Eagles took the lead for good with 7:57 left in the third quarter as Young scored on a 20-yard touchdown run. W&L threatened to take the lead twice in the fourth quarter, driving inside the Eagles’ 20 yardline both times. The Generals were stopped on a 4th-and-2 play from the Eagles' 4 yardline with 5:56 left in the game, and Tweardy was again picked off by Mays at the BC 4 yardline with 2:41 remaining in the game. W&L was led by Ward, who totaled 174 all-purpose yards and one touchdown. He caught six passes for 66 yards, rushed nine times for 32 yards and amassed 76 yards on two kickoff returns. Sitterson tallied 120 all-purpose yards and one touchdown, while Tweardy completed 20-of-39 passes for 177 yards and one touchdown and set a new W&L season record for touchdown passes (17). Junior defensive end Walker Williams paced the defense with six tackles and a pair of sacks.

WHEN LAST WE MET:
(W&L 24, E&H 20; November 6, 2004 - Lexington, Va.)
Tailback Michael Lackett took a screen pass 30 yards for a touchdown with 32 seconds remaining to lift the W&L football team to a 24-20 win over Emory & Henry. After forcing an E&H punt, the Generals started the game-winning drive on their own 44 yardline with 59 seconds remaining. Quarterback Greg Tweardy started the drive with a pair of completions to wide receiver Colton Ward totaling 26 yards, then flipped the screen to Lackett for the winning score. The Wasps opened the scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Todd Woods at the 9:27 mark of the first quarter. The extra-point was no good. W&L tied the game at 6-6 with 12:33 remaining in the first half as Tweardy found Ward on a 43-yard scoring strike. The extra point was also no good. Woods scored again on a 1-yard touchdown run with 8:13 remaining in the second quarter, but the Generals retaliated on a 9-yard pass from Tweardy to wide-out Clark Kensinger with 4:55 remaining in the half. The extra point again failed and the Wasps took a 13-12 lead into halftime. The Generals took an 18-13 lead on a 50-yard touchdown run by running back Thomas Hubka on the first possession of the second half, but the Wasps then assumed a 20-18 lead on a 7-yard scoring strike from Woods to sophomore wide receiver Brennan Stewart with 7:52 left in the third quarter. The Generals defense forced an E&H punt with time winding down, setting up the winning drive. Tweardy led the W&L offense by completing 21-of-37 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns. Ward caught six passes for 101 yards and a score, while Hubka rushed four times for 57 yards and a score. Lackett rushed 12 times for 58 yards and caught two passes for 36 yards and the winning score. Senior linebacker Lloyd Wilson paced the defense with 11 tackles and two fumble recoveries. E&H was led by Woods, who completed 24-of-41 passes for 307 yards and one touchdown. Stewart caught eight passes for 133 yards and one touchdown, while wide receiver Jerad Jackson snared eight balls for 113 yards. Junior linebacker Anthony Boyd led the defense with seven tackles and a half sack.

SCOUTING EMORY & HENRY:
The Wasps are 1-7 overall, 1-3 in the ODAC following a 24-21 win at Catholic on Saturday. E&H trailed 21-10 entering the fourth quarter, but rallied with 14 points in the final 9:11 to post its first victory of the season. The Wasps forced seven turnovers in the game, including a game-winning 27 yard interception return for a touchdown by freshman defensive back Bryan Furr with 2:21 left in the game. E&H was led by junior quarterback Todd Woods, who completed 20-of-35 passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns (3 INT's). Junior wide receiver Brennan Stewart caught three passes for 99 yards and two scores, while junior wide receiver Jerad Jackson snared six passes for 73 yards. Sophomore fullback Reid Barker led the ground game with 40 yards on 12 carries. Junior linebacker Marshall Doss paced the defense with nine tackles, one sack, one interception and one forced fumble. For the season, the Wasps have stuggled offensively, averaging just 224.5 yards of total offense and 11.4 points per game. Sophomore quarterback Gavin Haynes claims a team-best 74 yards rushing and one touchdown on 17 carries and, as a group, the E&H runners are averaging just 1.8 yards per rush. Woods has completed 49.8 percent of his passes for 1,165 yards and seven touchdowns, but has been picked off 11 times. Stewart has been his favorite target, catching 27 passes for 437 yards and five touchdowns. Junior running back Andrew Hemp has 27 catches for 230 yards and two scores, while Jackson has 20 catches for 209 yards and one touchdown. Doss leads the defense with 74 tackles, including 16 stops for a loss. He also has 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.

TWEARDY TALK:
Senior quarterback Greg Tweardy is having his best season as a General. He has completed 188-of-290 (.648) passes for 2,157 yards and a school record 17 touchdowns. Tweardy has set new school records this season for passing touchdowns in a game (5) and completion percentage in a game (.833). His total of 397 passing yards in the win over Hampden-Sydney was also the second-best in school history and just four yards away from the school record. He tossed the five touchdowns in a season-opening win over Alfred and set the completion percentage record (15-of-18) against Randolph-Macon. Tweardy is just 117 yards shy of breaking Christian Batcheller's '00 record for season passing yards (2,273). Additionally, Tweardy ranks No. 1 all-time at W&L in career completion percentage (.599) and can overtake Batcheller for the top spot in career completions with 25 more completions. He also moved into second place in career passing yards last week. Over his four seasons, Tweardy has completed 467-of-780 passes for 4,894 yards and 36 touchdowns.

JACK BE NIMBLE, JACK BE QUICK:
Tweardy's favorite target this season has been sophomore wide receiver Jack Martin. Martin has caught 58 passes for a school-record 1,085 yards and a school-record 11 touchdowns. Martin became the first wide receiver at W&L to break 200 yards in a game since 1970 when he caught 11 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns against Centre. He topped that performance with nine catches for 217 yards and two touchdowns against Catholic and then snared 12 balls for a career-high 219 yards against Hampden-Sydney. Martin also caught 10 passes for 159 yards and three touchdowns in the season-opener against Alfred. His three TD receptions tied the school record. Martin's 36.3 yards per catch average against Macon also established a new school record. Martin currently ranks second in the ODAC in receiving yards (135.6 ypg.) and is third in scoring (8.2 ppg.).

VERSATILE BACK:
W&L's offense looks much different this season as offensive coordinator Bert O'Neal continues to find ways to capitalize on the Generals' personnel strengths. O'Neal created a position called "Versatile Back", or V-Back, which features junior Colton Ward. Ward will sometimes line up at wide receiver, will sometimes line up in the slot, will also lineup in the backfield, and will be set in motion as a running back/wide receiver. In this position, Ward has racked up 186 rushing yards and 479 receiving yards and five touchdowns. He has been picking up steam as of late, averaging 108.8 rushing/receiving yards and scoring four touchdowns over the past four weeks. Ward earned First Team All-ODAC honors last season after leading the team with nine total touchdowns.

VERSATILE BACK - PART TWO:
O'Neal has also been taking advantage of the talents of another player, freshman Stuart Sitterson. A defensive back and return man at the start of the season, Sitterson has been worked into the offense as a reserve running back. Since running plays with the offense in week three against Centre, Sitterson has rushed 50 times for 160 yards and four touchdowns, and caught 10 passes for 61 yards. Sitterson notched 80 rushing/receiving yards and one touchdown last week against Bridgewater.

RETURN TO SENDER:
The combination of Sitterson and Ward are also a potent combination in the return game. The Generals average 144.0 return yards per game and lead the ODAC in both kickoff return average (27.8 ypr.) and punt return average (12.0 ypr.). Sitterson has already returned one kickoff and one punt for a touchdown this season, while Ward has returned a school-record three kickoffs for touchdowns in his career, including an 88-yarder against Guilford earlier this season. On kickoffs, Ward leads the conference with a 37.4 average and Sitterson is third with a 28.2 average. On punts, Sitterson averages 12.0 yards per return and he leads the ODAC in that category.

ALL-PURPOSE WATCH:
The trio of Martin (135.9 ypg.), Ward (129.9 ypg.) and Sitterson (102.4 ypg.) are all averaging over 100 all-purpose yards per game. Not only is W&L the only team in the ODAC with three players averaging over 100 yards, but it would be the first time in school history that three players have averaged as many yards per contest.

MORE SPECIAL TEAMS TALK:
Senior punter Donny Banks may rank last in the ODAC in punt average (33.7 ypp.), but his effectiveness has played a major factor in the Generals' 5-3 season to date. Banks has pinned the opponent inside its 20 yardline 16 times with just one touchback.

THE END RESULT:
The end result of the previous two notes is excellent field position. Through eight games, the Generals' average starting field position is on its' own 39 yardline.

EVEN MORE SPECIAL TEAMS TALK:
Junior placekicker Ben Long has been having a terrific 2005 season and leads the ODAC with eight made field goals (8-of-12). Long has booted five field goals the last four weeks, including a school-record tying 47-yarder against Hampden-Sydney. With three field goals against the Tigers, Long moved into a tie for second place all-time at W&L with 23 made field goals, just one field goal from equaling the record set by Bill Devine '83. For his career, Long has made 23-of-39 (59.0) field goals.

ON THE DEFENSIVE:
The Generals have been posting gaudy offensive numbers, but they also still feature one of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference's best defenses. W&L leads the league is passing efficiency defense (109.2 rating), and is second in total defense (354.6 ypg.) and rushing defense (111.8 ypg.). Additionally, the Generals have forced a league-best 27 turnovers by their opponents, an average of 3.4 per game.

THE INTERCEPTOR:
Sophomore cornerback Mark Snoddy has a nose for the football. He currently leads the ODAC with five interceptions and he claims eight interceptions in just 18 career games.

-- GENERALS --