Washington and Lee Football Release #11

W&L Football Release #11

Last Week
GENERALS CLOSE SEASON WITH WIN
	Washington and Lee closed the 1997 season with a 41-13 victory 
over Swarthmore on Wilson Field behind four touchdown passes from 
sophomore quarterback Christian Batcheller. W&L jumped out to an 
early 10-0 lead behind a 36-yard TD pass from Batcheller to sophomore 
J.T. Malatesta and a 27-yard Matt Holbrook field goal. The Garnet 
pulled to within 10-7 on a 14-yard touchdown reception by Joe Aleffi, 
but W&L then ripped off 31 unanswered points for the victory.

Generals' Notebook
SENIORS GO OUT AS WINNERS
	Saturday's victory gave the 17 seniors on the 1997 Washington and 
Lee football team a 19-18-1 record for their careers. They are the 
first senior class since the seniors on the 1986 team to finish with 
a winning record. W&L went 5-4 in 1994, 5-3-1 in 1995, 5-5 in 1996 
and 4-6 this year.

BATCHELLER BREAKS THREE RECORDS
	Sophomore quarterback Christian Batcheller set three more school 
records in Saturday's win. Batcheller threw for 296 yards and four 
touchdowns (tying the school record) to finish the season with 1,998 
passing yards and 16 touchdown passes, both school records. He also 
set another school record with his fifth 200-yard passing game of the 
season. Phillip Sampson held all three records that Batcheller broke. 
In 1989 Sampson threw for 1,876 yards, 14 touchdowns and had four 
200-yard passing games. Sampson also threw 14 touchdowns in 1987 and 
Jack Berry also had four 200-yard passing games in 1975.

HOLBROOK KEEPS STREAK INTACT
	Senior kicker Matt Holbrook hit all five extra point attempts 
against Swarthmore to finish his W&L career with a school record 
streak of 39 consecutive PAT attempts. Holbrook went 21-of-21 this 
year and hit his final 18 PAT attempts last year. Holbrook also made 
two field goals against the Garnet and completed his W&L career 
making 15-of-20 field goals (a school record 75.0%) and 41-of-42 PAT 
attempts (a school record 97.6%).

MALATESTA COMPLETES BANNER CAMPAIGN
	Sophomore J.T. Malatesta completed his breakthrough season by 
catching six passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Malatesta 
finished the season with 48 catches (fourth best in W&L history) for 
863 yards (third best) and seven touchdowns (second best). Malatesta 
had four 100-yard receiving games. Craig Irons holds the school 
records for single season catches (75 in 1989) and yards receiving 
(1,010 in 1989) and Bruce Green holds the record for touchdown 
catches in a season (8 in 1969).

MONEIM FINISHES STRONG
	Senior defensive tackle Omar Moneim led W&L's defense with seven 
tackles, including two for losses, as the Generals limited Swarthmore 
to 186 yards of offense and 28 rushing yards. Moneim led the Generals 
this season with 72 tackles and was second with 12 tackles for loss.

1998 CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED
	Washington and Lee has selected junior linebacker Brad Baker, junior 
tight end David Ritchey and sophomore quarterback Christian 
Batcheller as its captains for 1998. Baker had 36 tackles and two 
interceptions despite missing two games with injuries. Ritchey had 21 
catches for 373 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Batcheller will be 
the first junior football captain at W&L since linebacker John McKee 
in 1980.

GENERAL NEWS
	Senior wide receiver Nick Hodge missed the first six games this 
season with a broken collarbone, but came back to catch a 27-yard 
touchdown pass on Saturday...senior running back Seth McKinley scored 
on a two-yard touchdown run Saturday to go over 100 points for his 
career on 17 touchdowns (16 rushing, one receiving).

1997 Top Single Game 
Performances

RUSHING
Att: 28, Seth McKinely vs. Davidson
Yds: 143, Hanley Sayers vs. Sewanee
TDs: 2, Hanley Sayers vs. H-SC, Sewanee
LG: 40, C. Batcheller vs. Bridgewater

PASSING
Att: 47, C. Batcheller vs. Guilford
Com: 27, C. Batcheller vs. Guilford
Yds: 304, C. Batcheller vs. Emory & Henry
TD: 4, C. Batcheller vs. Davidson,Swarthmore
LG: 78, C. Batcheller vs. Emory & Henry

RECEIVING
Rec: 13, Chas Chastain vs. Guilford
Yds: 184, J.T. Malatesta vs. Emory & Henry
TD: 2, J.T. Malatesta vs. Swarthmore
LG: 78, J.T. Malatesta vs. Emory & Henry

RETURNS
KO Ret: 4, John Benazzi vs. Sewanee
KO Ret Yds: 120, J. Benazzi vs. Sewanee
LG: 46, Seth McKinley vs. Randolph-Macon
Punt Ret: 5, Will Baker vs. Davidson
Punt Ret Yds: 39 Will Baker vs. Davidson
LG: 30, Josh Myerberg vs. Johns Hopkins

DEFENSE
Tackles: 12, by the following players: Ryan Fletemeyer (JHU), Trey 
Carr (JHU), Brad Baker (JHU), Matt Luka (E&H), Scott King (E&H)
Sacks: 2, Scott King vs. Randolph-Macon and Ben Middendorf vs. 
Bridgewater
Interceptions: 1, 15 times

FINAL ODAC STANDINGS
TEAM		W-L	W-L
Emory & Henry	4-1,	8-2
Guilford	4-1,	8-2
Randolph-Macon	4-1,	8-2
W&L		2-3,	4-6
Bridgewater	1-4,	2-8
Hampden-Sydney	0-5,	0-10

Last Week's Scores
W&L 41, Swarthmore 13
Randolph-Macon 49, Hampden-Sydney 18
Bridgewater 13, Davidson 10 (ot)
Guilford 61, Chowan 0
Maryville 27, Emory & Henry 24