Washington and Lee Football Release
Centre at Washington and Lee - Sept. 27, 1997

THE SERIES: 
	Centre is one of the oldest rivalries on W&L's schedule. The two 
schools first met in 1897 and the series has been played continuously 
since 1955. Centre leads the series 30-17-2, but W&L won last year's game 
29-21 in Kentucky behind Tommy Rueger's two touchdown runs and TD pass.

THE TEAMS: 
W&L - 0-2, 0-1 in the ODAC
Centre - 0-2, 0-0 in the SCAC

THE COACHES:
W&L - Frank Miriello (East Stroudsburg '67)
	Overall Record: 10-10-1 (3rd year)
	Record vs. Centre: 1-0-1
	Record vs. SCAC Schools: 3-0-1
	Record at Wilson Field: 5-5-1

CC - Joe McDaniel (Muskingum '56)
	Overall Record: 95-62-3 (18th year)
	Record vs. W&L: 9-7-1

A LOOK AT CENTRE
	The Colonels are off to an 0-2 start with losses to Wooster 
(31-10) and Hanover (22-18). Starting QB Jonathan Pruitt was injured in 
the preseason and DB Jeff Floyd has moved over to offense where he is 
19-of-54 passing for 201 yards. Junior RB Phil Edge has 177 yards rushing 
in the first two weeks and WR Montas Allen is a deep threat, averaging 
18.5 yards on his four catches. Clay Curry has 19 tackles and an 
interception to lead the defense.

ODAC STANDINGS
TEAM		W	L	W	L
Emory & Henry	1	0	2	0
Guilford	1	0	1	1
Randolph-Macon	0	0	1	1
Hampden-Sydney	0	0	0	2
W&L		0	1	0	2
Bridgewater	0	1	0	3

Last Week
Guilford 34, W&L 20
Emory & Henry 31, Bridgewater 7
Catholic 34, Randolph-Macon 21
Hampden-Sydney idle

Last Week
TURNOVERS DOOM W&L IN 34-20 LOSS
	Five turnovers, including four inside the Guilford 25-yard line, 
spelled doom for the Generals in their ODAC opener, a 34-20 loss to 
Guilford. W&L rallied from a 13-0 deficit to take a 14-13 halftime lead 
as sophomore quarterback Christian Batcheller threw second quarter 
touchdowns to J.T. Malatesta and Scott Humphreys.
	Guilford regained the lead 19-14 midway through the third quarter 
before W&L senior safety Ryan Fletemeyer picked up a fumble and raced 29 
yards for a score to put the Generals in front 20-19. Guilford went back 
on top 27-20 early in the fourth quarter on a short touchdown run and 
held onto that lead until the final two minutes. W&L recovered a fumble 
inside Guilford territory with 1:40 to play and picked up one first down 
before Guilford's Dwayne Cherry intercepted a pass and returned it 65 
yards for a touchdown with 20 seconds remaining to seal the Quakers 34-20 
victory.

Generals' Notebook
MONEIM LEADS DEFENSIVE EFFORT
	W&L senior defensive tackle Omar Moneim had a great individual 
day. Moneim made eight tackles, including a quarterback sack and one 
other tackle for loss. Moneim also forced the fumble that Ryan Fletemeyer 
returned for a touchdown in the third quarter and Moneim recovered a 
fumble in Guilford territory with under two minutes to play to give the 
Generals a final scoring opportunity.

CHASTAIN HAS CAREER DAY
	Junior wide receiver Chas Chastain had a career day against 
Guilford, catching 13 passes for 158 yards. Seven of his receptions went 
for first downs and his long reception of 32 yards set up W&L's first 
touchdown. Chastain, who finished the day with 225 all-purpose yards, had 
previous highs of seven catches for 120 yards in last year's 29-21 
victory over Centre. Chastain's reception and yardage totals rank fourth 
and seventh, respectively, on W&L's single game charts.

MALATESTA EMERGING AS RECEIVING THREAT 
	Washington and Lee sophomore wide receiver J.T. Malatesta moved 
into the starting lineup at the start of the season because of the injury 
to senior Nick Hodge and Malatesta has cashed in on the opportunity. 
Malatesta had six catches for 75 yards against Guilford, including a 
diving 23-yard touchdown reception for W&L's first score. Malatesta has 
10 catches for 127 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the season.

DEFENSE MAKES BIG PLAYS
	W&L's defensive unit came up with a number of big plays on 
Saturday, highlighted by Ryan Fletemeyer's touchdown runback of a 
Guilford fumble in the third quarter.  On Guilford's next two possessions 
the Generals got interceptions from junior John McAllister and senior 
John Benazzi and then the defense forced the big turnover with under two 
minutes to play to give the offense a final chance to tie the contest.

GENERAL NEWS
	Senior kicker Matt Holbrook has now made 22 consecutive PAT 
attempts, breaking the school record of 21 straight shared by Jack 
Baizley, Carter Quayle and Drew Thomas...freshman tight end Scott 
Humphreys caught the first two passes of his career on Saturday with the 
second one going for a touchdown...John Benazzi is tied for the ODAC lead 
in interceptions after recording two in W&L's first two games of the 
season...sophomore linebacker Mike Moore made a career-high 10 tackles 
against Guilford, including two for losses...Christian Batcheller's 27 
completions was tied for the third most in school history and his 286 
passing yards was the eighth best single game performance.