Washington and Lee University
THE SERIES:
Washington and Lee and Averett are meeting for just the second time, with the Generals leading the all-time series, 1-0, following a 35-21 victory in the inaugural game last season in Salem, Va. Saturday's game will again benefit Habitat for Humanity.
THE HEAD COACHES:
Frank Miriello (East Stroudsburg '67) is in his 14th season as the head coach at W&L and his 41st year of coaching. He claims a 69-62-1 (.527) overall record, 1-0 against Averett, and he ranks second all-time at W&L in career victories. The Cougars are led by seventh-year Head Coach Mike Dunlevy (Otterbein '87), who is 28-29 overall, 1-1 this season and 0-1 all-time against W&L.
ALL-TIME RECORD:
W&L has compiled a 456-488-39 (.484) all-time record over 115 seasons of football. The Generals have been linked to the first intercollegiate football game played in the South, an 1873 matchup with neighboring VMI, though the University officially recognized football as a varsity sport beginning in 1890.
LAST TIME OUT:
(W&L 35, Southern Virginia 28; September 20, 2008 - Lexington, Va.)
Senior running back Stuart Sitterson scored a pair of touchdowns in the final 5:57 of the game to lift W&L to a thrilling 35-28 victory over Southern Virginia at Wilson Field. The Knights knotted the game at 21-21 with 12:43 left in the fourth quarter on a 39-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Marcus McCollum that occurred on a 4th-and-2 play. SVU then took a 28-21 lead with 6:14 remaining on a 37-yard touchdown pass from first-year quarterback Sam Trulock to senior wide receiver Tye Hiatt. The Generals responded on the ensuing kickoff as Sitterson fielded the kick on his own 6-yardline and weaved his way 94 yards for the tying score. Sitterson then scored the game-winner with 1:10 remaining in the game on a 31-yard touchdown run on the first play following a Southern Virginia fumble. The Knights then drove to the W&L 29-yardline in the final seconds, but W&L junior defensive back Donavon Sawyer intercepted a pass in the end zone to preserve the Generals’ win. Sitterson paced the W&L offense by rushing 33 times for 169 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 20 yards and totaled 122 yards on returns for 311 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns on the day. First-year quarterback Charlie Westfal rushed 13 times for 47 yards and one touchdown and also completed 14-of-22 passes for 118 yards. Senior tailback Tom Pacicco added 24 yards and one touchdown on seven carries, while junior wide receiver Ryan Welsh snared seven passes for 61 yards. Senior linebacker Bradley McAllister led the Generals’ defense with 10 tackles.
LAST MEETING WITH AVERETT:
(W&L 35, Averett 21; September 22, 2007 - Salem, Va.)
Washington and Lee recorded a 35-21 victory over Averett last season in Salem, Va. The Generals jumped out to a 7-0 lead just 1:00 into the game as senior wide receiver Jack Martin hauled in a 36-yard touchdown pass from quarterback R.J. Varner. Averett evened the score at 7-7 just 5:50 later as defensive back John Garcia picked off a Varner pass and rumbled 26-yards to paydirt. A pair of second quarter touchdown runs by tailback Tom Pacicco and a missed PAT gave the Generals a 20-7 lead with 6:38 left in the first half. However, the Cougars retaliated on a 4-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Shan Fairbanks to tight end Nathan Woodruff with 27 seconds left to make it a 20-14 game at the break. Averett took a 21-20 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run from running back Brian Daniels with 4:37 remaining in the third period, but the Generals re-took the lead just 2:06 later on a 5-yard touchdown run by running back Stuart Sitterson. The ensuing 2-point conversion pass from Varner to Sitterson was good, giving the Generals a 28-21 lead. Martin then added an insurance score when he hauled in a 41-yard touchdown strike from Varner with 12:34 left in the game. Martin caught six passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns, while Pacicco rushed 27 times for 176 yards and two touchdowns. Sitterson tallied 218 all-purpose and one score, and Varner completed 11-of-23 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. The W&L defense was paced by senior safety Kyle Luby, who tallied 14 stops. Fairbanks completed 22-of-39 passes for 209 yards and one touchdown to lead the Cougar offense. Running back John Ellison notched 52 yards on nine carries, while senior defensive lineman Jason Hill led the defense with six tackles and one sack.
SCOUTING AVERETT:
Averett is 1-1 overall following a 31-24 victory over Guilford on Saturday afternoon in Danville, Va. The Cougars led 14-10 at halftime, but outscored the Quakers 17-0 over the third quarter to take a commanding 31-10 lead into the final stanza. AU allowed 462 yards of total offense, but forced three turnovers en route to ending an 11-game losing streak. Junior running back Dontavious Watson led the way with 102 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries, while sophomore running back Mark Williams notched 76 yards on four carries. Senior quarterback Shan Fairbanks completed 7-of-10 passes for 112 yards and one touchdown and sophomore quarterback Philip Kwiatkowski hit on 7-of-14 attempts for 60 yards and another score. Junior wide receiver Anthony Squillini caught four passes for 40 yards and two touchdowns and sophomore linebacker Logan Smyth paced the defense with 11 tackles and one interception. For the season, Williams has rushed for a team-high 140 yards on 13 carries (10.8 avg.) and Watson has carried 30 times for 127 yards and two scores. Kwiatkowski has completed 17-of-39 passes for 168 yards and one touchdown (1 INT) and Fairbanks has completed 10-of-21 passes for 197 yards and one touchdown (1 INT). Sophomore wide receiver Jeremy Dixon has snared a team-high nine passes for 170 yards, while Squillini has eight catches for 91 yards and three touchdowns. Junior linebacker Mario Huffman leads the team with 16 tackles, while Smyth claims 13 tackles and one interception.
THE DRIVE FOR FIVE:
W&L is pursuing its fifth-straight winning season during the 2008 campaign. Since going 3-7 during the 2003 season, W&L has gone a combined 27-15 with four winning campaigns. W&L has not posted five-consecutive winning seasons since a string of six-straight from 1980-1985.
CONFERENCE HONORS:
Senior running back Stuart Sitterson has been named the ODAC Offensive Player of the Week following his performance against Southern Virginia on Saturday. Sitterson rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries, caught two passes for 20 yards and compiled 122 yards and one touchdown on kick returns. He scored the game's final two touchdowns in the last 5:57 of the game after Southern Virginia had taken a 28-21 lead. The first came on a 94-yard kickoff return and the second occurred on a 31-yard touchdown run with 1:10 left in the game. All told, Sitterson notched 311 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns in the win.
ALL-PURPOSE BACK:
Senior running back Stuart Sitterson continues to be one of the Generals' top threats on offense and special teams. He notched 191 all-purpose yards against F&M, 145 against Sewanee and 311 against Southern Virginia to improve his total to eight-straight games with at least 140 all-purpose yards. Sitterson is averaging 215.7 all-purpose yards per game this season and he finished the 2007 season ranked seventh in Division III in all-purpose yards per game (192.8). With his total on Saturday, Sitterson now claims 4,532 career all-purpose yards, a total which ranks third all-time at W&L. Below are Sitterson's career rankings at W&L in all-purpose yards, kickoff return yards and punt return yards:
Career AP Yards
1. Chris Sullivan, 5,931
2. Marc Watson, 5,184
3. Stuart Sitterson, 4,532
Career KR Yards
1. Chris Leiser, 1,774
2. Colton Ward, 1,586
3. Stuart Sitterson, 1,444
Career PR Yards
1. Dave Brooks, 987
2. Dave Waters. 806
3. Stuart Sitterson, 727
RETURN TO SENDER:
The 94-yard kickoff return by senior Stuart Sitterson on Saturday marked W&L's 10th return touchdown since the beginning of the 2000 season (9 KR, 1 PR). The return was Sitterson's third kickoff return for a touchdown, tying him with Colton Ward '07 for the W&L career record. Below is a listing of the return touchdowns since 2000. The Generals are just 5-5 in games that featured a return TD.
9/23/00 Marc Watson 88-yard Kickoff Return W, 45-7
11/11/00 Chris Sullivan 80-yard Kickoff Return L, 6-16
10/27/01 Chris Sullivan 89-yard Kickoff Return L, 28-34
10/16/04 Colton Ward 80-yard Kickoff Return L, 28-31
10/22/04 Colton Ward 86-yard Kickoff Return W, 41-14
9/24/05 Stuart Sitterson 79-yard Kickoff Return L, 26-35
10/1/05 Stuart Sitterson 46-yard Punt Return W, 44-7
10/22/05 Colton Ward 88-yard Kickoff Return L, 26-28
11/5/05 Stuart Sitterson 98-yard Kickoff Return W, 45-7
9/20/08 Stuart Sitterson 94-yard Kickoff Return W, 35-28
WELCOME BACK:
Senior linebacker Bradley McAllister leads W&L in tackles with 25 total stops (15 solo) over the first three games of the season. McAllister missed all of the 2007 season after suffering a knee injury. He notched 47 tackles over his first two seasons.
FIRST-YEAR PHENOM:
First-year quarterback Charlie Westfal has guided the Generals to a pair of wins since assuming the starting position prior to the Sewanee game. Westfal rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown in the win over Sewanee and he notched 165 yards of total offense and another touchdown in the win over Southern Virginia. He is also completing 52.8 percent of his passes for 179 yards with two interceptions.
-- GENERALS --