LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee University Football Team (4-1, 2-0 ODAC) rushed for 503 yards on the afternoon en route to defeating Emory & Henry College (3-2, 0-2 ODAC) Saturday afternoon at Wilson Field.
W&L got on the board just 3:47 into the contest after an eight-play, 69-yard drive that was culminated by a Luke Heinsohn plunge from a yard out. Heinsohn rushed five times on the drive including a 32-yard scamper on the second play from scrimmage.
After forcing the Wasps to punt, the Generals went back on the attack. Heinsohn broke open a first-down play for 47 yards, and his second touchdown of the day, to make the score 14-0.
Emory & Henry closed the gap to 14-7 on their next possession as they streaked down the field covering 71 yards in seven plays, taking just 1:46 off the clock. Sophomore running back Joe Vaughn (Gate City, Va.) scored from three yards out and accounted for 38 yards in the drive.
Washington and Lee pushed its advantage to 31-7 at the half thanks to a third touchdown by Heinsohn and one by Sasha Vandalov. Heinsohn connected on a 27-yard field goal as time expired to conclude the opening 30 minutes of play.
Coming out of the locker room, Emory & Henry got the ball to begin the second half. The Wasps put together a seven-play, 65-yard strike with Vaughn scoring his second touchdown of the day. Junior wide receiver Chad Williams (Elkton, Va.) found senior wide receiver Corey Ware (Buchanan, Va.) for 32 yards on a misdirection play to put the Wasps into General territory. A bad snap caused the point-after attempt to fail, making the score 31-13.
On the next drive, W&L went down the field as Nick Lombardo found Eli Chester from 12 yards out for the score. Lombardo also completed a 19-yard pass to Luke Terna, and rushed for 32 yards on the drive.
The Wasps bounced back on their next possession to cut the lead to 17. Vaughn rushed for 30 yards and caught a pass for seven more as junior quarterback Kyle Boden (Knoxville, Tenn.) rushed into the end zone from 10 yards out for the score. Boden found senior wide receiver DaVon Ross (Glen Wilton, Va.) for the two-point conversion to make the score 38-21.
On the first drive of the fourth quarter, the Generals ran nearly six minutes of the clock as they extended their advantage to 45-21. Brett Murray became the third W&L player to rush for a score on the day from a yard out with 12:15 remaining in the contest.
After forcing an E&H three-and-out, W&L looked as if it was going to add more points to the scoreboard. With the ball on the Emory & Henry 44, Tate Bloomer was caught behind the line of scrimmage by junior linebacker Paul Forney (Newton, N.C.), who stripped the ball away. Wasp senior linebacker Ross Ellis (Abingdon, Va.) scooped up the ball and went 47 yards for the defensive score, to close the margin to 45-28.
A punt by each team left 6:20 remaining in the contest and Washington and Lee was able to hold the ball and run out the clock for the 45-28 victory.
The Generals put up 562 yards of total offense including 503 on the ground compared to 344 for the Wasps, who had a season-high 165 rushing yards in the contest. W&L held the ball for 37:13, including 13:05 in the fourth quarter, and converted nine-of-14 third downs.
After giving up 31 points in the first half, the Wasps defense settled down and only allowed a pair of touchdowns in the second while the E&H offense got on track for 21 second-half points.
Lombardo led the Generals with 164 yards rushing and 50 yards through the air on three-for-10 passing. Heinsohn had 138 yards on the ground and three scores and made six PATs and a field goal. Vandalov finished with 85 yards while Murray had 59 yards of his own.
The Emory & Henry offense was paced by Vaughn with 171 yards and two touchdowns while Boden was 23-for-31 through the air for 147 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Lucas Kirby (Covington, Va.) led the Wasps corps of receivers with 39 yards on four catches while Williams caught five passes in addition to his completion to Ware.
Defensively, Jake Pelton had 12 tackles and a forced fumble for W&L while Sam Zimmer registered nine stop and a sack. Peter Partee and Walter Ramsey had seven tackles apiece while Greg Barton made two sacks on the day. Lee Peaseley logged four tackles and returned a fumble 31 yards in the contest.
Ellis led the Wasps' defense with 15 tackles and a 47-yard fumble return for a touchdown. Senior safety Daniel Woods (Bristol, Va.) notched 13 stops while Forney had 12 tackles, including a tackle for loss and a forced fumble.
Emory & Henry will remain on the road next week when it travels to face Hampden-Sydney College in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.
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