Washington and Lee University
SERIES INFO:
Time: 1:00 pm
Site: Armfield Athletic Center (2,200)
Series: Series Tied 10-10
Last Meeting: 10/21/06 at W&L (W&L won 34-12)
First Meeting: 10/16/1965 (W&L won 26-20)
Last W&L Win: 10/21/06 at W&L (34-12)
Last GC Win: 10/22/05 at GC (28-26)
Current Series Streak: W&L +1
W&L vs. GC at W&L: 6-5
W&L vs. GC at GC: 4-5
THE SERIES:
Washington and Lee and Guilford will be meeting for the 21st time, with the series knotted at 10 wins apiece. W&L has won five of the last seven meetings between the two schools, but has not won in Greensboro since a 31-30 victory during the 2002 season -- the contest known as the "fake-spike game". The Generals claimed last season's meeting by a score of 34-12 in Lexington.
THE HEAD COACHES:
Frank Miriello (East Stroudsburg '67) is in his 13th season as the head coach at W&L and his 40th year of coaching. He claims a 64-60-1 (.516) overall record and ranks second all-time at W&L in career victories, just 13 wins shy of tying Gary Fallon (1978-94) for the top spot. The Quakers are led by third-year Head Coach Kevin Kiesel (Gettysburg '81), who is 15-11 (.577) at Guilford and 79-70-1 (.530) in his 14 seasons as a head coach. Prior to taking over in Greensboro, Kiesel served as the head coach at Millersville University (Division II) and Fairfield University (Division I-AA)
ALL-TIME RECORD:
W&L has compiled a 451-486-39 (.483) all-time record over 114 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:
(H-SC 45, W&L 42; October 13, 2007 - Hampden-Sydney, Va.)
Hampden-Sydney running back Josh Simpson totaled 259 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns to lead the Tigers to a 45-42 victory over Washington and Lee on Saturday at Everett Stadium. The Tigers jumped out to a 10-0 first quarter lead, but the Generals responded with 14 points in the first 1:49 of the second quarter to assume a 14-10 lead with 13:11 left in the first half. Sophomore quarterback R.J. Varner found senior wide receiver Jack Martin with a 24-yard scoring strike at 14:08 and senior cornerback Mark Snoddy returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown just 57 seconds later. Simpson gave H-SC the lead back just 49 seconds later when he scored on a 13-yard touchdown run, but the Generals took the lead right back (21-17) on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Varner to junior wide receiver Ty Parrino just one minute later. Simpson scored on a 1-yard plunge at the 7:53 mark of the second quarter for a 24-21 lead, but the Generals again retaliated, this time on a 69-yard touchdown strike from Varner to junior wide receiver Stuart Sitterson for a 28-24 lead with 6:58 left before the half. Hampden-Sydney quarterback Corey Sedlar capped the first-half scoring when he scored on a 1-yard run on a fourth-and-goal with 1:53 left and the Tigers carried a 31-28 lead into halftime. Another Simpson touchdown run of 12 yards with 9:19 left in the third quarter gave H-SC a 38-28 lead, but the Generals again bounced back with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Varner to Martin with 4:13 left in the third period to make it 38-35. Simpson tallied his final score on a 10-yard touchdown run at 11:12 of the fourth quarter for a 45-35 lead, but the Generals scored on a 20-yard pass from Varner to Sitterson to make the score 45-42 with 12 seconds remaining. Washington and Lee’s attempt at an onside kick failed and the Tigers walked away with the three-point victory. Sitterson led the Generals with a school-record 389 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. He notched a school-record 193 kickoff return yards, caught nine passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns and rushed four times for 48 yards. Varner completed 23-of-35 passes for a career-high 301 yards and tied a school record with five touchdown tosses, while Martin caught seven passes for 70 yards and two scores. Junior tailback Tom Pacicco was held under 100 yards rushing for the first time all season, totaling 46 yards on 16 carries. Senior linebacker Kyle Harvey led the defense with 13 tackles.
LAST MEETING WITH GUILFORD:
(W&L 34, Guilford 12; October 21, 2006 - Lexington, Va.)
The Washington and Lee defense recorded three sacks, three interceptions and broke up 13 passes en route to a 34-12 win over Guilford at Wilson Field. The Quakers began the scoring by stringing together a 13-play, 63-yard drive on the game's opening possession. Senior placekicker Travis Frazier capped things off with a 21-yard field goal with 9:47 left in the quarter. The Generals responded with 1:15 left in the first quarter as quarterback R.J. Varner found wide receiver Jack Martin with a 29-yard scoring strike on a reverse flea-flicker. W&L extended its lead to 10-3 with 54 seconds remaining in the first half on a 25-yard field goal by senior placekicker Ben Long. Long then gave W&L a 13-3 lead with 11:54 left in the third quarter on a 43-yard field goal. Guilford retaliated at the 3:29 mark of the third quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run by quarterback Josh Vogelbach to slice it to a 13-10 game, but the Generals came right back with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Varner to Martin to give W&L a 20-10 lead with 1:15 remaining in the third period. W&L upped its advantage to 27-10 with 12:06 left in the game on a screen pass from Varner to senior wide receiver Colton Ward, which Ward took 79 yards for a touchdown. An intentional safety by W&L with 5:39 left in the game cut the score to 27-12, but Generals' cornerback Jimmy Gift picked off Vogelbach and ran 73 yards to paydirt with 4:12 left in the game to provide the final margin. Ward paced the Generals with 289 all-purpose yards and one touchdown. He caught five passes for 145 yards, rushed 10 times for 28 yards and returned three kickoffs for 116 yards. Varner completed 11-of-16 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns, while Martin caught three passes for 71 yards and two touchdowns. Gift led the defense with eight tackles (seven solo), one interception and four pass breakups. Senior defensive end Walker Williams added five tackles, one interception and one sack. Vogelbach completed 25-of-56 passes for 218 yards and was intercepted three times. Senior running back Micah Rushing carried nine times for 69 yards and caught 11 passes for 88 yards, while senior wide receiver Chris Barnette caught eight passes for 82 yards. Defensive lineman Mike Six led the Quakers' defense with 12 tackles and one sack.
SCOUTING GUILFORD:
Guilford is 4-2 overall and 0-2 in the ODAC following a 76-28 loss at Bridgewater on Saturday afternoon. The Quakers fell behind 41-0 late in the second quarter and never recovered. Junior quarterback Josh Vogelbach completed just 9-of-21 passes for 85 yards and one touchdown, while sophomore wide receiver Hagan Miller hauled in 10 passes for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Senior running back Zach Bobak chipped in 67 yards rushing on nine carries. The Quakers turned the ball over six times and surrendered 575 yards of total offense in the loss. Junior defensive back Danny Langston tallied 16 tackles to lead the Guilford defensive unit. For the season, the Quakers' offense is averaging 540.3 yards and 47.5 points per game led by Vogelbach, who has completed 67.1 percent of his passes for 2,297 yards and 31 touchdowns with just nine interceptions. Miller has been his favorite target, catching 67 passes for 730 yards and 11 touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Joe Joyner has caught 47 passes for 562 yards and 14 scores, while sophomore wide receiver Chad Kastor has 44 receptions for 447 yards and three touchdowns. Bobak leads the Quaker ground game with 315 yards and three touchdowns on 54 carries. Langston claims a team-best 57 tackles and one interception.
THE WORK HORSE:
Junior tailback Tom Pacicco has been the engine that drives the Generals' offense this season. Through five games, Pacicco has totaled 635 yards and eight touchdowns on 139 carries and enters this week's game with Guilford as the ODAC's second-leading rusher and fourth-leading scorer. Pacicco began the season with four-straight 100-yard games, the first time that a W&L running back has totaled four-straight 100-yard games since Chris Sullivan '03 accomplished the feat over the final four games of the 2001 season. His eight rushing touchdowns this year are also the most for a season since Sullivan's 10 scores in 2002. Prior to this season, Pacicco's best game for the Blue & White was a 76-yard, one touchdown performance against Hampden-Sydney last season.
JACK BE NIMBLE, JACK BE QUICK:
Senior wide receiver Jack Martin leads the Generals' receivers this season with 26 catches for 484 yards and five touchdowns. A 2007 Preseason Second Team All-America pick by D3Football.com, Martin claims 137 receptions for 2,544 yards and 30 touchdowns over his career. He already ranks first all-time at W&L in career receiving yards and career touchdowns and is just 25 catches away from breaking the career catches mark as well.
VERSATILE BACK:
Junior Stuart Sitterson plays the position named V-Back or "versatile back" in the Generals' offensive scheme. Sitterson's style of play reflects the name perfectly and on Saturday at Hampden-Sydney, he had the finest all-round offensive performance ever by a W&L offensive back. Sitterson tallied a W&L-record 389 all-purpose yards in the contest, including a school-record 193 kickoff return yards on six returns (32.2 ypr). He also caught nine passes for a career-high 148 yards and two touchdowns and rushed four times for 48 yards. His total was seven yards better than the previous record of 382 yards set by Marc Watson '02 against Hampden-Sydney in 2000. A D3Football.com First Team All-America return specialist in 2005, Sitterson is averaging an ODAC-best 34.7 yards per kickoff return this season.
VARNER GARNERS CAREER-BEST PERFORMANCE:
Sophomore quarterback R.J. Varner had his best game in a W&L uniform on Saturday at Hampden-Sydney, completing 23-of-35 passes for 301 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. His five TD passes tied the school record set by Greg Tweardy '06 during the 2005 season. The 2006 ODAC Rookie of the Year, Varner has completed 50.8 percent of his passes for 907 yards and nine touchdowns with eight interceptions this season.
LEAVING HIS MARK:
Senior cornerback Mark Snoddy has left his mark over the W&L record books. A two-time First Team All-ODAC selection, Snoddy claims a W&L-record 19 career interceptions. He has intercepted one pass each of the last two weeks, including returning a pick 38 yards for a touchdown at Hampden-Sydney on Saturday. Snoddy has also been doing some placekicking and was a perfect 5-for-5 on PAT's at H-SC. He also booted a 28-yard field goal against Catholic.
-- GENERALS --