LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee defense forced five turnovers and sacked the quarterback five times in posting a 38-27 victory over Hampden-Sydney to win the ODAC football championship on Saturday afternoon at Wilson Field.
The Generals (7-2, 6-0) won their sixth-straight game en route to finishing the season with a perfect ODAC record for the first time in program history. It is also W&L's second conference title in the last five years and qualifies the Generals for the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Each team exchanged a pair of scores in the first 20 minutes and change until the Generals assumed control with 2:44 left in the half when junior running back Harrison Hudson (Salem, Va./Salem) finished a 9-play, 67-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run for a 21-14 lead. The W&L defense then stopped the Tigers (8-1, 4-1) on a 4th-and 3 from the W&L 47-yardline with 1:26 to play and the Generals drove to the H-SC 19-yardline before junior placekicker Peter Alston (Norfolk, Va./Norfolk Academy) booted a 36-yard field goal with two seconds remaining for a 24-14 lead at the break.
Neither team could find paydirt in the third quarter, but the Generals took a 31-14 lead with 12:37 left in the game on a 2-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Brett Murray (Lookout Mountain, Tenn./Baylor). The Tigers answered 3:21 later on a 4-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Travis Lane (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) to junior wide receiver Kyle Vance (Onley, Va./Broadwater Academy) to make it 31-21, but Hudson scored on an 18-yard touchdown reception from junior quarterback Charlie Westfal (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) to put the game away (38-21). Hampden-Sydney tacked on a late score with seven seconds remaining for the final margin.
The Generals were held under 400 yards rushing for the first time in six games, but still managed 316 yards on the ground and 375 yards overall. Hudson paced W&L by rushing 18 times for 100 yards and two touchdowns and catching two passes for 27 yards and another score. Murray tallied 95 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, while sophomore running back Luke Heinsohn (Charlottesville, Va./Covenant) notched 78 yards on 23 rushes. Westfal completed 5-of-8 passes for 59 yards and a score and rushed for 29 yards on eight carries.
Defensively, junior linebacker Rob Look (Dallas, Texas/Hillcrest) had a team-best seven tackles, while junior cornerback Mike Hartford (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) had six stops and a pair of interceptions. First-year linebacker Sam Zimmer (San Diego, Calif./Central Catholic) chipped in three tackles and 1.5 sacks.
Lane completed 29-of-52 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns, but was intercepted four times. He also was the team's leading rusher with 55 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. Vance snared 11 passes for 78 yards and a touchdown, while senior wide receiver Andrew Bruckner (Chesterfield, Va./L.C. Byrd) added nine catches for 126 yards and one score. Senior linebacker Trevor Ikwild (Philomont, Va./Loudoun Valley) led the defense with 14 tackles.
Washington and Lee hits the road for its regular season finale, playing at Juniata on Saturday at 1:00 pm.
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