Averett loses tough one to Washington & Lee

By Jason Wolf

Published: September 27, 2008

SALEM — Nathan Davis watched the ball sail over his head, sprinted backward and kicked it out of bounds for a safety. It was all the Averett University punter could do to try and keep his team’s hopes for a second straight victory from crumbling.

Washington & Lee opened the second half with 17 quick points and staved off the Cougars’ late comeback attempt as the Generals earned a 31-23 victory in a steady rain on Saturday at Salem Stadium.

A long pass completion on third down sparked a W&L touchdown drive on its first possession of the second half – and the botched punt for a safety, poor kickoff coverage resulting in a short field and another quick touchdown buried the Cougars, who suffered an avalanche of mental miscues after entering intermission tied at 7-7.

“They’re a good football team, but when you give them things like that – most teams should win if you give them the things that we gave them today,” Averett coach Mike Dunlevy said. “The things that are bothering me right now are those mental penalties. We’ve got to get that stuff corrected, because that’s affected us losing two football games right now.”

Both teams struggled to move the ball in the first half, but W&L’s passing attack snapped to life after intermission. Freshman quarterback Charlie Westfal completed a 30-yard pass to Cody Smith on third-and-19 to stun the Averett defense and another long pass put W&L (3-1) within scoring range. Averett (1-2) barely got a hand on Stuart Sitterson as he capped the drive with a 6-yard touchdown to provide the Generals with a 14-7 lead they never relinquished.

Averett lost complete control of the contest when, after going three-and-out, the Cougars snapped the ball over the head of Davis for a safety. Sitterson returned the ensuing kickoff to the Averett 19-yard line and freshman tailback Jonathan Clemo scored from the 3 for a 24-7 Generals advantage. That lead ballooned to 31-7 when Westfal tossed his second touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter.

“Everything clicked in the second half,” Westfal said.

Averett quarterback Shan Fairbanks completed 19-of-39 passes for 150 yards, including touchdowns to Steve Oristian and Anthony Squillini in the final six minutes of the game, and the Cougars recovered an onside kick with a minute to play before their comeback bid failed on a fourth-and-long from midfield.
“Our kids do this to me,” W&L coach Frank Miriello said. “We just can’t shut the door on anybody right now, and that’s a concern to me. We’ve got to be able to shut the door.”

W&L controlled the ball for nearly a full quarter longer than Averett.

With receivers for both teams routinely dropping passes, Averett utilized a largely unspectacular but effective rushing game and a swarming first-half defense to answer W&L’s early score and keep the Generals in check.

Averett, largely pinned in its own end for most of the first quarter, turned the field position around with Dontavious Watson’s 63-yard gallop down the right sideline, setting the Cougars up in the W&L red zone. Watson scored on a 4-yard plunge up the middle four plays later to tie the game at 7-7.

Two first-half turnovers thwarted most any momentum Averett was able to build, however, and the teams entered halftime with the score knotted at 7-7. The Cougars were unable to mount another successful scoring drive until late in the fourth quarter when the Generals seemed to relax.

“We just had a hard time executing. We’re a team that right now, we’re not thinking real well. It’s hurting us. The penalties killed us again this game. We just made mental mistakes that we’ve got to get corrected,” Dunlevy said. “We still had a chance to tie this thing up at the end and I think that’s all you can ask for in regards to effort, but we’ve got to play smarter. We’ve got to play smarter.”