LEXINGTON, Va. – Shenandoah University completed its initial ODAC football season with a 42-23 loss to league champion Washington and Lee Saturday afternoon.
W&L (8-2, 6-1) turned a 7-3 lead with 44 seconds remaining in the first half into a 21-3 bulge by scoring twice in a 17-second span against the Hornets (1-9, 0-7).
Sasha Vandalov, who had three touchdowns on the day, made it 14-3 on a 4-yard TD run at the 43-second mark.
And then disaster struck for Shenandoah.
On the first play from scrimmage following the kickoff, PJ Athey fumbled the handoff from quarterback Shawn Lloyd, giving the ball back to the Generals at the SU 13.
It took just one play for Washington & Lee quarterback Nick Lombardo to find tight end Alex Evans in the end zone for another score and a 21-3 lead as halftime approached.
This lead expanded out to 28-3 as Lloyd threw his second interception of the day on the initial drive of the third quarter and W&L used the short field to stick in a Brett Murray 4-yard TD run at the 13:04 mark.
Shenandoah finally stopped the bleeding with 6:08 to play in the third as the Hornets drove 48 yards in seven plays, capped by an Andrew Smith 1-yard run.
Following Vandalov's third TD, this one from 22 yards out, Smith ripped off an 82-yard run over right tackle for his second score of the contest.
The 82-yard TD run is the second longest TD run in school history, surpassed only by an 88-yard Carl Joseph run against Averett last season.
On the final play of the contest, Lloyd hit Qiydaar Murphy with a 9-yard TD pass to provide the final margin.
SU outgained W&L 408-353 and possessed the ball for 33:06.
Defensively, senior Jajuan Johnson had 10 solo tackles to give him 107 on the year. He breaks the mark of 101 set by Cory Giffing in 2010.
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