SALEM, Va. – Wilkes University football team fell short of reclaiming the Cape Henry Bowl, falling to Washington and Lee University of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) 40-21 at Salem Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Wilkes finishes the season with a 7-4 overall record.

Washington and Lee received the opening kickoff and opened the scoring with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Ty Collins to Andrew Bland. After a Colonel punt, the Wilkes defense forced a turnover on downs as Angel Ramos (Allentown, PA/Parkland) and Kellen Redmond (St. Petersburg, FL/Calvary Christian) sacked Collins. Xavier Powell (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) scored on a one-yard touchdown run to tie the game 7-7 with 13:40 left in the second quarter.

On the ensuing possession, The Generals restored their lead on a one-yard touchdown run of their own, taking the score to 14-7. Wilkes responded in kind with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Powell to Devin Higgins (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley), tying the game once more at 14 apiece. Washington and Lee fired back with another touchdown on a six-yard Anthony Crawford run but failed the two-point conversion to go up 20-14. On the ensuing possession, the Colonels threw an interception and gave the ball back to Washington and Lee, but the defense held strong and forced a 39-yard field goal attempt that was no good. At the end of the half, the Generals led 20-14.

Wilkes got the ball to start the second half, but were unable to score, handing the ball back to the Generals who marched down the field for another score to put them up 27-14. After another Colonel punt, Redmond and Justin Blake (Jersey City, NJ/Hudson Catholic Regional) stopped the Generals on a 4^th and 1 to force a turnover on downs.

In the fourth quarter, Washington and Lee scored two more touchdowns to extend their lead to 40-14. With 24 seconds left, Powell found fellow senior Jason Dean (Auburn, PA/Blue Mountain) for the touchdown to reach the final score of 40-21.

Powell led the Colonel offense with 14 completions for 168 yards and two touchdowns. He also led the ground attack with 77 rushing yards and a touchdown. Higgins was Powell's top target with 73 yards and a touchdown. On defense, Tallen Murray (Vineland, NJ/Saint Joseph Academy) had a team-high 18 tackles with 1.5 for loss and one sack. Tyler Wetzel (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) also reached double-digit tackles with 15.

Collins led the Generals with 171 passing yards and two touchdowns, while Jacob Romero rushed for 151 yards and a touchdown. Crawford also had triple digit rushing with 139 yards. Bland was Washington and Lee's top receiver with 70 yards and two touchdowns. Jalen Todd led the defense with nine tackles.

For the Colonels, this marks the bittersweet end of the careers of 28 seniors, who helped the team to 25 wins over their four years.