Stories courtesy of institutional websites
Frostburg State 20, Kentucky Wesleyan 13 | Final Stats
OWENSBORO, Ky. - Frostburg State opened their 2021 season with a scrappy 20-13 victory over the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers on September 6th. The Bobcats moved to 1-0 on the young season while the Panthers fell to 0-1 on the young year.
FSU opened up a 13-0 lead in the first half behind a two yard touchdown run from Junior RB Josh Maxwell in the first quarter and two field goals from Sophomore K Dayne Koontz before Kentucky Wesleyan snuck in a field goal of their own to close the gap to 13-3.
Moving into the second half, Kentucky Wesleyan would inch closer with a second field goal making the score 13-6. Shortly after the FSU defense would come up with an interception which would be returned for a touchdown by Junior DE Luke Freeman that propelled the Bobcats into a 20-6 lead.
The Panthers would not fade however, with a late touchdown rush coming inside the final two minutes of the fourth quarter making the score 20-13. The Frostburg defense would come up with an interception in the final few seconds of the game to halt a game tying drive from the Panthers and to secure the win.
Both teams struggled to take care of the football in the contest, with a grand total of 9 turnovers combined between the two squads. The Bobcats had three interceptions and two fumbles, while the Panthers had three interceptions and one fumble. Seniors Gavin Lavat and Malcom Facey lead the way on the ground for the Bobcats with 14 and 15 rush attempts for 70 and 65 yards respectively. Senior Malik Morris lead the receiving core with two receptions for 69 yards and on the defensive side, Seniors Carl Igweh and Hauns White were tied with eight tackles.
FSU will be back in action of September 11th on the road against West Virginia State at 12 pm, however the game will be played at Charleston (WV)'s football field due to renovations ongoing for the WVSU facility. The game can be heard on 99.5 WDZN with pregame beginning at 11:45 am at 995wdzn.com and for more Bobcat updates be sure to visit frostburgsports.com.
Seton Hill 16, Wheeling 14 | FInal Stats
GREENSBURG, Pa. - Despite forcing seven turnovers, Wheeling fell to Seton Hill on Thursday night 16-14 in the season opener.
Outside Linebacker JR Atkinson (Stow, OH./Stow-Munroe) led the defense grabbing both interceptions and Jermichael Isom (Gadsden, AL./Gadsden City) recovered a fumble for one of the Cardinal's two touchdowns on the day. Isom also led the way with 11 total tackles followed by Rich White III (Cleveland, OH./St. Edwards) and Jason Simon (Montclair, NJ./Montclair) with eight and six tackles respectively.
Both defenses would play a big part in the game early on as neither team could get anything going. Wheeling would end up punting the ball on three of their four drives while Seton Hill punted two times in that first quarter. There were just six first downs combined between the two teams in the quarter and just 108 yards combined of total offense.
The game remained 0-0 heading into the second quarter before Seton Hill got the scoring started. After starting a drive at the end of the first quarter, the Griffins drove 30 yards on seven plays before kicking a field goal to take a 3-0 lead. However, quarterback Trent Jackson (Stevensville, MD./Kent Island HS) would least his team on an eight-play, 88-yard drive that ended with Wheeling's first touchdown of the season. Jackson connected with Jaquan Davidson (Duquesne, PA./Elizabeth Forward) on a 22-yard pass to give Wheeling a 7-3 lead.
Seton Hill would add one more Field Goal before the half was over, and Wheeling went into the locker room leading 7-6. The Cardinals featured a healthy mix of run and pass throughout the first half and had 112 yards of total offense at the half. As they entered the second half, the defense would be looked at to come up with a big stop and hold Seton Hill off the board on the opening drive of the second half.
The Griffins would drive 55 yards on that opening drive, but the Cardinals held them to another field goal that made the score Seton Hill 9, Wheeling 7. However, Wheeling would go just 29 yards in six plays and was forced to punt putting the ball back in Seton Hill's hands. They would strike again on a 43-yard touchdown pass that made the score Seton Hill 16-7. It would be Wheeling's defense that helped get the Cardinals on the scoreboard at the end of the third quarter. Cornerback Christian Jones (Largo, MD./Flowers HS) would force a fumble as time was running out in the quarter, and Isom scooped it up in the endzone for Wheeling's second touchdown as the score moved to 16-14.
The game remained within striking distance throughout the fourth quarter as the defense did their part. They forced three turnovers in the quarter, but the Cardinal's offense couldn't do anything with them and they would fall 16-14. Despite winning the fourth quarter turnover battle 3-1, the Cardinals converted just one first down on the quarter in the loss.
Jackson finished the day going 15-28 with 128 yards and a touchdown in his Cardinals debut. His top target was Davidson, who pulled in five catches for 61 yards and a touchdown while Ryan LaFollette (Woodsfield, OH./Monroe Central) pulled in five catches for 49 yards. Sy Alli (Pittsburgh, PA./Obama Academy) less the rushing attack carrying the ball 21 times for 112 yards while averaging 4.7 yards per carry.
Wheeling is back in action next Thursday for their home opener when they take on Notre Dame College at 7 pm.
California (Pa.) 23, Fairmont State 14 | Final Stats
FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- California University of Pennsylvania held off Fairmont State to earn a 23-14 season-opening victory over the Falcons on Thursday evening at Duvall-Rosier Field.
Cal U took control of the game early and opened up a 13-0 lead at the break. Anthony Beitko opened the scoring for the Vulcans with a 20-yard field goal at the 10:13 mark of the opening quarter. Cal's Kyle Brunson scored the only touchdown of the opening half when he crossed the goal line from two-yards out with 2:08 remaining in the first quarter.
The scored remained the same until Beitko tacked on a 25-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter.
Cal U took a 20-0 lead early in the third quarter on a seven-yard pass from Noah Mitchell to Cam Tarrant. The connection capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive in just over four minutes.
On the ensuing kickoff, Fairmont State got on the scoreboard when Buster Griffin broke free on a 95-yard kickoff return.
Later in the third, Connor Neal threw his first collegiate touchdown when he hooked-up with Shawn Harris on a 25-yard TD connection that capped an eight-play, 86-yard drive.
Early in the fourth, Cal's Noah Mitchell was picked off by Eltayeb Bushra, who returned the interception 49 yards to set the Falcons up at the Cal U 19-yard line with 11:23 to play.
After a big defensive series by the Vulcans, which included two sacks, Fairmont State attempted a 46-yard field goal – which sailed wide left to keep the score at 20-14 with nine minutes to play.
On Cal's next possession, Beitko hit his third field goal of the game from 31-yards out to extend the Vulcans leads to 23-14 with just over seven minutes to play.
Fairmont State had two more offensive possessions, but the Cal defense held the Falcons outside the Vulcan 40-yard line to seal the win.
Neal completed 9-of-19 passes for 103 yards and a score to lead the Fairmont State offense on Thursday evening. He was sacked five times. Harris was on the receiving end of a team-high three passes for 35 yards.
Xander Albea led the Fairmont State ground attack with 54 yards on 14 carries.
Linebacker Brocton Blair racked up eight tackles for the Falcons on defense. Bushra, Kaire Umoja and Chrinovic Mukulu also tallied seven tackles apiece for Fairmont State. Bushra and Desoto McKenzie each picked off passes for the FSU defense.
Fairmont State's defense was especially strong against the run, limiting Cal to just 46 yards on 24 total carries.
Mitchell racked up 301 yards for the Vulcans after completing 29-of-48 pass attempts on the evening. He threw one TD and was picked off twice. Tyson Hill hauled in nine passes for a game-high 155 yards through the air. Cam Tarrant also had a big day in the Cal U passing game with nine catches for 50 yards and a score.
Noah Dillow stuffed the stat sheet for the Cal U defense, finishing the evening with 13 tackles, one sack and one forced fumble. Matt Tobey also recorded nine tackles.
Fairmont State will return to action next Thursday at the University of Charleston. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at UC Stadium.
West Liberty 27, Walsh 6 | Final Stats
WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Opportunity knocked repeatedly for both teams in Thursday night's season opener at West Family Stadium but it was visiting Walsh (Ohio) that came up with most of the answers in stealing a 27-6 non-conference victory at West Liberty.
"In a game like this, it just came down to them making more plays than we did," WLU head coach Roger Waialae said. "Both teams had multiple opportunities in the red zone but they scored on all four of their red zone chances and we were just one of five. You can't waste opportunities like that if you want to be a good football team."
Trailing 10-0 midway through the second quarter, the WLU offense got things going as a 13-play, 63-yard march set up a 30-yard field goal try by Owen Rozanc that twisted just wide at the last second.
The Hilltopper defense got the ball back in a hurry as Kenyon Felder forced a fumble while sacking Hodge for a 13-yard loss and Trevor Hoosier recovered for the hosts at the Cavalier 9.
After a first-down rush was stuffed at the line of scrimmage, linebacker Preston Hodges stepped in front of a Jack Allison pass at the 3 and sprinted 97 yards the other way for a score that dropped West Liberty into a 17-0 hole.
The frustration didn't end there for the Black and Gold. The Hilltoppers drove deep into Walsh territory again with time running out in the half. With less than 10 seconds on the clock, Allison threaded the needle to Jerome Harris for a 26-yard TD only to have it wiped out by a holding call.
West Liberty settled for a long field goal try by Rozanc that fell just short as time expired.
The Hilltoppers were right back in business when Walsh fumbled the second half kickoff and Nate McCutcheon recovered at the Cavalier 26. West Liberty couldn't capitalize, however, and lost the ball on downs at the 19.
The WLU defense forced another three-and-out and the Hilltopper offense took over at the Walsh 35 when the visitors were flagged for a personal foul during the punt return. The hosts were turned away empty-handed once more, being stopped for no gain on 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1 from the 26.
"I thought our defense played well," Waialae said. "We had two great opportunities to get right back in the game at the start of the second half and didn't take advantage of them. We have to be better in the red zone."
Walsh managed less than 100 yards of total offense in the second half but took advantage of two more Hilltopper miscues – a fumbled punt snap and a muffed punt – to open up a 27-0 lead in the fourth quarter. Redshirt freshman Jamie Diven replaced Allison for the game's final series, capping a 97-yard, 11-play drive with a 3-yard TD strike to T.J. Griffin with 25 seconds remaining.
Allison completed 17-of-34 passes for 142 yards with one interception while Diven was 6-for-10 through the air in the waning minutes for 80 yards and the score. Robinson led the WLU receiving corps with 7 catches for 70 yards while Tyler Moler was the leading rusher with 30 yards on 10 carries.
The loss of All-MEC tailback Quincy Wimbish to a leg injury during the final week of the preseason clearly took its toll on the WLU offense. After averaging nearly 200 rushing yards a game in the final three games of the spring with Wimbish getting the bulk of the carries, West Liberty finished Thursday's season opener with a net rushing total of minus-3 yards on 32 carries.
"Losing a back of Quincy's caliber that late in camp is a challenge," Waialae said. "He's one of those rare backs that's a total package and now you're trying to mix and match with guys who are stronger in some areas than others. As a coach, have to figure out how we need to distribute the ball differently to accomplish what we want to accomplish. We may need to attack different areas or attack the same areas in different ways but that's definitely one of the things we'll be looking at going forward."
West Liberty opens Mountain East Conference play on the road Sept. 11 with a 1 p.m. kickoff at Alderson Broaddus.
Drake 45, West Virginia Wesleyan 3 | Final Stats
DES MOINES, Iowa -- The West Virginia Wesleyan (0-1) football team fell in the season opener at Drake (1-0) by a final score of 45-3 at Drake Stadium on Thursday (Sept. 2).
Dariuse Cooper hauled in three catches for 52 yards. Shaq Freeman-Parks had a 32-yard reception. Cameron Lomax recorded a team-high 11 total tackles. Darius Broach and Renard Matthews each made a tackle for loss.
Cross Robinson ran the ball 13 times for 100 yards and one touchdown. Colin Howard has two receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown. Ian Corwin picked up a pair of rushing touchdowns.
Drake scored on its first drive of the season as Caden Meis rumbled in from one yard away at the 10:16 mark of the first quarter. The Bulldogs went for it on fourth down and one from the goal line with 4:47 left as Ian Corwin dove in for the score. Drake led 21-0 after one quarter.
In the second quarter, Wesleyan put together a steady drive propelled by a pair of 12-yard runs by Mason Brubeck. The drive ended with 7:42 remaining in the first half when Alex Rogers intercepted WVWC quarterback Nathan Payne. Drake controlled a 35-0 halftime advantage.
The Bulldogs opened the second half with a 70-yard touchdown drive capped off by a nine-yard pass from Luke Bailey to Brandon Langdok.
Early in the fourth quarter, Payne connected twice with Cooper through the air. The Bobcats drove to the Drake four-yard line and Elkins, W.Va., native Liam Depp drilled his first collegiate field goal (21 yards).
The Bobcats head home to Buckhannon as UNC Pembroke will come to town for the Mountain East Conference Opener on Saturday (Sept. 11) at 12 p.m.