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D2Football.com Staff
Last Week's Games
West Liberty 48, Charleston 42
The great showdown of the 2009 conference
season lived up to the hype as West Liberty slipped by Charleston 48-42 in
double-overtime to take over first place in the WVIAC and the region. Both Zach
Amedro and DaRante Hunter showed why they are legitimate All-American
candidates, but in the end Amedro made one more big play. His scrambling, Tecmo
Bowl-like touchdown pass on fourth down in the first overtime to Kashif Walls
might be the defining play of the 2009 WVIAC season. Amedro passed for 333 yards
and four touchdowns, while Hunter rushed for 98 yards and threw for 144 yards as
he led his team back from a 21-0 first half deficit. Kevon Calhoun, who plunged
over for the game-winning touchdown in the second overtime, rushed for two
scores and 133 yards for the Hilltoppers.
Shepherd 55, West Virginia State 14
Same song, another chorus as Shepherd ran their
win streak against West Virginia State to 29 games. The last time that the
Jackets bounced the Rams, Jimmy Carter was the president, disco ruled the
airwaves, and many of the players on today's rosters were a decade away from
being born. Shepherd did their damage in the run game as Nate Hoyte rushed for
145 yards, Tommy Addison gained 104 before being injured, and Jimmy Sutch picked
up 96. The Rams owned a 374-38 edge on the ground. The bright spot for West
Virginia State was Kevin O'Brien's return from injury. The senior hit on 14 of
19 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns, both to Jermaine King.
Glenville State 54, West Virginia Wesleyan
30
Glenville State owned the early and late parts
of the game to whip Wesleyan 54-30 in a contest of wild swings. GSC got three
touchdown passes from James McCants in the first 17 minutes of the game to go up
28-0, only to see the Bobcats roar back to get within 33-23 early in the final
quarter after Adam Neugebauer's third touchdown pass of the day. GSC then
exploded for three touchdowns in the final 6:38 to play to put the game on ice
and build a three-game win streak. Glenville spread the wealth as nine different
rushers combined for 288 yards on the ground. Neugebauer completed 19 of 35
passes for 210 yards in his first start for Wesleyan.
Fairmont State 34, Seton Hill 13
Fairmont State took control with 34 unanswered
points after falling behind 6-0 at Seton Hill. This contest was the Griffins'
season in a nutshell with a good start, but things went south in a hurry for SHU.
Quarterback D.J. Lenehan, who had thrown for a combined 925 yards in the
previous two weeks, went down to injury after leading scoring drives that led to
Steve Padilla field goals. It was all FSU from that point as J.J. Mayer was an
efficient 12 for 17 with a career-best 198 yards passing and Doug Brazill rushed
for 80 yards and two scores. Omoniyi Bakare added 79 yards on only nine carries
for the Falcons.
UNC Pembroke 27, Concord 9
Number 21 UNC Pembroke used the 1-2 punch of
Rashon Kennedy and Travis Daniels to grind out a win at Concord. Kennedy rushed
for 112 yards and Daniels added 95 as the Braves piled up 264 rush yards.
Concord's Brian Kennedy had another strong game with 107 yards, but the Mountain
Lions only received 23 yards on 13 carries out of the remainder of their rushing
attack. CU pulled within 14-9 in the middle of the third quarter on Steven
Hearon's 7-yard touchdown pass to Rashid Baker, but the Braves pulled away with
a short Daniels touchdown run and field goals of 24 and 42 yards by Taylor
Baskett.
This Week's Games
Glenville (5-4, 4-2) at #19 Charleston (8-1,
5-1)
All eyes are on Laidley Field for a second
straight week when Charleston tries to keep their playoff hopes alive versus
defending WVIAC champion Glenville State. The Golden Eagles face a must-win in
this one, but it won't be easy against a Pioneer squad that has a 5-2 record
versus Division II teams. Last season, West Liberty rallied for an October
victory versus Shepherd after trailing by 21 points. That win propelled the
Hilltoppers to play the spoiler's role in ruining Charleston and Seton Hill's
league title hopes. This season, Glenville has been on a roll since coming from
27-0 down to edge Concord 28-27. Are the Pioneers this year's spoiler? GSC won't
be able to stop DaRante Hunter and UC option attack, but look for quarterback
James McCants to make just enough plays to wide receivers Xavier Glenn and James
McDonald to pull off the mild upset.
Prediction: Glenville State 34, Charleston 30
Watchability: 4 1/2 (5=The Ritz-Carlton, 1=Motel Six)
Seton Hill (1-8, 0-7) at #22 West Liberty
(8-1, 6-0)
Seton Hill would love to wreck West Liberty's
dream of hosting Northeast Region playoff games at Russek Field after the
Toppers kept them from a share of the WVIAC title in 2008, but it's not in the
cards for the short-handed Griffins. Quarterback Nick Monteleone has been
effective at times for Seton Hill, but the well-rounded Topper attack is hitting
on all cylinders. Look for Kevon Calhoun to gain another 100 yards and for Ryan
Travis, Kashif Walls, and Eddie Hills to be on the receiving end of many Zach
Amedro passes. It won't be the 70-43 shootout of two years ago between these
teams, but the scoreboard operator will be busy with most of the points on the
home side of the board.
Prediction: West Liberty 52, Seton Hill 27
Watchability: 2 1/2 (5=Bugs Bunny, 1=The Smurfs)
Concord (5-4, 3-3) at Fairmont (3-6, 3-3)
There won't be a lot of surprises in this one
as former colleagues face each other for the first time as head coaches. Concord
head coach Mike Kellar is hoping to lead his team to the school's first winning
record since 1998. Fairmont State's Mike Lopez looks to finish the season strong
after battling a tough schedule early. FSU looks to have the edge on defense and
quarterback J.J. Mayer is becoming more effective with each week, but Concord
has too many playmakers for the Falcons. A long play by Brian Kennedy or Thomas
Mayo will make the difference in what might be the most competitive game of the
weekend.
Prediction: Concord 27, Fairmont State 20
Watchability: 4 (5=Phillies/Yankees in October, 1=Pirates/Nationals in April)
WV State (2-6, 1-5) at WV Wesleyan (1-7,
1-5)
This week's official WVIAC preview describes
this as one of the league's most tightly contested series with seven games
decided by a touchdown or less in the past ten years. Saturday's game at
Buckhannon should be no different as these appear to be two evenly matched
teams. This one could come to down to which injury-plagued senior has a bigger
day State's Kevin O'Brien or Wesleyan's Reggie Taylor? The gut feeling here is
that Wesleyan all-conference candidate Derek Moore is responsible for a key kick
or two.
Prediction: Wesleyan 16, State 14
Watchability: 2 1/2 (5=Caddyshack, 1=Caddyshack II)
National Television Reminder
A reminder that next Thursday's Shepherd at
Glenville State contest will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports at
8:00 p.m. CBS College Sports is channel 152 on Dish Network and channel 613 on
DirecTV. Fox Sports Net South, Metro Sports, Cox Sports New England are other
regional networks that will be carrying the contest on a live basis. It will be
rebroadcast at 10:30 p.m. on Fox Sports Pittsburgh.
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