Football | 10/1/2010 12:12:25 AM

BOX SCORE
GAME PHOTOS
FAIRMONT, W.Va. – West Liberty senior quarterback Zach Amedro became the leading passer in West Virginia Conference history and went over the 12,000-yard mark for his career here Thursday night as West Liberty raced away to a nationally-televised 43-23 victory against Fairmont State.

Amedro completed 26-of-39 passes for 373 yards and a pair of touchdowns while guiding a Hilltopper attack which racked up 43 points and nearly 600 yards of total offense against a Falcon squad which came into the game as the WVIAC's No. 1-ranked defense, allowing just 13.0 ppg.

The 24th 300-yard passing game of Amedro's career pushed his career total to 12,073 yards, eclipsing the previous WVIAC record of 11,883 set by Glenville State's Joey Conrad and vaulting the senior signalcaller all the way to No. 4 on the all-time NCAA Division II passing list.

Playing before a national TV audience on the CBS College Sports Network, West Liberty (2-2, 1-1) was far from a one-man show Thursday night as two more of the Hilltoppers' senior standouts proved more than ready for their prime-time debuts at Fairmont State (2-3, 0-3).

Tight end Ryan Travis – the nation's leading receiver – hauled in 13 passes for a career-high 214 yards and a touchdown while tailback Kevon Calhoun – the WVIAC's leading rusher – rambled for 185 yards and three TDs on 24 carries.

Nevertheless, it was a strong second-half performance by an aroused West Liberty defense which enabled the Hilltoppers to break open a close game and win going away.

After putting up nearly 200 yards of total offense in the first half, Fairmont opened the second half with a short march to set up a 41-yard field goal by Frank Keenan.

That cut the West Liberty lead to 17-16 with 10:46 still showing on the third quarter clock but a long kickoff return by DeVaughn Gordon set up an answering 14-yard TD run from Calhoun – his third of the game – and the Hilltopper defense slammed the door the rest of the way.

The Falcons were held to just 22 yards of total offense and one first down for the remainder of the evening as West Liberty reeled off four straight touchdowns to take a 43-16 lead with just 3:20 remaining. A long kickoff return and a penalty set up a consolation score for the hosts with just 36 seconds remaining.

Fairmont quarterback Logan Moore completed 11-of-33 passes for 163 yards while Patrick Pinchinat was the Falcons' leading rusher with 40 yards on 10 carries as Fairmont finished with just 250 yards of total offense compared to 580 for the Hilltoppers.

It was the sixth straight win for West Liberty in the series with the Falcons and the sixth consecutive year the Hilltoppers have held Fairmont State under 300 yards of total offense.

West Liberty returns home to host Glenville State on Saturday, Oct. 9. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Russek Field.

West Liberty 43, Fairmont State 23
West Liberty    10    7 13  13–43
Fairmont State      3  10   3    7–23
First Quarter
    WL-FG Blewett 23, 10:55
    FS-FG Keenan 27, 5:13
    WL-Calhoun 13 run (Blewett kick), 2:59
Second Quarter
    FS-FG Keenan 34, 11:51
    FS-Brazill 14 pass from Moore (Keenan kick), 2:14
    WL-Calhoun 11 run (Blewett kick), 1:17
Third Quarter
    FS-FG Keenan 41, 10:46
    WL-Calhoun 14 run (kick failed), 9:35
    WL-Travis 41 pass from Amedro (Blewett kick), 1:03
Fourth Quarter
    WL-Schroeder 15 pass from Amedro (Blewett kick), 11:04
    WL-Gordon 4 run (kick blocked), 3:20
    FS-Baker 6 pass from Bradford (Keenan kick), :36
A-6,436
Game Statistics
    RUSHING: West Liberty 31-201; Calhoun 24-185; Gordon 2-7; Amedro 1-5; Carver 1-5; Bell 2-0. Fairmont State 35-80; Pinchinat 10-40; Victorio 6-19; Bradford 2-9; Moore 10-8; Brazill 4-4; Reed 2-0; Baker 1-0.
    PASSING: West Liberty 27-41-379-2td-2x; Amedro 26-39-373-2td-1x; Travis 1-1-6-0-0; Calhoun 0-1-0-0-1x. Fairmont State 12-34-170-2td-1x; Moore 11-33-163-1td-1x; Bradford 1-1-7-1td-0x.
    RECEIVING: West Liberty 27-379; Travis 13-214; Walker 4-38; Ferguson 4-27; Carver 3-77; Calhoun 2-8; Schroeder 1-15. Fairmont State 12-170; Eitson 4-49; Baker 3-28; Wilmer 1-42; Victorio 1-18; Brazill 1-15; St.Hilaire 1-10; Pinchinat 1-8
    First downs: West Liberty 27, Fairmont State 14
    Fumbles: West Liberty 1-1, Fairmont State 2-1
    Penalties: West Liberty 10-95, Fairmont State 10-95
    Time of Possession: West Liberty 28:04, Fairmont State 31:56