Football | 10/8/2011 6:08:00 PM

BOX SCORE  / GAME PHOTOS

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University football team struck “gold” Saturday afternoon with a come-from-behind 28-20 victory against West Virginia State before a delighted Homecoming crowd at Russek Field.
    Brandon Davis put the Hilltoppers ahead to stay with a 4-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter and Carl Hayles clinched it a few minutes later with a 92-yard touchdown return off a blocked field goal by Marco Ricchetti as West Liberty – sporting brand-new gold jerseys – notched its first win of the season.
    “The guys have wanted to wear those jerseys all year but I wouldn't let them,” said head coach Roger Waialae. “I made the decision on Friday because I thought we needed a spark but I didn't tell anybody. I had the managers put the gold jerseys in the lockers while the players were out for pre-game warmup. There was some pretty good emotion when they came back in and saw them hanging there.”
    The Hilltoppers (1-5, 1-3) drew first blood when a short Yellowjackets (1-4, 1-2) punt rolled to a stop at the WLU 39. L.D. Crow capped a 9-play drive with a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a 7-0 lead at 5:36 of the first quarter.
    State quarterback Ricky Phillips put the visitors on top, 13-7, with back-to-back touchdown passes early in the second quarter and was on the verge of taking that lead into the locker room when lightning struck from a clear blue sky.
    Facing a 4th-and-10 from the Yellowjacket 44, Crow lobbed a “Hail Mary” into the end zone as time ran out in the first half.
    Wide receiver Marvin Murray got a hand on the ball amidst a crowd of defenders, deflecting it to a hustling Hakeem Cartwright just inside the back line of the end zone for the score and a 14-13 West Liberty lead at the half.
    Not many balls were bouncing the Hilltoppers' way during their season-opening 5-game losing streak but Waialae was quick to note that it wasn't the flashy new jerseys or a few lucky bounces that finally removed the zero from the WLU win column.
    “This was a character win,” Waialae said. “It's easy for an 0-5 team to divide and start pointing fingers when things don't go your way but our guys just seemed to draw closer and closer together. We had some adversity again today but we stuck together and came through it as a team. I'm really happy to see them rewarded for that with a win.”
    State refused to fold, taking the second half kickoff and rolling 52 yards in 4 plays to re-take the lead on a 30-yard pass from Phillips to Ervin Kent.
    Following a defensive stop, the visitors mounted another drive deep into West Liberty territory only to be turned away when Alec Wood came up with a diving interception in the end zone.
    Cartwright – who has been limited by injury for much of the season – provided another spark late in the third quarter with a 25-yard punt return to the State 40.
    “We have to use Hakeem in spots but you can see how dynamic he is,” Waialae said. “When he's healthy, he can make things happen on a football field.”
    That set up a methodical 11-play, 40-yard scoring march which carried over into the fourth quarter before Davis turned the corner on a sweep to the left and darted into the end zone. Jeff Hoak's PAT put the hosts on top, 21-20.
    After an exchange of punts, the Yellowjackets put together a lengthy march from their own 8-yard-line to a 1st-and-goal at the WLU 8.
    The Hilltopper defense stiffened and State lined up for a 20-yard field goal attempt. Ricchetti broke through from the right side for the block and the ball bounced right up to Hayles. The speedy defensive back won the footrace to the end zone for what proved to be the clinching score.
    Crow completed 25-of-41 passes for 271 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Brandon Schroeder was the leading receiver with 7 catches for 56 yards while Davis rushed for 80 yards on 15 carries.
    Phillips completed 18-of-41 passes for 313 yards and 3 touchdowns with 1 interception. Landon Johnson led all receivers with 4 catches for 113 yards but tailback Fabian Payne, who was coming off back-to-back 100-yard rushing games, was held to just 33 yards on 14 carries.
    “Every win is a big win,” Waialae said, “because winning is an attitude. You have to learn how to win. You have to learn how to handle adversity. You have to learn how to make big plays under pressure. We showed today that when we do that, we can be a pretty good football team.”
GAME NOTES
    X The 28 points, 116 rushing yards and 371 total yards were all West Liberty season highs
    X This was just the fourth game the Hilltoppers have won when trailing at the start of the fourth quarter during Roger Waialae's seven years at the helm
    X Waialae is now 6-1 against West Virginia State
    X Nick Evans and Roxanne Brake were crowned as Homecoming King and Queen, respectively, during halftime
    X West Liberty heads to Shepherdstown this week for a noon kickoff at Shepherd

West Liberty 28
W.Va. State 20
W.Va. State    0  13  7    0 – 20
West Liberty    7    7  0  14 – 28
First Quarter
    WLU: Crow 1 run (Hoak kick), 5:36
Second Quarter
    WVS: J.Johnson 4 pass from Phillips (kick failed), 12:28
    WVS: L.Johnson 56 pass from Phillips (Wissler kick), 9:42
    WLU: Cartwright 44 pass from Crow (Hoak kick), :00
Third Quarter
    WVS: Kent 30 pass from Phillips (Wissler kick), 13:19
Fourth Quarter
    WLU: Davis 4 run (Hoak kick), 13:37
    WLU: Hayles 92 blocked field goal return (Hoak kick), 5:41
A-1,202
Game Statistics
    RUSHING: W.Va. State 31-92, Payne 14-33, L.Phillips 8-27, Shannon 1-24, R.Phillips 8-8. West Liberty 37-116, Davis 15-80, Burress 12-24, Crow 6-12, Victorio 2-3, Adams 1-(-1), Team 1-(-2).
    PASSING: W.Va. State 18-42-313-3td-1x (R.Phillips 18-41-313-3td-1x, J.Johnson 0-1-0-0-0x). West Liberty 25-42-271-1td-1x (Crow 25-41-271-1td-1x, Rogers 0-1-0-0-0x).
    RECEIVING: W.Va. State 18-313, J.Johnson 7-93, Kent 5-91, L.Johnson 4-113, Ortiz 2-16. West Liberty 25-271, Schroeder 7-56, Tucci 4-25, M.Brown 3-54, Murray 3-23, Burress 2-33, Phillips 2-25, Carver 2-15, Cartwright 1-44, Victorio 1-(-4).
First downs: W.Va. State 18, West Liberty 20
Fumbles: W.Va. State 1-0, West Liberty 2-1
Penalties: W.Va. State 7-54, West Liberty 5-74
Time of Possession: W.Va. State 27:32, West Liberty 32:28