BOX SCORE

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Brian Kennedy's 4-yard touchdown run with just 1:13 remaining lifted Concord to a 32-29 victory against upset-minded West Liberty Saturday afternoon in the Hilltoppers' final home game of the season at Russek Field.

West Liberty's 2-minute offense tried to answer, driving well into Mountain Lion territory only to see Concord (6-3, 6-1) linebacker Jeff Greenway come up with a game-saving interception at the Mountain Lion 30 with 34 seconds remaining.

It was the fifth interception and sixth turnover of the day for the hard-luck Hilltoppers (1-9, 1-7), who racked up more yards and scored more points against the WVIAC's No. 1-ranked defense than any team this season only to come away without a victory.

“Blown opportunities,” head coach Roger Waialae said. “That's been the story of our season. We give away too many easy points and don't take advantage of our own opportunities. We had three turnovers on their side of the 50, missed two field goals and didn't convert a pair of extra points. That's a lot of points to leave on the field.”

Oddly enough, West Liberty scored the only offensive touchdown of the first half – a 5-yard run by Brandon Davis at 9:33 of the second quarter – but still found itself on the short end of a 21-14 count at intermission.

Concord had drawn first blood when linebacker Ethan Perry grabbed a pitch by Hilltopper freshman QB Ben Rogers in the backfield and walked into the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown return.

West Liberty evened the count two minutes later when defensive back Alec Wood scooped up a Kennedy fumble and sprinted 74 yards for a Hilltopper TD but back-to-back interception returns for scores by Greenway and fellow LB Zach Gibbins had given the visitors a 21-7 lead before Davis trimmed the margin to seven points with his TD burst.

With Saturday's three return TDs, West Liberty opponents have now scored 10 times this season – 8 touchdown returns and 2 safeties – when the WLU defense was on the sidelines.

“We just give up too many points when our defense isn't on the field,” Waialae said. “That's a good football team but our defense held them to a touchdown and a field goal today. They scored 21 points when our defense wasn't on the field and you just can't have that and win a football game. That's the bottom line.”

All but two snaps of the third quarter came in Concord territory but West Liberty managed only three points, settling for a 25-yard Jeff Hoak field goal when a long drive bogged down inside the Mountain Lion 10. Another long march ended in an interception at the CU 24.

John Scritchfield's 27-yard field goal restored the Mountain Lions' 7-point lead at 24-17 in the first minute of the fourth quarter but the Hilltoppers were far from finished.

Quarterback L.D. Crow fired touchdown passes of 8 yards and 41 yards to WR Brandon Schroeder to put West Liberty on top with less than 7 minutes remaining. The Hilltoppers' lead was just 29-24, however, as they failed to convert the PATs after both scores – a failure which would prove costly down the stretch.

The WLU defense dug in following Schroeder's go-ahead score but Concord methodically marched 64 yards in 13 plays – converting two third-downs and a fourth-down – to set up Kennedy's game-winning TD run.

West Liberty completed 33-of-49 passes for 374 yards and 2 TDs with Schroeder (12 catches for 180 yards) and fellow WR Tyler Tucci (12 catches for 114 yards) each setting career-highs.

The Hilltoppers finished with 24 first downs and 404 yards of total offense while holding Concord to just 14 first downs and 225 yards of total offense.

West Liberty closes out the season on the road next week with a Saturday afternoon game at UNC-Pembroke.

Concord 32

West Liberty 29

Concord 14  7  0  11 – 32

West Liberty  7  7  3  12 – 29

First Quarter

CU: Perry 8 fumble return (Scritchfield kick), 5:58

WLU: Wood 74 fumble return (Hoak kick), 3:54

CU: Gibbins 46 interception return (Scritchfield kick), 2:57

Second Quarter

CU: Greenway 80 interception return (Scritchfield kick), 13:27

WLU: Davis 5 run (Hoak kick), 9:33

Third Quarter

WLU: FG Hoak 25, 6:05

Fourth Quarter

CU: FG Scritchfield 27, 14:13

WLU: Schroeder 8 pass from Crow (kick blocked), 9:39

WLU: Schroeder 41 pass from Crow (kick failed), 6:54

CU: Kennedy 4 run (Hammett pass from Grossi), 1:13

A-891

Game Statistics

RUSHING: Concord 34-87, Kennedy 21-67, Rodriguez 8-43, Team 1-(-2), Grossi 4-(-21). West Liberty 28-30, Davis 17-41, Burress 6-4, Crow 3-(-2), Rogers 2-(-13)

PASSING: Concord 13-21-138-0td-1x (all by Grossi). West Liberty 33-49-374-2td-5x (Crow 28-43-316-2td-4x, Rogers 5-6-58-0td-1x)

RECEIVING: Concord 13-138, Keating 3-55, Stewart 3-31, Picard 3-4, Baker 1-14, Rodriguez 1-6, Hammett 1-6, Kennedy 1-2. West Liberty 33-374, Schroeder 12-185, Tucci 12-114, Carver 6-53, Davis 1-9, Devers 1-8, Brown 1-5

First downs: Concord 14, West Liberty 24

Fumbles: Concord 4-2, West Liberty 2-1

Penalties: Concord 7-52, West Liberty 9-120

Time of Possession: Concord 25:11, West Liberty 34:49