WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The frustrations continued for the West Liberty football team Saturday as an opportunistic Fairmont State squad took advantage of several crucial mistakes by the Hilltoppers and pulled away to a 41-12 victory before a disappointed home crowd at Russek Field.

Six of the Falcons' (3-1, 1-1) seven scores came on drives of 31 yards or less as turnovers and a struggling West Liberty (0-4, 0-2) offense presented the visitors with a number of short-field scoring chances.

Fairmont snapped a scoreless tie late in the first quarter when Garrett Davis picked off an L.D. Crow pass at the WLU 30 and ran it all the way back to the 3 before being tumbled out of bounds by Crow. Two snaps later, quarterback Logan Moore scrambled in from 8 yards out for a 7-0 Falcon lead.

West Liberty answered with a 4-play, 60-yard drive behind true freshman quarterback Ben Rogers. After a roughing-the-passer penalty kept the drive alive on third down, tailback Jimmy Burress scored on a 7-yard burst. The PAT was blocked, leaving the Hilltoppers on the short end of a 7-6 count.

A long kickoff return by Matt Wilmer set up a 21-yard scoring strike from Moore to Chris St. Hilaire, putting the visitors up 14-6 at the end of the first quarter.

The next big play came from the West Liberty special teams as Dominique Sherman broke through to block a Falcon punt and recovered the ball on the Fairmont 8.

Momentum swung decidedly in the visitors' favor when the Hilltoppers couldn't punch it in as the Falcons' Scott Davidson blocked a short field goal attempt and returned it 68 yards for a back-breaking touchdown.

Fairmont tacked on another touchdown – a 13-yard pass from Moore to Daniel Monroe – in the final minute of the first half to take a 28-6 lead into the locker room.

“It's pretty simple,” said WLU head coach Roger Waialae. “The points off turnovers are just killing us right now. We can't keep giving away that many points and expect to win football games.”

The West Liberty defense held the Falcons to just one field goal in the third quarter but the Hilltopper attack couldn't dent the scoreboard with only one first down during the quarter.

Another special teams play brought the home fans to their feet on the first snap of the fourth quarter when Lawrence Robinson blocked another Fairmont punt, scooped up the ball at the 5 and danced into the end zone.

That cut the lead to 31-12 but the Hilltoppers couldn't score again and the Falcons added another field goal and touchdown down the stretch to arrive at the final margin.

Despite the 41 points, Fairmont finished with just 284 yards of total offense. Moore completed 18-of-33 passes for 218 yards and 3 TDs with one interception but Monroe, who came into the game as the leading rusher in the WVIAC at 123.3 yards per game, was held to 29 rushing yards on 21 carries by the West Liberty defense. 

Unfortunately, the Hilltoppers were held to fewer than 200 total yards and negative rushing yardage for the second straight week. Crow and Rogers combined to complete 17-of-44 passes for 163 yards with 2 interceptions. Brandon Schroeder led the receiving corps with 4 catches for 57 yards. West Liberty finished with a net of minus-8 rushing yards on 18 carries.

“The turnovers and mistakes are killing us right now but it's not just one player, it's a combination of things,” Waialae said. “This is still a team game. If you want to point fingers at someone, point them at me.

“The pieces haven't come together as well or as quickly as we expected but the talent level is there. I believe in my guys. It's extremely frustrating right now but the only way to get through this is by sticking together. We've simplified some things as a staff and we're going to keep working on eliminating the mistakes. This season is a long way from being over.”

The Hilltoppers travel to Glenville State this week. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Saturday.

Fairmont State 41

West Liberty 12

Fairmont State 14  14  3  10 – 41

West Liberty  6     0  0    6 – 12

First Quarter

FSU: Moore 8 run (Keenan kick), 3:02

WLU: Burress 7 run (kick blocked), 1:07

FSU: St. Hilaire 21 pass from Moore (Keenan kick), :36

Second Quarter

FSU: Davidson 68 blocked FG return (Keenan kick), 6:02

FSU: Monroe 13 pass from Moore (Keenan kick), :48

Third Quarter

FSU: FG Keenan 44, 7:14

Fourth Quarter

WL: L.Robinson 5 blocked punt return (run failed), 14:53

FSU: FG Keenan 46, 7:16

FSU: Wilmer 26 pass from Moore (Keenan kick), 5:36

A-966

Game Statistics

RUSHING: Fairmont St. 38-66, Monroe 21-29; Moore 9-20; Griffin 4-16; Reed 1-4; Orange 1-1; Team 2-(-4). West Liberty 18-(-8), Davis 5-10; Victorio 3-4; Jimmy Burress 5-4; Rogers 1-(-5); Crow 4-(-21).

PASSING: Fairmont St. 18-33-218-1 (all by Moore). West Liberty 17-44-163-2 (Crow 11-31-106-2; Rogers 6-13-57-0).

RECEIVING: Fairmont St. 18-218, St. Hilaire 4-75; Wilmer 4-52; Lodge 3-33; Orange 2-27; Monroe 2-12; Taylor 2-12; Reed 1-7. West Liberty 17-163, Schroeder 4-57; Tucci 3-18; Victorio 3-16; Devers 3-13; Carver 2-48; Burress 1-7; Brown 1-4.

First downs: Fairmont State 15, West Liberty 9

Fumbles: Fairmont State 3-1, West Liberty 3-1

Penalties: Fairmont State 6-63, West Liberty 7-47

Time of Possession: Fairmont State 35:53, West Liberty 24:07