ETTRICK, Va. – The West Liberty University football team held off Virginia State, 14-13, here Saturday afternoon in a nailbiter at sweltering Rogers Stadium.

L.D. Crow completed 23-of-32 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown, Kenjay Trueblood carried 23 times for a game-high 79 yards and the Hilltoppers (1-1) took advantage of nearly a 10-minute edge in time of possession to squeeze past the Trojans (0-2) in the non-conference matchup.

Crow's 5-yard scoring strike to All-WVIAC wide receiver Brandon Schroeder put the visitors ahead to stay, 14-7, but it was defense and special teams that shined brightest for WLU coming down the stretch.

Midway through the fourth quarter, West Liberty was driving for what could have been the clinching score when a tough spot on a third down dive by Trueblood left the Hilltoppers facing fourth-and-one from the Trojan 41 with 8 minutes left in regulation.

Hoping to pin the hosts deep in their own territory, head coach Roger Waialae sent on the punt team but the “safe” decision backfired when an errant snap eluded the punter and gave the ball to VSU at the Hilltopper 35.

Three plays later, Trojan QB LaMonta Green fired a quick out to Jo'van Smallwood and the freshman wideout broke several tackles while tip-toeing down the right sideline for a 19-yard touchdown with 7:16 on the clock. West Liberty came hard after the PAT attempt, however, and deflected it wide to the left to preserve the 14-13 margin.

The WLU defense took over after that, snuffing out one Virginia State drive with a diving interception by Pierre Blake and holding the hosts without a first down on their final desperation possession of the game.

The Trojans jumped out to a quick lead when defensive back Sean Smith picked off a Hilltopper pass at the WLU 34 on the game's opening series. Starting QB Jarred Battle hit the speedy Smallwood on a post route from 23 yards out to give the hosts a 7-0 lead with 12 minutes left in the first quarter.

West Liberty drove inside the VSU 10 on its next two possessions but came away with nothing to show for it, losing a fumble at the Trojan 2 and misfiring on a 28-yard field goal try.

After an end zone interception by junior strong safety Marco Ricchetti halted the hosts' best scoring threat of the second quarter, the Hilltoppers finally got on the board.

Highlighted by a 38-yard pass from Crow to Schroeder, West Liberty marched 89 yards on 11 plays with Trueblood muscling in from 3 yards out to tie the game at 7-7 with just 1:04 left in the half.

Schroeder's go-ahead catch with 4:49 showing on the third quarter clock capped another lengthy drive, this one covering 73 yards on a dozen plays and setting the stage for the thrilling conclusion.

Schroeder led all receivers with 77 yards on 5 catches while Bo Whitney added 70 yards on 11 grabs and Dominic Cooper had 7 catches for 49 yards as West Liberty finished with 15 first downs and 249 yards of total offense.

Battle and junior QB LaMonta Green, who played the entire second half for VSU, combined to complete just 16-of-35 passes for 181 yards against the staunch Hilltopper defense, which held the Trojan running backs to just 79 rushing yards on 35 attempts.

Ricchetti and junior LB Marquis Bradley led the WLU defense. Bradley had 9 tackles, a sack, 1.5 tackles-for-loss and a pair of pass breakups. Ricchetti also finished with 9 tackles – 4 of them for losses – to go along with his interception and a pass breakup.

The Hilltoppers return to Russek Field on Saturday for their WVIAC opener against West Virginia Wesleyan. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

GAME NOTES

X The WLU Athletic Hall of Fame will induct its Class of 2012 at a morning brunch prior to next week's W.Va. Wesleyan game. The inductees will be introduced to the crowd at halftime

X The West Liberty defense hasn't given up a drive of more than 49 yards in its first two games

X The Hilltoppers were only penalized twice for a total of 10 yards on Saturday, giving them a total of 3 penalties for 15 yards this season

X Saturday's win snapped a four-game non-conference losing streak for West Liberty, dating back to a 49-35 win at Southern Connecticut State in 2010

West Liberty 14

Virginia State 13

West Liberty 0  7  7  0 – 14

Virginia State 7  0  0  6 – 13

First Quarter

VSU: Smallwood 23 pass from Battle (Hunt kick), 12:00

Second Quarter

WLU: Trueblood 3 run (Hoak kick), 1:04

Third Quarter

WLU: Schroeder 5 pass from Crow (Hoak kick), 4:49

Fourth Quarter

VSU: Smallwood 19 pass from Green (kick blocked), 7:16

A-n/a

Game Statistics

RUSHING: West Liberty 31-44; Trueblood 23-79, Cooper 1-5, Lagarde 1-(-2), Crow 5-(-14), Yocum 1-(-24). Virginia State 35-79; Green 8-33, Britt 8-24, Jones 7-18, Clark 5-3, Kellam 2-2, Hawks 4-0, Battle 1-(-1).

PASSING: West Liberty 26-37-205-1td-2x (Crow 23-32-167-1td-1x, Lagarde 3-5-38-0td-1x); Virginia State 16-35-181-2td-2x (Battle 10-23-135-1td-1x, Green 6-12-46-1td-1x)

RECEIVING: West Liberty 26-205; Schroeder 5-77, Whitney 11-70, Cooper 7-49, Devers 1-8, Trueblood 1-3, Stanley 1-(-2). Virginia State 16-181; Smallwood 5-71, Futch 4-58, Young 4-37, Clark 1-10, Kellam 1-9, Britt 1-(-4).

First downs: West Liberty 15, Virginia State 15

Fumbles: West Liberty 2-2, Virginia State 1-0

Penalties: West Liberty 2-10, Virginia State 2-31

Time of Possession: West Liberty 34:38, Virginia State 25:22