Football | 10/18/2013 8:08:00 AM
WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Every game is a big game for West Liberty University head football coach Roger Waialae and this weekend's Mountain East Conference showdown with Urbana is certainly no exception.
Waialae's Hilltoppers (3-3, 3-1) will welcome the high-powered Blue Knights (4-2, 4-1) to what figures to be a raucous Russek Field on Saturday afternoon. Kickoff for West Liberty's annual Homecoming game is set for 1 p.m.
"We take things one game at a time in this program so our biggest game is always the next game on our schedule," Waialae said. "That being said, our guys know this week's game has a little more to it with it being played on Homecoming and the impact it can have on the conference standings."
While there's still a lot of football to be played, the rest of the MEC will be paying close attention to what happens on the hilltop Saturday afternoon. Shepherd (6-0, 5-0) is the only MEC team without a conference loss while West Liberty and Urbana are two of the four teams – Concord (4-2, 3-1) and Charleston (3-3, 3-1) – with only one loss in league play.
The schedule also seems to favor whichever team prevails at Russek Field on Saturday.
The Blue Knights have already split with Shepherd and Concord and get Charleston at home in the regular-season finale. Concord dealt WLU its only conference loss but the Hilltoppers don't play Shepherd this season and also get Charleston at home on Oct. 31 in the first night game at Russek Field.
West Liberty is looking to build on the momentum from last week's 27-21 win at Fairmont State. The Hilltoppers broke a 14-14 halftime tie with 13 unanswered points in a dominating second half performance before a late Falcon score made the final margin a bit more respectable.
The West Liberty defense held Fairmont to just 4 yards of total offense in the third quarter and finished with 3 interceptions, 5 quarterback sacks and 13 tackles-for-loss. The Hilltopper offense collected its first two rushing TDs of the season, added a pair of long field goals off the foot of sophomore PK Bryan Arbes and put the game away midway through the fourth quarter with a 5-yard TD pass from Dylan Lagarde to a leaping Dylan Potts.
"We had a running play called on that touchdown pass," Waialae said, "but Dylan saw Potts had 1-on-1 coverage when he came up to the line of scrimmage so he checked out of the run and took what the defense was giving him. That's exactly what we're looking for from our quarterback."
The Hilltopper defense, ranked at or near the top of the national charts in several statistical categories, will get a stiff test on Saturday as Urbana senior QB D.J. Mendenhall is the nation's fifth-leading passer, having completed 153-of-259 passes for 2,052 yards and 20 TDs with 8 interceptions.
A 4-year regular, Mendenhall is on pace to become the 29th 10,000-yard passer in NCAA Division II history and isn't afraid to air it out. In last week's 22-10 victory against Concord, Mendenhall opened the first half with a 75-yard TD pass and hit a 98-yard scoring strike on his first snap of the second half.
"Not only is D.J. one of the best quarterbacks we've faced since I've been here," Waialae said, "he has a lot of talent around him. We have a lot of guys playing at a very high level on defense right now but this will be a big challenge."
No less than eight Blue Knights have caught passes of 22 yards or longer but senior WR Joe Webb is Mendenhall's favorite target. Webb – who has already surpassed the 3,000-yard career receiving mark – leads the MEC with 42 catches for 676 yards and 7 TDs.
David Hill is Urbana's feature back with 467 yards and 4 TDs on 108 carries but Webb also gets reps in the backfield, averaging nearly 7 yards a carry, while Mendenhall has rushed for more than 1,600 yards in his career.
"We did a good job of getting to Fairmont's quarterback in the second half last week and we have to be able to get pressure on D.J. or he'll just sit back there and pick us apart," Waialae said. "We have to be physical on defense and not just up front. We need our defensive backs to get some bumps on the receivers and disrupt their timing, which will give us more time to make D.J. uncomfortable in the pocket.
"Our goal at the start of every season is to put ourselves in position to be playing games that mean something late in the season. Now that we've given ourselves the opportunity, it's up to us to take advantage of it."
GAME NOTES
X West Liberty has won its last five Homecoming game – including last season's thrilling 17-16 upset of No. 25 Shepherd
X Hilltopper cornerback Rod White's four interceptions are tied for No. 3 nationally
X Two West Liberty football players – wide receiver Dylan Potts and punter Griffin Yocum – are Homecoming King candidates and members of the 2013 Homecoming Court
X WLU sophomore PK Bryan Arbes leads the MEC and ranks No. 4 nationally with 10 field goals
X Billy Hager set West Liberty's single-season record with 14 field goals in 2007
