Football | 11/15/2014 4:00:00 PM
Box Score SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – A gallant comeback came up just short for the West Liberty University football team here Saturday as host Notre Dame (Ohio) held on for a 33-27 win in their battle for third place in the final Mountain East Conference standings at frigid Mueller Field.
Turnover woes ultimately proved too much to overcome for Coach Roger Waialae's hard-luck Hilltoppers (6-5, 6-4) as a fumble and an interception in WLU territory helped the Falcons (7-4, 7-3) an early 21-0 lead. After battling back to close the deficit to 24-17 midway through the third quarter, West Liberty QB Dakota Conwell appeared to have plunged into the end zone for the tying touchdown but was ruled to have had the ball stripped at the goal line with Notre Dame recovering in the end zone for a touchback. The Falcons' Kyle Kaplan capped the ensuing drive with a 40-yard field goal that pushed the count to 27-17 heading into the fourth quarter.
Conwell led West Liberty back downfield and scrambled into the end zone from 14 yards out to pull WLU within a field goal, 27-24, with 13:06 remaining.
Notre Dame QB Ray Russ answered with his fourth TD pass of the day – and 36th of the season – to WR C.J. Germany but West Liberty's Darnell Vickers blocked the PAT to keep the score at 33-24. The Hilltoppers drove back down inside the Falcon 5 but settled for a 21-yard field goal off the foot of Josh Wilson with just over 6 minutes to go. The West Liberty defense forced a Notre Dame punt near midfield but the ball rolled out of bounds at the WLU 7, putting the offense in a hole with 4:31 to play. The Hilltoppers picked up a couple of first downs but the drive stalled at the West Liberty 30 with 2:57 remaining and the hosts were able to run out the clock.
Conwell completed 19-of-40 passes for 235 yards with a touchdown and an interception while picking up 54 rushing yards on 13 carries. Isiah Moody ran for 55 yards and a TD and had 2 catches for 22 yards and another score. Daree Goodwin caught 5 passes for 84 yards while Brandon Schroeder added 4 grabs for 69 yards. Marco Ricchetti and Alec Wood paced the defense. Ricchetti had 13 tackles, 2 pass breakups, an interception, a fumble recovery and a tackle-for-loss while Wood was charted with 11 tackles and a tackle-for-loss. Russ completed 28-of-49 passes for 303 yards with 4 TDs and one interception while TB Alec Torgerson ran for 161 yards on 31 carries. Germany caught 5 passes for 90 yards and a pair of TDs.
Notre Dame (OH) 33, West Liberty 27
West Liberty 0 17 0 10 – 27
Notre Dame 14 7 6 6 – 33
First Quarter
NDC: Shegos 9 pass from Russ (Kaplan kick), 9:07
NDC: Germany 10 pass from Russ (Kaplan kick), 4:28
Second Quarter
NDC: Smith 17 pass from Russ (Kaplan kick), 11:50
WLU: FG Wilson 25, 10:35
WLU: Moody 3 run (Wilson kick), 5:27
WLU: Moody 6 pass from Conwell (Wilson kick), :30
Third Quarter
NDC: FG Kaplan 21, 9:22
NDC: FG Kaplan 40, 2:40
Fourth Quarter
WLU: Conwell 14 run (Wilson kick), 13:06
NDC: Germany 14 pass from Russ (kick blocked), 10:00
WLU: FG Wilson 21, 6:09
Game Statistics
RUSHING: West Liberty 42-145; Isiah Moody 22-55; Dakota Conwell 13-54; R.J. Thomas 7-36. Notre Dame 36-169; Alec Torgerson 31-161; Emmanuel Smith 1-6; Ray Russ 4-2. PASSING: West Liberty 19-40-235-1td-1x (all by Dakota Conwell); Notre Dame 28-49-303-4td-1x (all by Ray Russ) First Downs: West Liberty 23, Notre Dame 24
Fumbles: West Liberty 2-2, Notre Dame 1-1
Penalties: West Liberty 5-39, Notre Dame 15-107
Time of Possession: West Liberty 29:28; Notre Dame 30:32
