The West Liberty University football team will be looking to wrap things up on a high note on Saturday when the Black and Gold heads south to take on West Virginia State in a mutual season finale.

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Lakin Field.

Both teams are coming off disappointing setbacks as Coach Roger Waialae's injury-riddled Hilltoppers (4-6, 4-5) ran out of gas in a 41-14 home loss to regionally-ranked Glenville State last Thursday while the Yellow Jackets (5-5, 5-4) gave up 52 unanswered points in a 52-7 loss at Concord on Saturday.

West Liberty had been climbing steadily up the Mountain East Conference ladder until mid-October when a rash of injuries decimated the Hilltoppers' offensive line.

None of the five offensive line starters in the Glenville game were at the same spot they had been the previous week. In fact, two of them – freshman guard Austin Whipkey and converted defensive tackle Marquee Johnson – were making their first collegiate starts.

"The offensive line was the strength of our team but you can't lose eight guys to injury and not expect it to have an impact," Waialae said after seeing his team held under 250 yards of total offense by the Pioneers. "Nobody is going to feel sorry for us, though. As a coaching staff, we have to find a way to get something going on offense with the personnel we have available."

Despite the Hilltoppers' injury woes, several players have been putting up some impressive numbers this fall.

Senior TE Daree Goodwin leads all MEC receivers with 11 touchdown catches. With 874 yards on 54 catches, he's 126 yards away from posting only the 11th 1,000-yard receiving season in school history.

Junior QB Dakota Conwell ranks No. 2 in the league with 2,566 yards of total offense and is less than 100 yards away from finishing with one of the top four single-season totals ever at West Liberty. 

Conwell also has a strong track record against the Yellow Jackets, having thrown three TD passes and rushed for more than 100 yards in last year's 38-16 Hilltopper blowout.

West Liberty has dominated the series against West Virginia State in recent years. The Hilltoppers have won six straight and 14 of the last 16 but head coach Jon Anderson appears to have the Yellow Jacket program in the midst of a remarkable turnaround.

State had won just two of its last 28 games coming into this season but Anderson – now in his third year at the helm – has the Yellow Jackets on the verge of their first winning season since 2008.

Sophomore QB Matt Kinnick has led the way for the Institute-based squad. A former all-stater at St. Clairsville (Ohio) High School, Kinnick leads all MEC signalcallers in passing yards (2,731), completions (224) and attempts (378) this season.

That figures to present quite a challenge for a WLU secondary that has yielded nearly 310 passing yards a game this fall in the pass-happy MEC. Hilltopper opponents have completed 252-of-388 passes for 3,088 yards and 27 TDs with just 7 interceptions.

"We need to do a better job of making plays on the ball," Waialae said. "When we're in position to break up a pass or pick it off, those are battles we have to win. This is a team game. We need to get our defense off the field and create some positive field position for our offense."

GAME NOTES

X West Liberty is looking to finish at .500 or better in conference play for the ninth time in the last 11 seasons under Waialae

X Hilltopper freshman punter Christian Morris is averaging 41.5 yards per punt this fall, which would tie the school record set by Griffin Yocum in 2013

X State's Kinnick was a teammate of West Liberty OL Corey Ernest and LB Cole Stephen on a 2012 Ohio state runner-up team at St. Clairsville High School

X Coach Anderson was an assistant coach with three NAIA national championship teams at the University of Sioux Falls (S.D.)