WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – After edging No. 9 Concord, 29-28, on a last-minute field goal in a mutual season opener, the West Liberty University football team welcomes another high-powered offense to West Family Stadium on Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

Saturday is Hall of Fame Day on the hilltop. The newest members of the WLU Athletic Hall of Fame will be inducted during a morning ceremony on campus and then introduced to the crowd at halftime.

McKendree University, a Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) member from Lebanon, Ill., makes its first trip to West Virginia after posting a 68-0 exhibition win against the College of Faith (Tenn.) in Lebanon last week.

"We played well in all three phases of the game last week and came away with a very good win," Hilltopper head coach Roger Waialae said. "Now we need to put that game behind us and focus on preparing for another very talented team, one that we really don't know a whole lot about.

"There wasn't much we could draw from the tape of their exhibition game last week. Their starters only played about a quarter and the opponent really wasn't at their level. We saw enough to know they have a lot of speed and pretty good size up front so we're going to have to be ready for just about anything on Saturday."

Both teams feature mobile quarterbacks. The Hilltoppers' Dakota Conwell racked up more than 300 yards of total offense in the win against Concord. He completed 30-of-53 passes for 288 yards – all career-highs – while leading a WLU offense that ran off a school-record 98 offensive plays and racked up more than 450 yards of total offense against the nationally-ranked Mountain Lions.

Senior Isaac Fisher, who led the Bearcats in passing (2,722 yards) and rushing (764 yards) a year ago, picked up where he left off. Fisher was 7-for-7 through the air for 55 yards and a TD against the College of Faith. He also ran for 68 yards on just three carries – one of which was a 51-yard TD sprint. Bearcat head coach Mike Babcock pulled Fisher and the rest of his starters one possession into the second quarter after they had built a 35-0 lead.

Senior WR Cameron James returned two punts for touchdowns of 48 and 71 yards and caught an 11-yard TD pass – all in the first quarter. PK Steven O'Block kicked four field goals and the McKendree defense held the College of Faith to zero first downs and minus-4 yards of total offense on the night.

Players to watch on that side of the ball include All-American junior DE Lucky Baar, who led the nation with 18 QB sacks a year ago and ranked No. 3 nationally with 26.5 tackles-for-loss, along with junior LB A.J. Wentland, who was charted with a school-record 132 tackles a year ago and is coming off back-to-back 100-tackle seasons.

The Hilltoppers want to build on last week's impressive win when they nearly doubled Concord in time of possession (39:11 to 20:49) and first downs (27 to 13). The Mountain Lions' 4 touchdowns all came on plays of 25 yards or more as the visitors never took a snap in the West Liberty red zone. By the end of the game, only three of their 18 possessions had lasted longer than three snaps.

Junior LB Garrett Vulcano opened the scoring in the first quarter by recovering a blocked punt in the end zone. Vulcano later came up with a fumble recovery and ranked among the team leaders with six tackles to earn MEC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

The Concord offense, which returned nearly everybody from the unit that ranked among the NCAA Division II leaders with 42 points and 454 yards of total offense a game last fall, was limited to just 53 snaps. The Mountain Lions were held to 2 yards or less on 22 of those 53 snaps.

"We ran the ball and controlled the clock," Waialae said, "and our defense did a great job of getting off the field on third down. That was our game plan coming in and we executed pretty well. I knew we had the ball a lot but I was surprised we ran 98 plays. Our offensive and defensive lines really played at a high level and we had multiple players step up to make plays when we needed them. It was a great team win."

Conwell, in his second season as the starting QB, seemed much more comfortable in the offense and worked through his progressions to complete passes to 11 different receivers. Senior TE Daree Goodwin impressed with a career-high 9 catches for 111 yards and a TD while Jeremiah Ortiz and Ty Peterson combined for 107 rushing yards on 32 carries out of the tailback spot.

True freshman kicker Christian Morris earned MEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors in his collegiate debut. Morris drilled a 32-yard game-winning field goal with just 16 seconds remaining but also had a 40-yarder earlier in the game while punting five times for an average of 40.4 yards per punt.

"We did a good job of pressuring the quarterback last week and we need to be able to do that again this week," Waialae said. "Their quarterback is a big weapon, not just with his arm but with his feet, so it's important for us to stay disciplined. Offensively, we want to establish the run and look for opportunities in the passing game. We've never played each other before so this will be a big challenge for both coaching staffs. We're looking forward to it."