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West Liberty Rolls to Third Straight Win

Football | 10/8/2016 5:54:00 PM

Box Score CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Liberty University football team shifted into overdrive after a shaky first quarter here Saturday and pulled away to its third straight win, a 40-23 thumping of Charleston in a battle of Mountain East Conference rivals at soggy Laidley Field.
Hilltopper senior QB Dakota Conwell enjoyed his first 300-yard passing game of the season while senior WR Dan Monteroso set career highs with 9 catches for 162 yards and two scores. Senior TB Ty Peterson put the game on ice with a pair of dazzling fourth quarter touchdown runs.
The Hilltoppers (3-3, 3-2) also got another strong performance on the defensive side of the ball, holding the vaunted rushing attack of the host Golden Eagles (2-4, 2-4) to a season-low 114 yards – less than half of their MEC-leading season average of 231 rushing yards per game.
Charleston grabbed a quick early lead when the Golden Eagles sacked Conwell in the end zone for a safety on the game's opening possession. The hosts then took advantage of the short field following the free kick with a 10-yard Marvin Elam touchdown run for a 9-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.
Conwell hit Monteroso with a 26-yard TD pass on the final play of the first quarter but UC answered with a 35-yard TD run by WR Joey Augustin out of the wildcat formation to make it 16-6 with 14:18 left in the half.
West Liberty marched right back down the field, capping a 79-yard, 13-play drive with an 11-yard strike from Conwell to a diving Monteroso in the end zone with 8:21 on the second quarter clock.
The Hilltoppers got the ball back following a missed Charleston field goal and Conwell wasted no time, going deep to a streaking Anton McCallum on the very first snap. McCallum was hauled down just short of the goal line for a 70-yard completion – WLU's longest play of the year – and Conwell powered into the end zone on the next snap to put West Liberty on top, 20-16, at the half.
The Black and Gold pushed the lead to 23-16 on a 38-yard Christian Morris field goal at 3:13 of the third quarter and when Peterson sprinted 21 yards up the middle to paydirt in the first minute of the fourth quarter, the Hilltoppers had opened up a 30-16 lead.
Augustin gave UC fans hope when he got behind the WLU secondary for a 77-yard TD pass on the next possession but the Golden Eagles never threatened again as West Liberty closed out the scoring with another Morris field goal and a 19-yard TD scamper by Peterson.
Conwell completed 20-of-35 passes for 301 yards and 2 TDs with no interceptions while adding 50 rushing yards on 23 carries. Peterson was the game's leading rusher with 64 yards on 10 carries as the Hilltoppers finished with 162 rushing yards on 48 attempts.
Monteroso led all receivers with his career day while McCallum had 97 yards on 4 catches before being knocked out of the game in the second half on a personal foul that resulted in a targeting ejection for the UC defensive back. West Liberty dominated time of possession, holding the ball for more than 37 minutes, and posted a whopping 26-13 edge in first downs.
The Hilltoppers return home to host UVa-Wise on Homecoming this weekend. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at West Family Stadium.


West Liberty 40
Charleston 23
West Liberty 6  14  3  17 – 40
Charleston 9    7  0    7 – 23
First Quarter
UC: Safety, Conwell tackled in end zone by Kahzin Daniels, 13:41
UC: Elam 10 run (Benes kick), 11:42
WLU: Monteroso 26 pass from Conwell (kick failed), :09
Second Quarter
UC: Augustin 35 run (Benes kick), 14:18
WLU: Monteroso 11 pass from Conwell (Morris kick), 8:21
WLU: Conwell 1 run (Morris kick), 4:19
Third Quarter
WLU: FG Morris 38, 3:13
Fourth Quarter
WLU: Peterson 21 run (Morris kick), 14:26
UC: Augustin 77 pass from Fontana (Benes kick), 13:36
WLU: FG Morris 22, 8:17
WLU: Peterson 19 run (Morris kick), 1:43
A: 2,311
Game Statistics
RUSHING: West Liberty 48-162; Peteson 10-64; Conwell 23-50; Ortiz 8-23; Dorsett 2-20; Gamble 3-10; Team 2-(-5). Charleston 32-114; Augustin 3-45; Elam 13-26; Roberts 6-24; Grisel 3-16; Fontana 5-5; Harris 2-(-2)
PASSING: West Liberty 20-35-301-2td-0x (all by Conwell). Charleston 13-29-191-1td-0x (Grisel 9-19-88-0td-0x, Fontana 4-10-103-1td-0x)
RECEIVING: West Liberty 20-301; Monteroso 9-162; McCallum 4-97; Malara 2-18; Jones 2-10; Peterson 2-6; McLean 1-8. Charleston 13-191; Augustin 6-128; Hankins 3-34; Elam 3-24; Wiernicki 1-5
First downs: West Liberty 26, Charleston 13
Fumbles: West Liberty 0-0, Charleston 1-1
Penalties: West Liberty 8-64, Charleston 8-85
Time of Possession: West Liberty 37:10, Charleston 22:50
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Players Mentioned

Dakota Conwell

#11 Dakota Conwell

QB
6' 1"
Senior
Anton McCallum

#4 Anton McCallum

WR
6' 0"
Senior
Christian Morris

#14 Christian Morris

K/P
6' 1"
Sophomore
Dan Monteroso

#9 Dan Monteroso

WR
6' 3"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Dakota Conwell

#11 Dakota Conwell

6' 1"
Senior
QB
Anton McCallum

#4 Anton McCallum

6' 0"
Senior
WR
Christian Morris

#14 Christian Morris

6' 1"
Sophomore
K/P
Dan Monteroso

#9 Dan Monteroso

6' 3"
Senior
WR