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West Liberty Hosts W.Va. State in Season Finale

Football | 11/11/2016 6:35:00 AM

The West Liberty University football team will be bidding farewell to 17 seniors on Saturday when the Hilltoppers host West Virginia State in a mutual regular-season finale.
Kickoff for the Senior Day game is set for noon at West Family Stadium.
Head coach Roger Waialae and his coaching staff will honor their departing seniors in a brief ceremony prior to the final football game of their collegiate careers.
"This is a really good group of young men who can be proud of what they've accomplished on and off the field," Waialae said. "Most of these guys have been here for four or five years and have provided a lot of leadership for our program. This will be the last chance for many of them to play the game they've loved since they were kids and their teammates want to make sure that memory is a happy one."
West Liberty (4-6, 4-5) is coming off an impressive 41-24 road win at Glenville State in which the Hilltoppers reeled off 27 unanswered points and were the first team all season to hold the high-powered Pioneer offense scoreless in the second half.
Several seniors shared the spotlight on that rainy Thursday night. WR Anton McCallum returned after a month-long absence due to injury to catch two long TD passes while QB Dakota Conwell battled through an assortment of nagging injuries to pass for 226 yards and 4 TDs.
Not to be outdone, senior WR Dan Monteroso pulled in a pair of TD passes while senior DB Solomon Dixon earned MEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors by blocking a Glenville State field goal and breaking off a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half. Dixon's kickoff return, which put WLU ahead to stay, was the longest kick return by a Hilltopper in more than a decade.
The West Liberty defense will be challenged by a West Virginia State (2-8, 2-7) team that is coming off one of the top offensive performances in the MEC this season
Coach Jon Anderson's Yellow Jackets snapped a 7-game losing streak in impressive fashion last week, racking up more than 600 yards of total offense to prevail in a 52-45 shootout against Concord.
Yellow Jacket QB Matt Kinnick had a monster game, completing 22-of-33 passes for 289 yards and 5 TDs without an interception, but it was WR Quinton Gray's star that shone the brightest. The junior WR caught 11 passes for 211 yards and 3 TDs, added 23 rushing yards on a pair of carries, tossed a 33-yard TD pass and recovered an onside kick in the waning seconds to seal the win.
State also moved the ball virtually at will on the ground, rushing for a season-high 279 yards on 47 carries with TB Dionta Brown's 136 yards on 22 attempts leading the way. 
"We need another strong game from our defensive front," Waialae said. "Our No. 1 priority every week is to take away the run and force our opponent into obvious passing situations. State has a really good quarterback and some dangerous wide receivers so that will be especially important this week."
GAME NOTES
X West Liberty is looking to finish at .500 or better in conference play for the 10th time in Waialae's 12th season at the helm
X The 17 Hilltopper seniors are Solomon Dixon, Lamar Phillips, Miles Young, Jerimy Mask, Ellis Randall, Darnell Vickers, Demarlow Moses, Jevon Fripp, Marquee Johnson, Zach Barnes, Kevin Melder, Garrett Vulcano, Anton McCallum, Dan Monteroso, Dakota Conwell, Ty Peterson and Mike Berardi
X Conwell is just 132 yards away from joining current WLU quarterback coach Zach Amedro as the only Hilltoppers with 8,000 or more yards of total offense in their careers
X The Hilltopper QB also needs just 13 completions to become just the third WLU player to complete 500 or more career passes
X In two games against WVSU, Conwell has completed 23-of-39 passes for 415 yards and 8 TDs while running the ball 41 times for 237 more yards and another score
X After posting a minus-5 turnover margin in getting off to an 0-3 start, West Liberty has been plus-8 in turnovers over the last seven games
X W.Va. State QB Matt Kinnick and Hilltopper OL Corey Ernest were All-State teammates on a 2012 Ohio state runner-up team at St. Clairsville High School
X Yellow Jacket WR Quinton Gray has 68 catches for 907 yards and 6 TDs this season and leads the MEC with an average of 7.56 catches per game
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Players Mentioned

Zach Barnes

#50 Zach Barnes

DL
6' 2"
Senior
Mike Berardi

#75 Mike Berardi

OL
6' 5"
Senior
Dakota Conwell

#11 Dakota Conwell

QB
6' 1"
Senior
Solomon Dixon

#3 Solomon Dixon

DB
5' 10"
Senior
Corey Ernest

#72 Corey Ernest

OL
6' 3"
Junior
Jevon Fripp

#51 Jevon Fripp

DL
6' 1"
Senior
Marquee Johnson

#91 Marquee Johnson

DL
6' 0"
Senior
Jerimy Mask

#15 Jerimy Mask

DB
6' 1"
Junior
Anton McCallum

#4 Anton McCallum

WR
6' 0"
Senior
Kevin Melder

#41 Kevin Melder

LB
5' 10"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Zach Barnes

#50 Zach Barnes

6' 2"
Senior
DL
Mike Berardi

#75 Mike Berardi

6' 5"
Senior
OL
Dakota Conwell

#11 Dakota Conwell

6' 1"
Senior
QB
Solomon Dixon

#3 Solomon Dixon

5' 10"
Senior
DB
Corey Ernest

#72 Corey Ernest

6' 3"
Junior
OL
Jevon Fripp

#51 Jevon Fripp

6' 1"
Senior
DL
Marquee Johnson

#91 Marquee Johnson

6' 0"
Senior
DL
Jerimy Mask

#15 Jerimy Mask

6' 1"
Junior
DB
Anton McCallum

#4 Anton McCallum

6' 0"
Senior
WR
Kevin Melder

#41 Kevin Melder

5' 10"
Senior
LB