Football | 9/14/2016 11:30:00 AM

The West Liberty University football team will host Fairmont State Thursday night in the Mountain East Conference Game of the Week. Kickoff for the Hilltoppers' home opener is set for 7:10 p.m.
The friendly confines of West Family Stadium are a welcome sight for Coach Roger Waialae's road-weary crew, who traveled nearly 1,700 miles round-trip over the past two weeks only to return home with a pair of frustrating losses.
Last week's 16-15 double-overtime setback at McKendree (Ill.) was especially galling as the Black and Gold controlled the action against their undefeated hosts for most of the afternoon only to see a potential win slip through their fingers.
West Liberty (0-2, 0-1) has won the statistical battle in each of its first two outings, gaining more total yards and picking up more first downs than its opponent in both games, but still comes intoThursday night's MEC test against the unbeaten Falcons (2-0, 2-0) in search of its first win.
"We have done the things we needed to do to put ourselves in position to win both games," Waialae said, "but like we told our guys, when you're looking at two one-score games, all you have to do is add up the big plays the other team made against the ones we didn't make. That's the difference between winning and losing. It's a very fine line."
Playing against a high-powered McKendree team that had averaged nearly 40 points a game in winning 14 of its last 16 outings and was receiving votes in the national Top 25, the Hilltopper defense came up big last week.
West Liberty held the Bearcats out of the end zone until the second overtime period, limiting the hosts to just two field goals, 14 first downs and 215 yards of total offense in more than 60 minutes of action.
The Hilltopper offense finished with 349 yards of total offense and 21 first downs but the game ended with a fumbled snap on a two-point conversion attempt in the second overtime. It was the fourth turnover of the game for WLU, which also missed a short field goal and had a PAT blocked during the course of the game.
"We played well defensively," Waialae said. "We didn't give up any big plays and even when we were put in some tough situations due to turnovers, we were able to hold them to field goals so that's about all you can ask from a defense. We'd like to get some turnovers but if we can get that level of effort and execution every week, we'll be in pretty good shape. Our offense moved the ball pretty well but we didn't finish drives. I think their defense deserves some of the credit for that. They had some talented kids who made plays when they had their backs to the wall."
Fairmont presents a similar challenge on Thursday as the Falcons are riding a wave of momentum that began building a year ago. Coach Jason Woodman's squad has won 8 of its last 10 games dating back to last season and comes into this week's game off an impressive 28-0 shutout of Concord on Saturday.
The Falcons also boast a high-powered attack. Senior QB Cooper Hibbs went over the 6,000-yard career mark last week when he completed 25-of-31 passes for 297 yards and 3 TDs against Concord. Senior WR Fabian Guerra caught all three TD passes and was named MEC Offensive Player of the Week after finishing with 11 catches for 175 yards. Junior TB Terrell Charles posted his second straight 100-yard rushing game with 104 yards on 16 carries. 
Fairmont's defense, which hasn't given up a single point in the last six quarters, was just as impressive. The Falcons held Concord to 232 yards of total offense, broke up 10 passes and intercepted two others. Freshman LB Trevon Shorts' 68-yard interception return TD provided the only points of the second half for either team.
Despite last week's loss, there were several bright spots for the Hilltoppers. Senior WR Anton McCallum set a career-high for catches for the second straight week, hauling in 9 passes from senior QB Dakota Conwell for 87 yards while Conwell had a career-high 30 carries from the quarterback position for 95 yards and a TD while completing 21-of-39 passes for 152 yards. Sophomore LB Cliff Clark led the defense with a career-high 15 tackles while fellow LB Garrett Vulcano tied a career-high with 14 stops.
Waialae hasn't seen any signs that opening with two hard-to-swallow losses on the road has had a negative impact on the Hilltoppers.
"Sure, it's frustrating but I don't think there will be any carry-over," Waialae said. "I've been doing this long enough to understand that the kids are a little more resilient than the coaches. They get over the tough losses faster than we do and they're ready to move on to the next challenge.
"That's what we need to do Thursday night. We have a Fairmont team coming in here that's playing really well and playing with a lot of confidence. We have to step up and meet that challenge. We need to be the team that makes the big play when the game is on the line."