Football | 10/28/2017 7:23:00 PM

Box Score

    WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University football team celebrated Senior Day in style on Saturday with a 44-14 thrashing of Concord at a cold and rainy West Family Stadium.
    Coach Roger Waialae's Hilltoppers (3-6, 3-6) jumped out to a 20-0 lead and never took their foot off the gas in steamrolling past the Mountain Lions (2-7, 1-7).
    "That's the way we try to draw it up every week," Waialae said. "We made big plays in all three phases of the game – offense, defense and special teams. We forced turnovers on defense and turned them into points. There wasn't much finesse on offense. We pounded the ball all day and did what we wanted to do."
    West Liberty didn't waste any time getting started as senior DB Terrance Bradley broke up a pass on Concord's first snap after the opening kickoff and sophomore DB Logan Deri made a diving interception at the Mountain Lion 46.
    Junior QB Lukas O'Connor fired a 22-yard pass to freshman WR Isaiah Robinson and handed off to senior TB Jeremiah Ortiz for a 5-yard gain before rolling to his right and tossing a 19-yard TD pass to Robinson in the right corner of the end zone. That put WLU up 6-0 less than 90 seconds into the game but the Black and Gold was just warming up.
    After a 3-and-out from the Hilltopper defense, West Liberty went to the ground-and-pound approach. Ortiz carried the ball on six of the seven snaps in a 65-yard scoring march – including a 19-yard scamper up the middle for a 13-0 WLU lead with 8:38 on the first quarter clock – and the rout was on.
    West Liberty blew past the 200-yard rushing mark for the second straight week with Ortiz, fellow senior Braxton Gamble and freshman RB Savion Johnson shouldering most of the load. Ortiz ran for 100 yards on 18 carries – his fifth 100-yard rushing game of the season – while Gamble added 82 yards on 15 carries and Johnson bulled his way for 76 yards on 13 attempts. The Hilltoppers finished with 276 rushing yards on 56 carries.
    "We're playing a lot better up front," Waialae said. "We're down to maybe five healthy offensive linemen but they've been playing together enough to get some consistency. They want to play big-boy football, control the line of scrimmage and impose their will. There's not much finesse to it. It's mostly power, iso and trap but that's what we want.
    "I'm really happy for a guy like Jeremiah. He's probably the most improved player on our team but even though he's on track for a 1,000-yard season, he doesn't mind sharing carries with our other backs. The thing I'm most proud of about this team is how supportive they are of each other and how hard they pull for their teammates."
    Johnson echoed Waialae's sentiments.
    "All the running backs really stick together and support each other," the former Wheeling Park all-stater said. "When I'm going into the game, Jeremiah helps me out by telling me what he's seen and what to look for when I get out there. He's really been a big help."
    West Liberty pushed the lead to 20-0 on an 18-yard TD pass from O'Connor to Ridge Durbin midway through the second quarter. Concord got on the board before halftime with a 31-yard touchdown run from Jamal Petty but the Hilltoppers quickly extinguished any comeback hopes when play resumed.
    The hosts opened the third quarter by grinding out an 11-play, 79-yard touchdown drive that scrubbed nearly 6 ½ minutes off the clock. Johnson accounted for nearly 50 of those yards with seven hard-nosed carries – including an MMA-quality stiff-arm that caught the attention of his defensive teammates.
    "I don't know who I was standing next to on the sidelines," Deri laughed, "but I told him I was really glad I don't have to play against Savion. Going up against a big guy like that play after play can really wear down a defense."
    Durbin finished off the drive with a 1-yard plunge to make it 27-7 and Deri pushed the count to 34-7 just 17 seconds later when he pulled in his second interception of the day and weaved his way through traffic for a 20-yard touchdown return. It was one of three interceptions on the day for WLU, which didn't commit a turnover.
    "We had a three- or four-week span where it seemed like we couldn't get a turnover," Deri said. "Our coaches gave us a good game plan and put us in position to make plays so it felt pretty good to make them today."
    O'Connor's third touchdown pass of the day – a 32-yarder to Quinton Jones – and a 26-yard Christian Morris field goal wrapped up the Hilltoppers' scoring for the day. Concord – which didn't surpass the 200-yard mark in total offense until the waning seconds – got a short touchdown run from Nick Loftin for its only second half points.
    Three West Liberty quarterbacks – O'Connor, Brenton Colabella and Jake Kalama – combined to complete 14-of-26 passes for 175 yards with 3 TDs. O'Connor completed 11-of-19 for 152 yards and all three scores with Robinson's four catches for 54 yards leading the receiving corps.
    In addition to the 20 seniors honored in pre-game Senior Day ceremonies, the seven newest members of the West Liberty Hall of Fame were presented with their commemorative plaques at halftime.
    The Hilltoppers won't have much time to celebrate Saturday's win. Nationally-ranked Eastern New Mexico will be flying into West Family Stadium on Thursday for a 6 p.m. non-conference test.
    Concord                                   0  7    7  0 – 14
West Liberty                           13  7  21  3 – 44      WLU: Robinson 19 pass from O'Connor (kick failed), 13:39
     WLU: Ortiz 19 run (Morris kick), 8:38      WLU: Durbin 18 pass from O'Connor (Morris kick), 6:45
     CU: Petty 31 run (Keaton kick), 3:25      WLU: Durbin 1 run (Morris kick), 8:32
     WLU: Deri 20 interception return (Morris kick), 8:15
     WLU: Jones 34 pass from O'Connor (Morris kick), 4:34
     CU: Loftin 2 run (Keaton kick), 2:44      WLU: FG Morris 26, 9:46
A: 687      RUSHING: Concord 28-153; Burrus 8-87; Loftin 10-57; Petty 6-20; Fulton 4-(-11). West Liberty 56-271; Ortiz 18-100; Gamble 15-82; Johnson 13-76; Milligan 5-15; Durbin 1-1; O'Connor 4-(-3)
     PASSING: Concord 10-27-74-0td-3x (all by Fulton). West Liberty 14-26-175-3td-0x (O'Connor 11-19-152-3td-0x; Colabella 2-4-17-0-0; Kalama 1-3-6-0-0).
     RECEIVING: Concord 10-74; Pearce 4-14; Petty 2-29; Jones 2-21; Plyler 1-8; Bowman 1-2. West Liberty 14-175l Robinson 4-54; Jones 3-58; Hardesty 3-18; Staffileno 2-19; Durbin 1-18; Jenkins 1-8.
     First downs: Concord 11, West Liberty 29
     Fumbles: Concord 2-0, West Liberty 0-0
     Penalties: Concord 11-108, West Liberty 9-98
     Time of Possession: Concord 21:10, West Liberty 38:50