ATHENS, W.Va. – Concord forced four West Liberty turnovers and scored a pair of special teams touchdowns to hand the Black and Gold a 46-33 setback Saturday afternoon at cold and windy Callaghan Stadium.
    Coach Roger Waialae's Hilltoppers (3-6, 3-6) battled back from an early 16-point deficit to grab a brief lead in the opening minute of the second half but the Mountain Lions (2-7, 2-6) responded with 21 unanswered points to put the game out of reach.
    A series of mistakes put West Liberty on the comeback trail from the game's opening possession.
    The Hilltoppers coughed up a fumble on the third snap of the game and Concord recovered at the WLU 35. Two plays later, TB Kris Copeland turned the corner and sprinted 31 yards down the left sideline for an 8-0 Mountain Lion lead after a successful 2-point conversion.
    The West Liberty offense failed to move the sticks after the ensuing kickoff and the Hilltopper punter was unable to handle the snap. Concord's Cameron Fannon recovered in the end zone, putting the hosts up 15-0 with 11:27 on the first quarter clock.
    Zach Phillips put West Liberty on the board with a 15-yard TD strike to younger brother Nate Phillips but the PAT was blocked, keeping the score at 15-6.
    More special teams woes followed as the Hilltoppers were forced to punt again on their next possession and the Mountain Lions' Chaudlier Shepherd followed a wall of blockers up the left sideline for a 76-yard touchdown return, pushing the count to 22-6 with five minutes left in the quarter.
    Zach Phillips capped another long drive with a 3-yard touchdown run in the final minute of the first quarter and West Liberty was able to close the gap to 25-20 at the half after holding Concord to just 11 yards of total offense in the second quarter.
    The Hilltopper special teams delivered a big play of their own on the second half kickoff as Jack Davis forced a fumble and David Gilcreast recovered for WLU at the Concord 10. D.J. Frisby powered into the end zone from a yard out to give West Liberty its first lead of the day, 27-25, just 40 seconds into the second half.
    The Mountain Lions shook off the turnover and answered with a 10-play, 92-yard touchdown drive. A 43-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Akin to diminutive WR Tywan Pearce made it 32-27 but the hosts were far from finished.
    West Liberty's next drive stalled just inside the Concord 30 and a 46-yard field goal try came up short. After being pushed back to the 20 by a penalty, Akin found speedy Isaiah Bowman for a back-breaking 80-yard touchdown bomb.
    The Hilltoppers' next possession ended on another special teams miscue when Owen Rozanc's 23-yard field goal attempt was blocked in the final minute of the third quarter.
    That set the stage for a time-consuming 12-pla drive by Concord that ate up nearly half of the fourth quarter before a 1-yard TD dive by Josh Maxwell put the game out of reach, 46-27, with 7:46 to play.
    West Liberty closed out the scoring with an 8-yard TD pass from Zach Phillips to Nate Phillips on the final play of the game.
    The loss overshadowed a sterling performance by Zach Phillips, who racked up more than 400 yards ot total offense. The junior QB completed 29-of-48 passes for a career-high 398 yards and 3 TDs while rushing for 39 yards and another score.
    Nate Phillips, a true freshman, also impressed with 6 catches for 96 yards and 2 TDs while senior WR Shane Phillips – no relation – added 84 yards on 6 catches. Frisby ran for 90 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries to go along with 2 catches for 81 yards – including a 69-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
    The Hilltoppers finished with a season-high 510 yards of total offense to 408 for Concord, ran 84 plays to just 51 for the Mountain Lions and had a 25-16 advantage in first downs.
    Next up for West Liberty is a non-conference test against Bloomsburg (Pa.). Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at West Family Stadium.
    West Liberty                           13  7    7  6 – 33
Concord                                  22  3  14  7 – 46      CU: Copeland 31 run (Roebuck pass from Plyler), 12:53
     CU: Fannon recovered fumble in end zone (Walls kick), 11:27
     WLU: N.Phillips 15 pass from Z.Phillips (kick blocked), 8:37
     CU: Shepherd 74 punt return (Walls kick), 4:46
     WLU: Z.Phillips 3 run (Rozanc kick), :39      CU: FG Walls 29, 13:17
     WLU: Frisby 69 pass from Z.Phillips (Rozanc kick), 6:57      WLU: Frisby 1 run (Rozanc kick), 14:20
     CU: Pearce 43 pass from Akin (Walls kick), 8:55
     CU: Bowman 80 pass from Akin (Walls kick), 3:12      CU: Maxwell 1 run (Walls kick), 7:46
     WLU: N.Phillips 8 pass from Z.Phillips (no try),      RUSHING: West Liberty 36-112, Frisby 21-90, Z.Phillips 13-39, Lykes 1-3. Concord 32-153, Maxwell 16-87, Copeland 8-47, Pearce 1-12, Bowman 1-9, Akin 3-2, Fulton 1-(-4)
     PASSING: West Liberty 29-48-398-3td-1x (all by Z.Phillips). Concord 12-19-255-2td-1x (Akin 11-18-259-2td-1x, Fulton 1-1-(-4)-0-0)
     RECEIVING: West Liberty 29-398, N.Phillips 6-96, S.Phillips 6-84, Frisby 2-81, Durbin 4-61, Kargbo 2-20, Rita 3-20, Jones 2-15, Mitchell 2-11, McLean 1-5, Ritz 1-5. Concord 11-259, Bowman 2-88, Pearce 2-83, Butler 1-42, Copeland 3-31, Plyler 1-9, Fisher 2-6, Fulton 1-(-4).
     First downs: West Liberty 25, Concord 16
     Fumbles: West Liberty 5-3, Concord 3-1
     Penalties: West Liberty 2-17, Concord 8-82
     Time of Possession: West Liberty 31:14, 28:46