Football | 10/26/2019 5:38:00 PM

Box Score     FAIRMONT, W.Va. – An injury-riddled West Liberty offense couldn't get anything going here Saturday afternoon and Fairmont State pulled away to a 35-7 victory on Homecoming at Duvall-Rosier Field.
    Tyree Randolph ran for 133 yards and scored three touchdowns for the Falcons (3-5, 3-5) while the aggressive Fairmont State defense held the Hilltoppers (4-4, 3-4) under 100 yards of total offense through the first three quarters in a dominant performance.
    Despite coming into the game without injured starting QB Zach Phillips and also dealing with injury concerns on the offensive line, West Liberty kept things interesting for much of the afternoon.
    The Falcons took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards in a time-consuming 15-play drive that used up nearly half of the first quarter before Randolph muscled his way into the end zone from a yard out for a 7-0 Fairmont lead.
    After the WLU defense forced back-to-back punts, the West Liberty followed with its longest drive of the first half. Sophomore QB Erick Taylor converted four straight third down snaps as the Hilltoppers marched from their own 10 into Fairmont State territory midway through the second quarter.
    The 15-play drive stalled just outside field goal range but an Austin Mayfield punt pinned the hosts back at their own 13 with 7:44 left in the half.
    Keeping the ball on the ground for all but two of the 14 snaps, Fairmont slowly pushed the WLU defense back into the shadow of its own goal posts before QB Takwan Crews-Naylor capped the 7-plus minute drive with a 1-yard dive just 24 seconds before the end of the half.
    A Hilltopper fumble set up a third quarter Falcon score that pushed the count to 21-0 and Fairmont took advantage of a tiring Hilltopper defense to take on two more TDs in the final 15 minutes for a 35-0 advantage.
    West Liberty didn't go away quietly. A 31-yard completion from Taylor to WR Will Billeter set up first-and-goal at the FSU 5 with under a minute to play. A 5-yard TD toss from Taylor to TE Ridge Durbin put the Hilltoppers on the board with 21 seconds to play but it was too little, too late.
    Taylor completed 19-of-38 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions in his first collegiate start but the Falcons held WLU to just 32 net rushing yards on 24 attempts. Isaiah Robinson was the leading receiver for the Hilltoppers with 4 catches for 54 yards while Thomas Cole added 43 yards on a game-high 6 grabs.
    Fairmont ran for 258 yards on 53 carries while Crews-Naylor completed 12-of-20 passes for one touchdown with no interceptions. Randolph's 133 rushing yards cameon 28 carries while Rakeem Darden added 91 more on a dozen attempts. Javon Hayes had 5 catches for 100 yards.
    Logan Deri and Clay McDonald each had 10 tackles and one tackle-for-loss to lead the West Liberty defensive effort.
    The Hilltoppers return home for a Thursday night game against Urbana. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at West Family Stadium.
  West Liberty                              0  0  0    7 –   7
Fairmont State                          7  7  7  14 – 35      FSU: Randolph 1 run (Harvath kick), 7:56      FSU: Crews-Naylor 1 run (Harvath kick), :24      FSU: Randolph 4 pass from Crews-Naylor (Harvath kick), 4:20      FSU: Hamlin 5 run (Harvath kick), 13:51
     FSU: Randolph 3 run (Harvath kick), 9:50
     WLU: Durbin 5 pass from Taylor (Rozanc kick), :21
A: 1,757      RUSHING: West Liberty 24-32, Farmer 4-23, Wimbish 10-15, Frisby 2-2, Taylor 6-(-3); Johnson 1-(-2), Team 1-(-3). Fairmont State 53-258, Randolph 28-133, Darden 12-91, Hamlin 7-55, McField 1-(-3), Crews-Naylor 5-(-18).
     PASSING: West Liberty 19-38-184-1td-0x (all by Taylor). Fairmont State 12-20-191-1td-0x (all by Crews-Naylor)
     RECEIVING: West Liberty 19-184, Robinson 4-54, Cole 6-43, Rita 4-35, Billeter 1-31, Durbin 2-15, Sutton 1-4, Farmer 1-2. Fairmont State 12-191, Hayes 5-100, Hall 5-45, McDonald 1-42, Randolph 1-4
     First downs: West Liberty 14, Fairmont State 24
     Fumbles: West Liberty 3-2, Fairmont State 1-1
     Penalties: West Liberty 6-42, Fairmont State 8-55
     Time of Possession: West Liberty 23:34, Fairmont State 36:26