WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Workhorse All-American tailback Jaleel McLaughlin ran for 258 yards and 3 touchdowns on 31 carries here Thursday and No. 4-ranked Notre Dame pulled away late for a 43-24 victory against West Liberty under the lights at West Family Stadium.
    Coach Roger Waialae's Hilltoppers (1-1, 1-1) trailed just 22-17 heading into the fourth quarter before the speedy sophomore broke the game open.
    McLaughlin darted into the end zone from 7 yards out on the first snap of the fourth quarter to put the Falcons (2-0, 2-0) up, 29-17, and all but put the game out of reach when he capped NDC's next possession with an 8-yard burst to paydirt to make it 36-17 with just over 9 minutes remaining.
    West Liberty answered with a 10-yard scoring toss from QB Zach Phillips to WR Isaiah Robinson, trimming the deficit to 36-24 midway through the quarter but a 24-yard TD catch by Notre Dame's Zaire Mitchell closed out the scoring with 5:07 to play.
    The sophomore speedster had given the visitors their largest lead of the night, 22-3, with a 70-yard touchdown sprint down the right sideline in the second quarter but showed plenty of closing ability with 146 yards and two more touchdowns after intermission,
    "(McLaughlin) is definitely a special player," West Liberty senior safety Logan Deri said. "He has NFL speed, a great burst and really good vision. It's a great challenge when you have the opportunity to compete against one of the best football teams in the nation but it doesn't mean anything when you don't come away with the win."
    Deri certainly did his part to keep the Black and Gold in the game. The 3-time All-MEC defensive back had a huge night with 15 tackles, 3 tackles-for-loss, 2 quarterback sacks and an interception.
    Waialae echoed his star safety's sentiments while pointing out that the visiting Falcons were anything but a one-man gang.
    "One of the things that makes McLaughlin so special is that Notre Dame is pretty special up front," Waialae said. "Their line is really big and talented. They have great weapons on the perimeter and difference makers on defense. It's not just him. They're good everywhere."
    West Liberty never stopped battling against the nationally-ranked visitors. A 2-yard TD pass from Phillips to TE Thomas Cole closed the halftime deficit to 22-10. The WLU defense kept the Falcons off the board for the entire third quarter and TB Quincy Wimbish capped a 62-yard, 14-play drive with a 3-yard TD run to make it a one-score game heading into the final 15 minutes.
    "I'm proud of the way my team fought tonight," Waialae said. "We had some opportunities for big plays early on and if a couple of them had gone our way, we could have made things a little more interesting."
    Phillips completed 16 of 33 passes for 182 yards and 2 touchdowns with one interception. Robinson led all receivers with 6 catches for 84 yards and a score, Junior LB Clay McDonald also hit double-figures in tackles with 11 stops while senior DB Josh Ojo tied his career high with 8 tackles and a tackle-for-loss.
    Notre Dame finished with 444 yards of total offense, rushing for 318 yards on 57 attempts while completing 13-of-21 passes for 126 yards. Mitchell was the Falcons' leading receiver with 5 grabs for 67 yards.
    The Hilltoppers hit the road next week for a Thursday night game at Frostburg State.
  Notre Dame                           0  13  0  21 – 43
West Liberty                           3    7  7    7 – 24      WLU: FG Rozanc 46, 12:50
     NDC: FG Harding 28, 7:22
     NDC: Greene 1 run (kick failed), 5:07      NDC: Greene 1 run (kick failed), 12:10
     NDC: McLaughlin 70 run (Harding kick), 7:47
     WLU: Cole 2 pass from Z.Phillips (Rozanc kick), 4:26      WLU: Wimbish 3 run (Rozanc kick), 4:23      NDC: McLaughlin 7 run (Harding kick), 14:57
     NDC: McLaughlin 8 run (Harding kick), 9:13
     WLU: Robinson 10 pass from Z.Phillips (Rozanc kick), 6:55
     NDC: Mitchell 24 pass from Brimm (Harding kick), 5:07
A: 1,795      RUSHING: Notre Dame 57-318; McLaughlin 31-258; Greene 12-43; Boyd 4-15; Davis 4-10; Ross 1-7; Team 1-(-3); Brimm 4-(-12). West Liberty 28-58; Z.Phillips 12-35; Taylor 2-10; Frisby 3-9; Wimbish 9-5; Farmer 2-(-1)
     PASSING: Notre Dame 13-21-126-1td-1x (all by Brimm),  West Liberty 20-43-210-2td-2x (Z.Phillips 16-33-182-2td-1x); Taylor 4-9-28-0td-1x; Farmer 0-1-0-0-0.
     RECEIVING: Notre Dame 13-126l Mitchell 5-67; Ross 5-37; Hood 2-17; Turski 1-5. West Liberty 20-210; Robinson 6-82; Rita 3-44; Cole 3-13; Billeter 2-19; Wimbish 2-12; Jenkins 1-21; Farmer 1-12; Williams 1-5; Ritz 1-2.
     First downs: Notre Dame 21, West Liberty 13
     Fumbles: Notre Dame 1-1, West Liberty 1-1
     Penalties: Notre Dame 5-40, West Liberty 8-79
     Time of Possession: Notre Dame 33:34, West Liberty 26:26