WHEELING, W.Va. – Frostburg State quarterback Graham Walker set a school record with seven touchdown passes here Thursday night and the host Bobcats reeled off 49 unanswered points to hand an injury-riddled West Liberty squad a 56-3 setback in a mutual regular season finale at Bobcat Stadium.
The win guaranteed Frostburg State (10-1, 9-1) at least a share of the Mountain East Conference championship in only their second full season of league play. Coach
Roger Waialae's Hilltoppers finished the season at 4-7 overall and 4-6 in MEC action.
Playing without several key performers on both sides of the football, the Black and Gold were able to keep the high-powered Bobcat offense under wraps for most of the first quarter.
Frostburg drove 75 yards on 10 plays on its first possession, taking a 7-0 lead at the 9:25 mark on a 1-yard toss from Walker to Chandler Breeden.
The Hilltoppers answered with a lengthy drive of their own, chewing more than four minutes off the clock on a 10-play, 62-yard drive. The march stalled inside the 20 but
Owen Rozanc drilled a 30-yard field goal, cutting the deficit to 7-3 heading into the second quarter.
Unfortunately for the Black and Gold, the second quarter belonged to the Bobcats. Josh Maxwell had a 66-yard touchdown run and Walker fired three more touchdown passes - two to WR Malik Morris - to put the game out of reach, 35-3, at halftime.
Walker and the Frostburg State offense weren't finished. Less than three minutes after the second half kickoff, Walker and Morris connected on a 65-yard touchdown bomb to make it 42-3. Walker tacked on a 15-yard touchdown pass to Zae Giles midway through the quarter before heaving a 78-yard rainbow to Kyle Belack to conclude the scoring with just over 90 seconds left in the third quarter.
Walker completed 22-of-27 passes for 395 yards and seven touchdowns on his record-setting night. Morris, the leading receiver in FSU history, added 216 yards and three touchdowns on eight catches while three running backs combined for 218 rushing yards on 31 carries out of the tailback position.
Allison, working under heavy pressure for most of the night, completed 23-of-44 passes for 199 yards with a pair of interceptions.
Wisdom Jenkins was the leading receiver with 6 catches for 76 yards.
Maceo Christmas led the beleaguered WLU defense with 9 tackles, 2 tackles-for-loss, 2 quarterback sacks and an interception.
FOOTBALL
No. 17 Frostburg State 56, West Liberty 3
West Liberty 3 0 0 0 – 3
Frostburg State 7 28 21 0 – 56
First Quarter
FSU: Breeden 1 pass from Walker (Koontz kick), 9:25
WLU: FG Rozanc 30, 5:17
Second Quarter
FSU: Maxwell 66 run (Koontz kick), 13:25
FSU: Giles 9 pass from Walker (Koontz kick), 8:18
FSU: Morris 25 pass from Walker (Koontz kick), 6:46
FSU: Morris 23 pass from Walker (Koontz kick), :26
Third Quarter
FSU: Morris 65 pass from Walker (Koontz kick), 12:37
FSU: Giles 15 pass from Walker (Koontz kick), 7:22
FSU: Belack 78 pass from Walker (Koontz kick), 1:31
A: 1,497
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: West Liberty 25-51, McClain 7-26, Moler 8-20, Sherry 2-14, Griffin 1-7, Team 1-0, Alphonso 2-(-1), Wilson 1-(-3), Allison 3-(-12). Frostburg State 39-246, Maxwell 3-74, Lavat 10-73, Facey 18-71, Walker 3-11, Fitzgerald 1-8, Lester 2-6, Forte 1-2, Branch 1-1
PASSING: West Liberty 23-45-199-0td-2x (Allison 23-44-199-0td-2x, Sherry 0-1-0-0-0). Frostburg State 23-31-408-7td-1x (Walker 22-27-395-7td-1x, Lester 1-4-13-0td-0x)
RECEIVING: West Liberty 23-199, Jenkins 6-76, Glenn 5-45, Smoot 1-31, Robbins 1-18 Williams 1-11, Phillips 3-9, Collins 4-7, Griffin 1-3, Moler 1-(-1). Frostburg State 23-408, Morris 8-216, Belack 8-132, Giles 4-33, Ikwubuo 1-20, Thornton 1-6, Breeden 1-1
First downs: West Liberty 13, Frostburg State 26
Fumbles: West Liberty 1-0, Frostburg State 1-1
Penalties: West Liberty 6-42, Frostburg State 9-86
Time of Possession: West Liberty 27:18, Frostburg State 32:42
