WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. - The West Liberty University football team surrendered 21 unanswered points in the second half and dropped its Homecoming game, 42-21, to crosstown-rival Wheeling this afternoon at West Family Stadium. 

Wheeling struck first and did so quickly with a four-play, 84-yard drive in the opening two minutes to go up 7-0. From there the Hilltoppers had to play catch up. West Liberty was able to battle back to tie the game twice, including at the break after a first half that saw a little bit of everything from trick plays to tipped passes and a plethora of momentum swings, but WLU could not grab hold of the lead and ultimately was held scoreless in the second half.

Justin Kaplan put the Black and Gold on the board with a 30-yard field goal on the second drive of the day. Not more than 30 seconds later, the Cardinals had another quick strike to extend their lead to 14-3 on a 57-yard touchdown two plays after the field goal.

Rudy Garcia connected with Chris Charles on back-to-back plays late in the first quarter to put the Hilltoppers in the endzone for the first time. Charles was the go-to target in the game, totaling seven catches for 85 yards. Holder Ben Turner was able to think quick and pick up the botched snap on the PAT and turned it into two points bringing West Liberty within a field goal (14-11) after the Charles score.

Turner recovered another bad snap on the following drive and set it up quickly for Kaplan to put his second field goal of the game through the uprights, this time from 26-yards out to tie the game at 14 early in the second quarter.

The teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter to send it to the lockerroom tied at 21. The Hilltoppers made it all square with 3:39 to play in the half after a 12-play, 84-yard march down the field. The drive was capped off by three straight handoffs to Quincy Wimbish, Jr., who ended the day with a game-high 111 yards off 26 carries, the third game this season eclipsing the 100-yard mark.

Turnovers doomed the West Liberty offense in the second half with a pair of interceptions on consecutive third downs at the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters. The first was turned into six-points for the Cardinals returned 49-yards to the house, then the other put WU quickly back into Hilltopper territory and was converted for another touchdown. Wheeling set the tone for the second half with a 90-yard drive in the middle of the third quarter to take the lead that they would never give up.

Chris Wilson charted nine tackles to lead all defenders in the game.

Shon Stephens was able to help set the Hilltoppers up with good field position time and time again. He returned six kicks for a total of 155 yards, including a 61-yard return. Stephens pitched the lone other kickoff to teammate Khadeem Richards, who set the Black and Gold up in Wheeling territory for the first drive of the game.

West Liberty will hit the road for the next two weeks. First up is the longest trek of the season to UNC Pembroke. Kickoff from North Carolina is set for 2 pm.

Follow the Hilltoppers all season online at HilltopperSports.com and on Twitter (@WLU_Football | @WLathletics), Instagram, and Facebook.

Postgame Interview with Coach Roger Waialae ↓