WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. - The West Liberty football team is set to kick its season off tomorrow night against Clarion (Pa.). The Hilltoppers will make the road trip to Pennsylvania for a 6 pm kickoff at Memorial Stadium in Clarion.

Head Coach Roger Waialae enters his 18th season at the helm of the program and will be looking to bounce back from a tough stretch to end last season. After a slow start, the 2021 Hilltoppers had righted the ship and were just a game out of first place in the MEC with four games left when they headed to Wheeling on Oct. 23. West Liberty was less than 10 minutes from going to 5-2 with a 20-7 lead midway through the fourth quarter when All-MEC DE Trevor Hoosier – who was leading the nation in tackles-for-loss – went down with a season ending injury. A pair of crucial turnovers turned an apparent win into an overtime loss, the first of four straight setbacks to end the season. West Liberty held fourth-quarter leads in eight of its 10 MEC contests but finished at 4-6 in the league.

"Last year was a year of missed opportunities," Waialae said. "If we're good enough to lead a game in the fourth quarter, we're good enough to win it. We have to be the team that makes the play at the end to win those one-score games. We've done it from time to time but we haven't done it consistently enough."

The return of two key players from injury along with the influx of some promising new faces had the veteran head man looking forward to having all hands on deck. First-team All-MEC running back Quincy Wimbish missed the entire 2021 season after going down with an injury less than a week before the opener. In the 2020 spring season, he ranked third in the league in rushing yards, including a pair of 100-yard games. Hoosier, also coming back from off-season surgery, could give the defense a huge lift if he's able to get back to 100 percent.

On the offensive side, things look promising depth wise for the Black and Gold. Each position has veterans along with young talent pushing for starting jobs. Up front the offensive line is as veteran as they come, featuring Francisco Pedrozo, a graduate student, Quinton Williams, a senior, Blake Neely, a graduate student, Tyler Ely, a senior, and Ryan Creech, a redshirt sophomore that started all 11 games a year ago. Junior Cody Vokes and some talented freshmen linemen add to the Hilltopper front line.

Jamie Diven will get the opening night nod behind center for the Hilltoppers, while transfers Rudy Garcia and Parker Sherry add depth to the quarterback position. Diven completed 78-of-153 passes for 1,108 yards with 9 TDs and 8 INTs last season, while also rushing for two touchdowns.

Tyler Moler bolsters the WLU run game with Wimbish. He stepped up last year as the go-to back for the Hilltoppers with Wimbish sidelined and impressed. He ranked among MEC leaders with 843 rushing yards and 3 TDs on 226 carries to earn All-MEC honors. The now redshirt sophomore totaled four 100-yard rushing games, topped by a 41-carry, 150-yard day at Wheeling last season. 

Wisdom Jenkins, a graduate wide reciever, was second on the team with 34 catches for 491 yards and three TDs last season and will likely be a top target this year. Fellow graduate, Jerome Harris and senior T.J. Griffin look to add to the West Liberty air game.

David Gilcreast leads a young, compared to the offense, defense for West Liberty. Each of the past two season the veteran defensive end has earned second team all-conference honors. In 2021, he led the team with 48 tackles and four forced fumbles, while totaling 9.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss.

Live coverage links for tomorrow's season opener at Clarion are available at HilltopperSports.com/coverage.

West Liberty's home opener will be next Thursday night (September 8), when they open MEC play against Alderson Broaddus at West Family Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 6 pm.

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