West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University football team is back on the road this week in a contest with both teams looking to build momentum at the midway point of the season, traveling to Concord for a Saturday afternoon match-up. The Hilltoppers and Mountain Lions are slated for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Callaghan Stadium in Athens, West Virginia.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: Athens, W.Va. (Callaghan Stadium)
• Kickoff: 1 P.M.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Saturday's game with a 0-4 (0-3 MEC) record on the season following a 37-19 loss at home against UNC Pembroke last weekend.
• West Liberty is averaging 19.0 points per game with 320.0 passing and 36.3 rushing yards per game, accumulating an average of 356.3 yards of total offense through four games. The Hilltopper offense has scored eight touchdowns through the air and two on the ground during the season.
• The Black & Gold have one of the top passing attacks in the country as Rudy Garcia leads the MEC completions per game (29.5), total passing yards (1,219) and passing yards per game (304.8) while also ranking third, fourth and fifth in DII respectively.
• Rashawn Harvey has been one of the top wide receivers in the country during the first month of the season, ranking second nationally in receptions per game (9.0), third in receiving touchdowns (6), ninth in total receiving yards (414), and 12^th in receiving yards per game (103.5). He is joined by another top tier wide out in Chris Charles who ranks tenth nationally in receptions per game (7.2), 25^th in total receiving yards (361), and 30^th in receiving yards per game (90.2). Charles has added a pair of receiving touchdowns.
• The WLU rushing attack posted a season-high of 74 rushing yards last weekend, with 75 yards and a 23 yard touchdown run coming from Khadeem Richards.
• On the defensive side of the ball WLU has accumulated 223.0 tackles with 27.0 tackles-for-loss and 5.0 sacks. The Hilltopper defense has forced two turnovers on the year, with one interception and one fumble recovery.
• Trent Crawford leads the defensive unit with 31.0 tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss and 1.0 sack. Crawford has posted a pair of double digit tackle performances this season with ten tackles against Walsh and Frostburg State. Gage Fiore is second on the team with 17.0 total tackles. Bre'Andre Horsley and Cam Rice has notched a team-high of 5.5 and 5.0 tackles-for-loss, while four players have each recorded 1.0 sack.
• John Brown picked off the lone interception of the year while Taison Fa'Asuamanu made the lone fumble recovery.
• Joshuah Clark is the top return man in the WLU special teams' unit, returning 12 kickoffs for 272 yards while averaging 22.7 yards per return. Against UNCP he tallied a season-long return of 61 yards in the third quarter.
• West Liberty has converted 34-of-74 (46.0%) third down attempts compared to 16-of-51 (31.4%) for their opponents. The Black & Gold are 4-of-7 (57.1%) on fourth down attempts while their opponents are 1-of-2 (50.0%). In the red zone the Hilltoppers are 7-of-13 on the season with six touchdowns and one field goal while their opponents are 14-of-17 with 12 touchdowns and two field goals.
• Roger Waialae is in his 19^th season as the head coach at West Liberty with a career record of 92-104 with the Hilltoppers. Waialae is currently the longest tenured coach in the MEC and holds the second most wins all-time in WLU football history.

CONCORD STORYLINES

• Concord enters Saturday's game with a record of 0-4 (0-3 MEC) following last week's 44-27 loss at Wheeling.
• Concord is averaging 19.5 points per game with 292.8 passing and 29.3 rushing yards per game, accumulating an average 322.0 yards of total offense through four games. The Mountain Lions' offense has scored ten touchdowns through the air and one on the ground during the season.
• Jack Mangel ranks sixth in NCAA Division II with 24.75 completions per game at quarterback and ranks 13^th nationally in both total passing yards (1,115) and passing yards per game (278.8). He also ranks 16^th nationally with ten passing touchdowns on the year.
• Kris Copeland leads the offense with an average of 136.0 all-purpose yards per game, ranking 20^th in NCAA Division II. He also leads the MEC and ranks fourth and eighth respectively in DII with 431 total receiving yards and 107.8 receiving yards per game. He is second in the conference and ranks fourth and eighth respectively in DII with 8.5 receptions per game and eight receiving touchdowns this year.
• Thurlow Wilkins leads the rushing attack with 76 total rushing yards and an average of 25.3 yards per game this season.
• On the defensive side of the ball CU has accumulated 262.0 tackles with 28.0 tackles-for-loss and 3.0 sacks. The Mountain Lions' defense has forced two turnovers on the year, intercepting one pass and recovering one fumble.
• Jamari Smith leads the defensive unit with 30.0 tackles, 2.0 tackles-for-loss, and 1.0 sack. Kendall Bournes and Brodee Rice have added 29.0 and 27.0 tackles respectively.
• Trevis Dampier leads the team with 3.0 tackles-for-loss while three different players have recorded one sack.
• Rice collected the lone interception of the season and returned it 47 yards against Charleston. Lance Blankenship made the lone fumble recovery of the season against Wheeling.
• Kyle Cooke has been the top return man on the special team's unit for CU, returning four kickoffs for 106 yards and an average of 26.5 yards per return. He posted a season-long kickoff return of 52 yards at Wheeling.
• Concord has converted 17-of-56 (30%) third down attempts compared to 24-of-51 (47%) for their opponents. The Mountain Lions are 5-of-9 (56%) on fourth down attempts while their opponents are 2-of-2 (100%) in four games. In the red zone CU is 8-of-10 on the season with seven touchdowns and one field goal, while their opponents are 13-of-17 with 12 touchdowns and one field goal.
• Brian Ferguson is in his first season as the head coach at Concord with a 0-4 record during his time with the Mountain Lions.

SERIES HISTORY

• West Liberty holds the narrow 39-38-3 all-time series lead, but since the year 2000 the teams are 11-11 against one another.
• The Mountain Lions defeated the Hilltoppers 45-28 at West Family Stadium last year on October 8, 2022.