WHEELING, W.Va. (Nov. 9) – Despite holding a top-five Division II passing offense to 124 yards through the air, the Cardinals were handed a 24-0 loss by West Virginia State Saturday afternoon in the home finale at Bishop Schmitt Field.
 
Wheeling University drops to 0-10 overall, 0-9 in the Mountain East Conference (MEC). Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets improve to 7-2 in the MEC, 7-3 overall.
 
Sophomore quarterback Tucker Strachan (Kensington, Md./Bullis) finished the day 14-of-26 for 146 yards with two interceptions. Redshirt-junior wide receiver Jaquaun Davidson (Duquesne, Pa./Elizabeth Forward) led the team with 53 yards receiving on three catches.
 
The Cardinals took the opening kickoff and marched down the field. Sophomore running back Sy Alli IV (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) ripped off rushes of nine, 16 and 10 yards as part of a drive that helped Wheeling reach the Yellow Jacket 21-yard line. Strachan called his own number on the next play and broke loose for a 20-yard rush, but was marked just short of the end zone on a attempt to stretch for the goal line.
 
The drive stalled out from there. West Virginia State stuffed two running attempts and a third down pass fell incomplete. Sophomore kicker Matthew Greeenwood (St. Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville) miss-hit a 25-yard field goal attempt that deflected off the crossbar to keep the game scoreless with 7:46 to play in the opening quarter.
 
After a West Virginia State punt, Wheeling drove the length of the field once again. A 28-yard completion to sophomore wide receiver Ryan LaFollette (Woodsfield, Ohio/Monroe Central) and a 27-yard catch-and-run by Davidson had the Cardinals back inside the red zone. Wheeling once again came away without points after three plays netted six yards and a fourth-down pass fell incomplete in the end zone.
 
West Virginia State appeared poised to score the game's first points when they drove inside the Wheeling 10-yard line, but a fumble forced by linebacker Garrett Givens (Rogers, Ohio/Beaver Local) was recovered by the Cardinals at the two-yard line with three minutes to play in the first half and deny any points.
 
The Cardinals went three-and-out and punted from their own end zone. The Yellow Jackets took over at the Wheeling 33-yard line and punched the ball in on two plays to take a 7-0 lead with one minute to play until halftime.
 
The Cardinal defense forced a three-and-out on the first possession of the second half and were setup near midfield. Wheeling tried to mix things up with a flea-flicker, but Strachan under-threw LaFollette and West Virginia State took over on the interception at their own 30-yard line.
 
The Yellow Jackets scored on an 11-play, 70-yard drive that was capped off with a direct-snap one-yard touchdown run to extend their lead to 14-0 with 7:42 left in the third quarter.

Wheeling's offense never got going in the second half. West Virginia State held the Cardinals to just two first downs over the final 30 minutes and kept Wheeling off of the scoreboard for the first-time this season.
 
Sophomore linebacker James Reese III (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley) led the defense with 10 tackles (six solo), 1.5 tackles for loss, and an interception. Freshman linebacker Josiah Wright (Loganville, Ga./Loganville) finished with nine tackles (four solo) and one tackle for loss.
 
West Virginia State was led by running back Taylor Carter's 121 yards rushing on 20 carries with one touchdown.
 
Wheeling will close out its first varsity season next Saturday, November 16 when it travels to Athens, West Virginia to take on Concord (1-9, 1-8 MEC) at 12 p.m.
 
GAME NOTES: West Virginia State entered the game averaging 324.8 passing yards per game and were held to 124 through the air … WVSU quarterback Austin Hensley was knocked out of the game in the first quarter and did not return … the Yellow Jackets finished the game with 302 yards rushing and held the ball for over 36 minutes of game clock ... Wheeling's offense was on the field for less than seven minutes in the second half … Greenwood punted four times with an average of 45.8 yards per kick … he placed two inside the 20-yard line and established a season-high with a 70-yard punt late in the game … the game only lasted two hours and 23 minutes of real time ... prior to kick-off, Wheeling honored its lone senior, Jack Fitch (Martins Ferry, Ohio/Martins Ferry) for his contributions to the program.