Wheeling, W. Va. - It is the date that every Wheeling University Football fan has marked on their calendars on Saturday as the Wheeling Football team (6-2, 5-2) made the trip up the hill to take on West Liberty in "The Battle for Wheeling." The Cardinals offense came out strong and was able to maintain that strength throughout the game as they downed the Hilltoppers 42-21 to move to 5-2 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play. The Cardinals totaled 425 yards of offense on the day, and a big defensive play in the fourth quarter sealed the victory as Wheeling moves to 4-0 overall in "The Battle for Wheeling" this season.

The Cardinals would receive the game's opening kick-off and didn't waste any time driving down the field. They set up at the Hilltoppers 17 yard line and Quarterback Javon Davis would hit Lowell Patron for Wheeling's first touchdown of the day. It was the second consecutive week that the Cardinals scored on their first drive of the day, and they took a 7-0 lead just two minutes into the game. The Cardinals stopped the Hilltoppers on their opening drive, but the second drive produced a field goal that made it a 7-3 game. Wheeling's quick strike offense would strike again as Davis connected with Chris Canaday on play action for a 57-yard touchdown pass and the Cardinals led 14-3. However, West Liberty responded with a three minute drive to end the first, and got into the endzone and converted the two-point conversion to make it a 14-11 game after one quarter of play.

The Hilltoppers ended the first quarter with the ball and was set up at the Wheeling five yard line to start the second quarter. They kicked through a field goal to cap off the drive as the defense bent but didn't break to make it a 14-14 game. On the ensuing Wheeling drive, Elijah Young got things started with an 11 yard run and Davis moved the ball through the air until Wheeling was at the Hilltopper 29-yard line. For the second straight week, Davis connected with Steven Mitchell on a touchdown pass, this time for 29 yards, and Wheeling took a 21-14 lead. West Liberty would get on the board the very next drive, answering with a touchdown of their own to make it 21-21. That was the score as the team's broke for the locker room before Homecoming ceremonies began.

As the second half began, the defenses took over as the two teams would be forced to punt on the first three drives of the third quarter. Wheeling would be the first to break through in their second drive of the half as they went down to the Hilltoppers 27 yard line. Davis would end up throwing his third touchdown pass of the day as he connected with Lowell Patron for a 27 yard strike that brought the score to 28-21. On the next drive, West Liberty was moving down the field and moved to the Wheeling 46 yard line. That is when linebacker Jayvon Johnson jumped in front of a Hilltoppers pass and returned it to the house to extend Wheeling's lead to 35-21. It would remain that score heading into the fourth quarter as Wheeling looked to seal the win.

On West Liberty's first drive of the fourth quarter, Johnson was the defensive culpirate again as he grabbed his second interception of the day and returned the ball to the Hilltoppers 14 yard line. Wheeling would be set up and Davis threw his fourth touchdown pass of the day, this time to Chris Canaday on a 13 yard strike as Wheeling went ahead 42-21. The Cardinals would go on to win by that same score as they moved to 5-2 in MEC play and 6-2 overall.

Leading the way for the Cardinals offense was Javon Davis, who finished the day 16-24 while throwing for 313 yards and five touchdowns in the game. His top target was His top target was senior Chris Canaday, who pulled in five catches for 114 yards and two touchdowns in the game. Sy Alli and Lowell Patron also had big days through the air, each picking up 59 yards each in the game. Alli also led the Cardinal's ground game with 66 yards while Elija Young added 46 yards on the ground. The defensive effort was led by Jayvon Johnson, who finished with seven tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and two interceptions, including the pick six.

The Wheeling Football team returns to action on Saturday, October 29th when they head on the road to face Concord with kick-off at 1 PM.