Wheeling, W. Va. – It was a battle of the two teams tied for second in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Saturday in Athens, West Virginia. It was an offensive affair, but the Wheeling University Football team (6-3, 5-3) fell to Concord 62-31. The Cardinals ground game got back to form, with 209 yards on the ground, but the high powered Concord offense couldn't be stopped.

Right away, Concord showed their offensive prowess as they got into the endzone on their first play from scrimmage to take a 7-0 lead. The Cardinals wer forced to punt on their first possession, but Matt Greenwood was able to pin the Mountain Lions at their own three yard line. After an incompletion on the first play, Wheeling defensive lineman Chase Nolan forced a strip sack in the endzone. It was recovered by Caleb Grant and the Cardinals tied the game back up at 7-7. The Mountain Lions would score touchdowns on their next two possessions and went ahead 21-7. Wheeling would put together one more drive, needing seven plays to get down to the Mountain Lion three yard line. Javon Davis would plunge it in the endzone from five yards out and a missed extra point made it a 21-13 game at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, both defenses held strong as neither team could get points on the first three drives of the quarter. It wasn't until the 5:58 mark that Concord put together a to touchdown drive and made it a 28-13 game. Another touchdown drive for the Mountain Lions made it a 35-13 game as the half was winding down. The Cardinals got the ball back with 2:05 left in the half and they got down to the Mountain Lion 11 yard line. The Cardinals took three straight shots for the endzone and couldn't get the completion. Matt Greenwood would come in and kicked through the 28 yard field goal and the teams went into halftime with Concord leading 35-16.

On the first drive of the second half, Wheeling put together an eight play drive that got them down to the Concord 26. The Cardinals had converted a big fourth down on the drive and sat with a 4th and five on the Concord 26. Javon Davis dropped back to pass but was intercepted by Kevin Howard, who returned the ball 81 yards for a Concord touchdown, making it a 42-16 Concord advantage. On their next drive, the Cardinals moved the ball down field methodically, eating up seven minutes of the clock. They made it to the Concord 12 yard line and Davis made up for his interception, using his legs to finish the drive with his second rushing touchdown to make it a 42-23 game. Concord was at it again, adding another Touchdown and at the end of the third quarter, it would be 49-23 Concord.

A Matt Greenwood punt would start the fourth quarter and once again Concord was able to drive down the field and find the endzone. It extended their lead to 55-23 and the Cardinals would go back to work on offense. On Wheeling's next drive, Elijah Young nearly broke off his first touchdown of the day, scampering 39 yards to the Concord seven-yard line. Javon Davis finished the drive out on a seven-yard touchdown pass to Steven Mitchell, the fourth consecutive game where those two hooked up on a scoring play. Concord would add another Touchdown on their next drive and that brought the game to its final score of 62-31. It was the third straight game where the offense score 31 or more points, but it wasn't enough to stop the high-powered Concord defense.

Javon Davis had another strong day at quarterback, going 25-42 while throwing for 232 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Elijah Young continued his strong season, rushing for a team-high 123 yards on the ground and the rushing attack totaled 209 yards of net offense. Lowell Patron was the Cardinal's top target, catching eight balls for 52 yards, but Chris Canaday had the most receiving yards with five catches for 72 yards. Brandon Muñoz had a big day on defense, finishing with four tackles, including 3.0 tackles for loss while AJ Haythe finished with a career-best four tackles, three solo and one assisted.

The Cardinals return home for their final two regular season games, beginning next Saturday, November 5th, when they host Charleston with kick-off at 1 PM.