Wheeling, W. Va—The Wheeling University Football team (4-5), (3-4) hoped to prolong its winning ways in front of the home fans against Glenville State. However, the Pioneers outlasted the Cardinals, leaving them with a 28-21 Mountain East Conference (MEC) loss.
Glenville started hot and capitalized on most of their first-half possessions. When Wheeling got the ball back, they were halted by the Pioneer's top-tier defense. The second quarter began 14-0, with the Pioneers looking deadly in the red zone. Wheeling's Tyreik Scrivner recovered a fumble, but an interception called the Pioneer offense back out onto the field. They extended the lead to 21-0 with five minutes remaining in the half. Wheeling generated some momentum going into halftime with a 19-yard dot from Landon Lutz to Dasyn Hores to make it 21-7 at the break.
Turnovers and old-school defense were the story for the third quarter. There would be two turnovers on downs and two punts for both sides, a Wheeling fumble, and a Glenville interception by Cameron McMillion. The fourth quarter was quite the opposite. The Cardinals piled on two consecutive scores, a 20-yard receiving touchdown for Tre Holloway and a 30-yard rushing touchdown for Duane Green to make it 21 for each side. Glenville State took their time as they drove the length of the field and took the lead back 28-21. Lutz led the charge downfield but was dropped in the backfield as the ball popped out, and the Pioneers recovered.
In a recent interview with the Cardinal's Head Coach, Zac Bruney, he talked about his team's performance.
"We didn't play well early." He continued, "They have a very sound defense. We knew we were going to be in a dog fight for four quarters. We kinda got ourselves back on the right track toward the end of the first half. I thought we played an excellent second half; we just came up one drive short."
Bruney attributed his team's more favorable play in the second half to better execution. He praised the defense for holding the Pioneers to just seven points, which allowed the offense a chance to put points on the board.
"Just like the offense, we executed better. It wasn't what they were doing or anything we hadn't practiced for, against, or seen on film. It was just a matter of us executing, reading our keys, playing with better eyes, and I thought we tackled better."
Despite the loss, the defense played phenomenally. Jack Parry led the defense with nine tackles, boosting him to a conference-leading 68 tackles. Jojo Holmes forced the fumble Scrivner landed on, Jalen Wheeler had three pass breakups, and McMillion recorded an interception.
Offensively, it was Lutz's third straight game, finishing with 200+ passing yards and multiple touchdowns. Green led the ground game with 69 yards, while Steven Mitchell paced the receiving game with 75 yards.
The Matchup
Concord is 1-8 with a 1-6 MEC record. They are coming off a tough 34-19 loss to Fairmont State on the road. Senior JQ Brown headlines the Mountain Lions with 563 total rushing yards and is fifth in the MEC. Sophomore linebacker Ryker Brown has proven himself to be a nuisance in the secondary, as Brown has been credited with 65 tackles on the season, 4th in the conference. Concord boasts a top-three pass defense, only allowing 1,807 passing yards against them.
Bruney talked about the upcoming matchup against the Mountain Lions.
"They're better now than they were at the beginning of the season. They're playing at a high level defensively. They got some good weapons on offense." He remarked, "...but they look more comfortable in what they're doing, and you can tell because they're playing faster, they're playing at a higher level, and they've given themselves opportunities to win."
This will be the fifth meeting between Concord and Wheeling. The two met last year at Bishop Schmitt Field, and the Cardinals put on an offensive showcase in front of the fans, winning 44-27. Landon Lutz finished with 249 passing yards and a touchdown.
The Details
The Wheeling University football team will travel to Athens, W. Va., to take on the Concord Mountain Lions on Saturday, November 9th, at 1 p.m. inside Callaghan Stadium. The game will be streamed live HERE, and LiveStats may be viewed HERE.
