Charleston defeats Fairmont to improve to 6-2
By Duane Cochran
Fairmont Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT— Fairmont State’s football team attempted to do its best Notre Dame impression here on homecoming Saturday afternoon at Duvall-Rosier Field.
However, unlike the 1977 Fighting Irish who warmed up in their home blue shirts and then took the field in green shirts and proceeded to whip USC 49-19, the Falcons yesterday looked a little more like the 2007 version of the Fighting Irish.
FSU warmed up in their traditional home maroon game shirts, but changed just before kickoff to brand new gold (or Falcon tan) jerseys.
The gesture, however, had little effect on the game’s outcome as the visiting University of Charleston Golden Eagles rolled to a 35-9 victory over the Falcons.
The win improved UC to 6-2 overall and to 4-1 [for a first place tie] in the West Virginia Conference. FSU, on the other hand, dropped its fifth straight game and fell to 2-5 overall and to 0-5 in the league.
“We had ordered the gold shirts because it was something our seniors had decided upon and wanted to do as sort of a tribute to those coming back here for homecoming, but that was about it,” said FSU coach Mike Lopez. “It wasn’t like Notre Dame in ’77, but you know Notre Dame has come out several times since then in green shirts and has played terrible.”
“Terrible” was about the best way to describe Saturday’s game, which really was never a contest. Charleston scored on a nine-play, 80-yard drive on its first possession and never looked back. The TD came on a two-yard run by former Kennedy Award winner Josh Culbertson.
Midway through the second quarter Fairmont, trailing 7-0, opted to roll the dice and go for it on fourth-and-two from the UC 42. Fullback Jamal Forde was stopped for no gain and the Golden Eagles took over. Two plays later, UC quarterback DeRante Hunter connected down the seam with a wide open Rusty Taylor on a 53-yard touchdown pass on third-and-five.
“That was a nice throw by Hunter,” said UC head coach Tony DeMeo. “He had an either-or pass there and he made the right read and the right play. He delivered the ball perfectly and it led to a big play for us at a key time.”
Charleston then capped off its perfect first half with an eight-play, 51-yard TD drive on its next possession to take a 21-0 lead at the break. That touchdown came by virtue of a one-yard run by Nick Lockhart.
Down by three touchdowns, Fairmont showed signs of life early in the second half. The Falcons opened the final 30 minutes with a 10-play, 43-yard scoring drive that culminated with a 43-yard field goal by Alex Ashley.
On the ensuing kickoff, UC’s Aaron Higdon returned the ball to the FSU 45, but the Falcons’ Drew Rossignol forced a fumble that teammate Charles Butler recovered at the Fairmont 41.
Penalties then put FSU in a hole. Facing third-and-30, Fairmont freshman quarterback Vick Bradford connected with Allen Jewell on a 79-yard scoring strike. Jewell out jumped a pair of UC defenders for the ball, broke a tackle attempt near the Golden Eagles’ 40 and raced untouched the rest of the way down the sidelines to make it 21-9.
“Give Mike Lopez and Fairmont a lot of credit because they hung in there and battled back,” said DeMeo. “They never quit.”
FSU opted to go for a two-point conversion to make it a 10-point game with 7:03 left in the third quarter, but a pass attempt intended for tight end Stephon Johnson fell harmlessly to the end zone turf when Johnson was blatantly held on the play and no flag was thrown.
“You hate to see anything get taken away from your team and today Stephon literally got pulled down on that play,” said Lopez. “It could’ve been a 10-point game there, but it didn’t happen for whatever that’s worth. That was just horrendous.”
UC, though, regrouped on its next possession and marched 65 yards in just five plays and 1:03 to make it 28-9 on another short TD run by Culbertson.
“We knew we had to respond there because if we didn’t we were going to be in a dogfight with Fairmont for the rest of the game and we didn’t want that,” said DeMeo. “We had to get the advantage back and we did.”
Charleston tacked on one more touchdown for good measure midway through the fourth quarter when Hunter connected with Terrance Spencer on a 30-yard touchdown pass.
Hunter was the catalyst all afternoon for UC’s talented offense, which rolled up 431 total yards. He rushed for a game-high 160 yards on just 14 carries and completed 8-of-10 passes for 141 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
“They’re an absolute offensive monster,” said Lopez. “I’m glad they ran out of time because I think today they could’ve scored 60 on us.
“Tony is a master of running the option. You saw that today. The man has written a couple of books on it and you saw it to perfection today. I think you saw a playoff team out there because I don’t think they’ll lose again. Believe it or not, we had people assigned to the fullback, assigned to the quarterback and assigned to the pitch man. I know at times today it didn’t look like it, but we did. They just executed to perfection.”
Fairmont finished with 367 total yards, 191 of which came on the ground. Doug Brazill led the Falcons with 129 yards on 24 carries. Bradford was 7-of-14 passing for 148 yards, one TD and one interception. Jewell led the FSU receivers with two catches for 108 yards and a score.
Fairmont State returns to action next Saturday evening when it goes outside of the conference to host Clarion (Pa.) University in a 6 p.m. game at Duvall-Rosier Field. UC travels to Seton Hill University.
Fairmont Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT— Fairmont State’s football team attempted to do its best Notre Dame impression here on homecoming Saturday afternoon at Duvall-Rosier Field.
However, unlike the 1977 Fighting Irish who warmed up in their home blue shirts and then took the field in green shirts and proceeded to whip USC 49-19, the Falcons yesterday looked a little more like the 2007 version of the Fighting Irish.
FSU warmed up in their traditional home maroon game shirts, but changed just before kickoff to brand new gold (or Falcon tan) jerseys.
The gesture, however, had little effect on the game’s outcome as the visiting University of Charleston Golden Eagles rolled to a 35-9 victory over the Falcons.
The win improved UC to 6-2 overall and to 4-1 [for a first place tie] in the West Virginia Conference. FSU, on the other hand, dropped its fifth straight game and fell to 2-5 overall and to 0-5 in the league.
“We had ordered the gold shirts because it was something our seniors had decided upon and wanted to do as sort of a tribute to those coming back here for homecoming, but that was about it,” said FSU coach Mike Lopez. “It wasn’t like Notre Dame in ’77, but you know Notre Dame has come out several times since then in green shirts and has played terrible.”
“Terrible” was about the best way to describe Saturday’s game, which really was never a contest. Charleston scored on a nine-play, 80-yard drive on its first possession and never looked back. The TD came on a two-yard run by former Kennedy Award winner Josh Culbertson.
Midway through the second quarter Fairmont, trailing 7-0, opted to roll the dice and go for it on fourth-and-two from the UC 42. Fullback Jamal Forde was stopped for no gain and the Golden Eagles took over. Two plays later, UC quarterback DeRante Hunter connected down the seam with a wide open Rusty Taylor on a 53-yard touchdown pass on third-and-five.
“That was a nice throw by Hunter,” said UC head coach Tony DeMeo. “He had an either-or pass there and he made the right read and the right play. He delivered the ball perfectly and it led to a big play for us at a key time.”
Charleston then capped off its perfect first half with an eight-play, 51-yard TD drive on its next possession to take a 21-0 lead at the break. That touchdown came by virtue of a one-yard run by Nick Lockhart.
Down by three touchdowns, Fairmont showed signs of life early in the second half. The Falcons opened the final 30 minutes with a 10-play, 43-yard scoring drive that culminated with a 43-yard field goal by Alex Ashley.
On the ensuing kickoff, UC’s Aaron Higdon returned the ball to the FSU 45, but the Falcons’ Drew Rossignol forced a fumble that teammate Charles Butler recovered at the Fairmont 41.
Penalties then put FSU in a hole. Facing third-and-30, Fairmont freshman quarterback Vick Bradford connected with Allen Jewell on a 79-yard scoring strike. Jewell out jumped a pair of UC defenders for the ball, broke a tackle attempt near the Golden Eagles’ 40 and raced untouched the rest of the way down the sidelines to make it 21-9.
“Give Mike Lopez and Fairmont a lot of credit because they hung in there and battled back,” said DeMeo. “They never quit.”
FSU opted to go for a two-point conversion to make it a 10-point game with 7:03 left in the third quarter, but a pass attempt intended for tight end Stephon Johnson fell harmlessly to the end zone turf when Johnson was blatantly held on the play and no flag was thrown.
“You hate to see anything get taken away from your team and today Stephon literally got pulled down on that play,” said Lopez. “It could’ve been a 10-point game there, but it didn’t happen for whatever that’s worth. That was just horrendous.”
UC, though, regrouped on its next possession and marched 65 yards in just five plays and 1:03 to make it 28-9 on another short TD run by Culbertson.
“We knew we had to respond there because if we didn’t we were going to be in a dogfight with Fairmont for the rest of the game and we didn’t want that,” said DeMeo. “We had to get the advantage back and we did.”
Charleston tacked on one more touchdown for good measure midway through the fourth quarter when Hunter connected with Terrance Spencer on a 30-yard touchdown pass.
Hunter was the catalyst all afternoon for UC’s talented offense, which rolled up 431 total yards. He rushed for a game-high 160 yards on just 14 carries and completed 8-of-10 passes for 141 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
“They’re an absolute offensive monster,” said Lopez. “I’m glad they ran out of time because I think today they could’ve scored 60 on us.
“Tony is a master of running the option. You saw that today. The man has written a couple of books on it and you saw it to perfection today. I think you saw a playoff team out there because I don’t think they’ll lose again. Believe it or not, we had people assigned to the fullback, assigned to the quarterback and assigned to the pitch man. I know at times today it didn’t look like it, but we did. They just executed to perfection.”
Fairmont finished with 367 total yards, 191 of which came on the ground. Doug Brazill led the Falcons with 129 yards on 24 carries. Bradford was 7-of-14 passing for 148 yards, one TD and one interception. Jewell led the FSU receivers with two catches for 108 yards and a score.
Fairmont State returns to action next Saturday evening when it goes outside of the conference to host Clarion (Pa.) University in a 6 p.m. game at Duvall-Rosier Field. UC travels to Seton Hill University.