FOOTBALL PREVIEW: CONCORD vs WEST LIBERTY

1:00 PM SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13; CALLAGHAN STADIUM

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By now, Concord Football fans know their team still has a chance to reach the NCAA playoffs. It's a long shot, but it's a chance.


Of course, that chance disappears if the Mountain Lions can't win their regular season finale against West Liberty Saturday afternoon at Callaghan Stadium.


Concord's four-game winning streak and 8-2 record (5-2 in the WVIAC) has lifted CU to the #8 spot in this week's Super Region 1 poll. The top six teams qualify for the playoffs, which begin on Saturday, November 20.



A lot of things in a lot of places have to happen in order for the Mountain Lions to be even considered for the post-season. Charleston defeating West Virginia Wesleyan in Buckhannon is one thing. Virginia State defeating Shaw in the CIAA is another. Bloomsburg defeating Mercyhurst in the PSAC's “State Game” is yet another. There there's the possibility of a Kutztown loss at Gannon and how that might help Concord's cause.

But, again, none of those things matter if CU doesn't knock off West Liberty (6-3, 5-2) in their 1:00 pm kickoff at Callaghan Stadium. And that won't be an easy thing.

The Hilltoppers bring in an offense accurately described as “high-flying,” “prolific” or “unstoppable.” WLU averages 44.9 points and 537.4 yards per game.

Making it go is QB Zack Amedro, the leading passer in the history of NCAA Division II. The senior comes in off a 34-44, 525-yard, eight-touchdown performance in West Liberty's 82-36 win at Seton Hill last week, lifting his career yardage to an almost-ridiculous 14,377 yards.
That's 8.17 miles.

This season, Amedro has completed 295 of 434 passes for 3702 yards and 36 touchdowns, with only eight interceptions. Six Hilltopper receivers have caught at least 20 passes, paced by WVIAC leader Ryan Travis (114 receptions, 1266 yards, 14 TDs) and Jermaine Carter (55-688-10).
Then there's RB Kevon Calhoun, a dual threat who's rushed for 830 yards and 12 TDs and hauled in 35 passes for 398 yards and another TD.

Concord head coach Mike Kellar knows the CU defense will, to say the least, face a tough test.

“We talked about it in our first staff meeting getting ready for this game. Amedro and Travis and those guys, you're not going to stop them. They're going to make their plays,” Kellar said. “One thing you can't do is let it get out of hand. You can't let them make so many plays that they dominate the game.
“Our staff is always going to come up with some good schemes,” Kellar continued. “But at the end of the day, if you play physically, pursue downhill and tackle, that's what wins you games on defense. That's all we're going to tell our kids to do – play hard, keep getting to your spots and keep tackling well.”

A former WVIAC quarterback himself, Kellar knows what Amedro has gone through in his career, and that the CU defense will be hard-pressed to slow him down.

“All quarterbacks start out as freshmen and it looks like the game is flying for them,” Kellar said. “But by the time a quarterback's a senior, the game slows down for them. For someone like Zach Amedro, who's taken just about every snap for four years, the game is in slow motion in his head. He'll go through options one through four, then look at option one again. He'll keep a play alive until he finds something that works. The key for us is to get pressure from our defensive line. If our front four can get pressure, that'll help us.”

The Mountain Lions, however, have a few offensive weapons of their own, centered on a core group of “triplets” – WR Thomas Mayo, RB Brian Kennedy and QB Zack Grossi.

Mayo has caught 66 passes for 1217 yards and 13 TDs this season. Kennedy has rushed for 953 yards and 11 TDs, to go with 227 receiving yards and two more TDs. Grossi has thrown for 2857 yards and 26 TDs.

In last week's 41-17 Rotary Bowl win over Fairmont State, Mayo made nine receptions, three of them touchdowns, for a school-record 258 yards. Kennedy rushed for 127 yards. Grossi went 21-34 for 419 yards and four TDs.

“You look back at the Dallas Cowboys teams in the '90s, they had their big three,” Kellar said, referring to the Cowboys' multi-Super Bowl-winning trio of RB Emmitt Smith, QB Troy Aikman and WR Michael Irvin. “If you've got a good quarterback, a really good receiver and a big-league running back, then all the guys around them are better. Those guys can make plays so that the other team can't take your triplets out of your game.
“We've got more balance in our offense than we did a year ago. We have more explosive people.”

Most observers, including d2football.com WVIAC columnist David Bykowski, predict Saturday's game will be a shootout. West Liberty leads the nation in total offense, while Concord is 4th.
The prospect of a high-scoring, high-yardage contest leaves Concord with a small margin for error. One thing the Mountain Lions cannot do is repeat one of the bad things from last week's game – penalties. CU was flagged 14 times for 144 yards, with two of the infractions wiping out touchdowns.

Kellar says all those yellow flags were a learning experience for a young team still getting accustomed to playing in important games.

“Our guys were so excited to play (last week),” said Kellar. “It was a different setting, it was the Rotary Bowl, and we were coming off big win the week before at Pembroke. It's funny, because we

haven't been in those types of games enough to understand that there's a certain way to handle yourself in those games. It took us the first five to seven minutes of that game to settle down and just play football.”


Saturday will be CU's Senior Day, the final home game for Josh Arrington, Jared Brown, Thomas Hearons, Bryan Roof, Chris Shatley, Nathan Tanner and Justin Williams.
The seven seniors will be honored in a pre-game ceremony.




Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 102.3 The Ticket (WMTD, Hinton/Princeton/Beckley) starting with the “Mountain Lion Preview Show” at 12:30 pm.
Concord will offer live, streaming video – including audio from the radio broadcast – starting at kickoff.
CU's Sports Information staff will post Live Stats, also beginning at kickoff.


STREAMING VIDEO

AUDIO WEBCAST

LIVE STATS

CONCORD STATISTICS

WEST LIBERTY STATISTICS

WVIAC STATISTICS

NCAA STATISTICS

WEST LIBERTY FOOTBALL HOME PAGE

WVIAC WEEK #12 PREVIEW

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