FOOTBALL: SEASON ENDS

CU DROPS SHOOTOUT TO WEST LIBERTY

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A lot of things had to happen for the Concord Football team to have a chance to qualify for the NCAA playoffs.

None of them did.

Most Division II football observers agreed that for Concord to be considered for a post-season berth it would need a victory over West Liberty Saturday afternoon at Callaghan Stadium, Charleston to beat West Virginia Wesleyan in the WVIAC, Virginia State to beat Shaw in the CIAA and Bloomsburg to beat Mercyhurst in the PSAC.

None of which happened. All the day's results went against CU, including a 56-33 defeat at the hands of the Hilltoppers on a picturesque November afternoon in Athens.

The loss snapped Concord's four-game winning streak and dropped CU to 4th place in the conference. Still, Concord completed a remarkable season at 8-3, 5-3 and left Mountain Lion Nation looking forward to next year.

Riding touchdown runs of 74 and 10 yards from Kevon Calhoun, West Liberty bolted out to a 21-6 lead after the 1st quarter.

Concord answered with one-yard TD runs by Chris Rodriguez and Zack Grossi in the 2nd quarter to trail 21-20 at halftime.

CU opened the second half with a 16-play, 82-yard, 4:53 drive, capped by Brian Kennedy's one-yard TD plunge, to take its first lead at 27-21.

But West Liberty reeled off the next 28 points. Calhoun ran for touchdowns of 3, 10 and 73 yards, and Zach Amedro added a one-yard TD plunge to put the Hilltoppers ahead 49-27 midway through the 4th quarter.

Concord came back with a three-yard TD pass from Zack Grossi to Thomas Mayo, but WLU replied with a nine-yard TD pass from Amedro to Ryan Travis to close out the scoring.

As anticipated, Saturday's game featured a copious amount of yardage.
West Liberty, the nation's leading offense, produced 601 total yards on 77 plays.
Calhoun rushed 22 times for 258 yards and five touchdowns.
Amedro, the leading QB in Division II history, went 34-51 for 356 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He ends his collegiate career with 14,733 yards.
Travis caught 12 passes for 136 yards and a TD.

Concord, the #4 offense in the nation, ran an eye-popping 103 plays for 557 yards.
Brian Kennedy topped CU with 33 rushes for 139 yards and a TD, while adding 10 receptions for 103 more yards.
Grossi went 30-53 for 359 yards and two TDs, but also threw two interceptions.
Mayo hauled in eight passes for 98 yards and a TD.

CU and West Liberty combined to run 180 plays for 1158 yards.

Penalties plagued Concord for the second straight week. The officials flagged CU 14 times for 147 yards, including a pair of curious offensive pass interference calls in the end zone that stalled promising CU drives.

2010 was CU's first eight-win season since 1991.

Saturday was Senior Day at Callaghan. It was the final game in maroon and gray for Josh Arrington, Jared Brown, Thomas Hearons, Bryan Roof, Chris Shatley, Nathan Tanner and Justin Williams.

_{(action photos by Jennifer Logan)}

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