FOOTBALL: GAME NOTES

CU BROADCASTER PREVIEWS CONCORD vs SETON HILL

Concord Sports Information Director Kyle Cooper also doubles as CU's radio play-by-play announcer.  Now in his fourth season as the Voice of the Mountain Lions, Cooper shares his notes on Saturday's football game between Concord and Seton Hill at Callaghan Stadium.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm.


Pollard/Downs Tackle (JL) 314 x 188
On paper, the Mountain Lions are the favorite going into Saturday's game.  Concord (3-3, 3-1) is one of a few teams in the WVIAC that still has its destiny in its own hands, while Seton Hill (0-6, 0-4) is guaranteed its third consecutive losing season.

But what's at stake for CU is more than a victory.  It's an opportunity to get a promising season back on track.

The Mountain Lions took a three-game winning streak – and first place in the WVIAC – into last week's game at Glenville State.  CU's defense was solid, allowing only seven points, but the Mountain Lions were stymied by the Pioneers' aggressive defense and breakdowns in special teams in a 14-3 loss.

“It was a bad day for us,” said Concord head coach Garin Justice, “and you're going to get those during a season.  But we're better than what we showed and we have to get back to that.  We made mistakes, but they're fixable.  We have to get back to 'taking care of Concord,' as I like to say.  If we do what we're capable of we'll be a much better team on Saturday.”

Concord's defense has played up to its capabilities since the start of the conference season.  In four league games, CU has allowed 35 points and has forced 15 takeaways.  The defense kept the Mountain Lions in the game last week, but wore down after Glenville State had 20:09 of time of possession in the 2nd half.

“Our defense played well enough to win the game,” said Justice.  “They were just on the field too long.  Give credit to Glenville – they made plays when they had to, and we couldn't make enough plays when we had the ball.”

The Mountain Lions offense mustered only 28 plays and 100 yards in the 2nd half last week and had the ball for only 9:51.  It was a setback for a unit that had averaged 31.3 points, 74 plays and 504.3 yards in its first three conference games.

Gondor Run at GSC (JL) 314 x 209
Concord's rushing game suffered in the absence of All-WVIAC RB Brian Kennedy last week and averaged just 3.3 yards per carry.  But the Mountain Lions have a chance to improve on their rushing numbers on Saturday, facing a Seton Hill run defense that allowed 454 yards and six touchdowns in their 49-35 loss against the University of Charleston last week.  The Golden Eagles had 37:35 in time of possession.

Eight different running backs have gone over 100 yards rushing against Seton Hill this season.

Concord's special teams had a rough time at Glenville.  There was a missed 27-yard field goal attempt early in the 2nd quarter, and the Pioneers blocked a punt and returned it 51 yards for a touchdown late in the first half, which put them ahead for good.

Seton Hill's special teams have struggled as well this season.  The Griffins have allowed touchdowns on a kickoff return, a blocked punt and a punt return.  That could bode well for Concord punt returner Riyadh Richardson, who's averaging better than ten yards per return, including a 33-yarder last week.

Turnovers could also factor in to tomorrow's outcome.  Despite their record, Seton Hill is +3 in turnover differential, but Concord is a league-best +14.  The CU defense has forced at least three takeaways in five of its six games.

Seton Hill has weapons on offense.  Senior QB Ryan Morris is coming off an impressive performance against Charleston, in which he completed 22 of 41 passes for 379 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions.  His favorite target is WR Jeorge Valdovinos, who's gone over 100 yards receiving twice this season, including 173 yards on nine receptions – two for touchdowns – last week.

Richardson Tackle at GSC (JL) 314 x 209
But the Griffins' running game has been inconsistent.  Seton Hill has gone over 100 yards just twice in 2011, including only 29 yards last week.  Shepherd limited the Griffins to -45 yards in their meeting on September 17.


Beyond wanting to redeem themselves after last week, the Mountain Lions have other incentive to play well on Saturday – their schedule.  CU has a bye next week, meaning an unimpressive showing against Seton Hill would linger for two weeks.

“We absolutely do not want to go into the bye week with a bad taste in our mouths,” Justice said.  “We have a bad taste in our mouths from last week.  There was a little after-effect from the Glenville game during practice this week – the guys were a little down after what happened.  But as the week went by we started to get our energy back more and more.  Guys who were frowning on Monday were smiling by Wednesday.  We know what we have to do.”

A good start Saturday would be a great boon for the Mountain Lions.  Concord has scored only 20 points in the 1st quarter this season, but goes against a Seton Hill defense that's allowed 78 1st quarter points. 
Doing well early would also inspire Concord's fans in what is the Mountain Lions' last home game for nearly a month.
After next week's bye, the Mountain Lions visit Fairmont State on October 29 and West Liberty on November 5 before returning to Callaghan Stadium to host West Virginia Wesleyan on November 12.

“Starting well is definitely important,” said Justice.  “If we get off to a good start it'll make it easier for us to do the things we want to do.  If we play like we did at Glenville again, we'll lose.  But if we can get out to a strong start and play like we did against Shepherd, Charleston and (West Virginia) State, we'll be in good shape.
“We want to get our fans behind us.  We've had great support at home all year.  We need to go out and perform well.  If we do, our fans will get fired up, and that gets us fired up.  We have great fans and they make our place pretty tough for visiting teams.”

Saturday is Concord's “Blackout Game,” with all CU fans encouraged to wear black to Callaghan Stadium.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 102.3 The Ticket (WMTD, Hinton/Princeton/Beckley), starting with “The Mountain Lions Preview Show” at 12:30 pm.  Concord will also provide live streaming video and Live Stats, starting at kickoff.  Links are provided below.














(photos by Jennifer Logan)
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