Concord Set For Test at Shepherd

Complete Game Notes


Concord travels to Shepherd with an overall record of 2-2 and a 1-1 record in the WVIAC. The Mountain Lions are coming off of a 23-16 win at West Virginia State last weekend. The Rams defeated Charleston last week, 16-10, to improve its record to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the WVIAC.

MOUNTAIN LION FACTS
-Concord's victory over Shepherd last year snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Rams.

-The Mountain Lions rank second in the WVIAC, and 38th in the nation, in passing defense. CU has allowed just 176.2 yards per game through the air in four games this season.

-Ervin Moore was named the WVIAC's Special Teams Player of the Week after blocking an extra point attempt at West Virginia State. Moore is the third Mountain Lion to be recognized by the WVIAC this season.

-A victory over Shepherd would be Concord's third set of back-to-back road wins since 2009.

SCOUTING CONCORD
-Concord enters the matchup of preseason conference favorites averaging 20.8 points per game while allowing 21 points a contest. As a team, Concord ranks fifth in the conference in total defense and sixth in total offense.

-The CU offense has passed for 193.2 yards per game and rushed 95.8 yards per contest. Concord's defense has allowed 155.2 yards on the ground and 176.2 yards through the air.

-The Mountain Lions have played their best football in the second half this season. Through four games, CU has been outscored 52-35 in the first half but owns a 48-32 advantage over its opponents in the second half.

-In two games as Concord's quarterback, Albert Rose has completed 27-of-44 passes for 266 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

-Calvinaugh Jones and Chris Rodriguez spearhead the Concord rushing attack. Jones has run for 182 yards and Rodriguez has gained 128 yards.

-Randall Hawkins has pulled in a team-high 20 receptions while fellow receiver Ansel Ponder has totaled 232 yards receiving and scored two touchdowns.

- Jake Lilly is tied for the WVIAC lead in tackles with 46 stops. Davon Marion (28), Howard Jordan (28), Silas Agyemang (23) and Nate Pollard (16) round out Concord's top-five tacklers.

- Agyemang has racked up team-highs in tackles for a loss (8.5) and sacks (2).
-Lilly and Marion are tied for the team lead with two interceptions and five passes defended.

-Brad Cox has punted 27 times this season for 1,125 yards. He has an average of 41.7 yards per punt and has placed eight punts inside the 20-yard line. Nine of Cox's punts have gone for over 50 yards. Cox's punting average ranks first in the WVIAC and 16th in the nation.

-Kicker Andy Ellington is 1-for-2 in field goal attempts this season and 10-for-10 on extra point attempts.

WEEK FOUR RECAP
Concord snapped its two-game losing streak by defeating West Virginia State University, 23-16, at Lakin Field in what was Concord's first road test of the year.

Quarterback Albert Rose threw for 129 yards and two touchdowns on 17 completions while also rushing for 68 yards and another score. Jones carried the ball 18 times for a total of 71 yards. He also caught a 28-yard touchdown pass. Tiko Henderson hauled in two catches for 49 yards and one touchdown.

The Concord defense continued to play well. In addition to holding the Yellow Jackets to just 52 yards rushing, the Mountain Lions stopped WVSU on both of its fourth-down attempts and recorded 11 tackles for a loss.

Leading the way for the Concord defense was Davon Marion, who made seven tackles and had a game-changing interception. Howard Jordan finished with a team-high 11 tackles. The CU defense produced two sacks thanks to quarterback takedowns by Silas Agyemang, Jake Lilly, (1/2) and Gary Saylor (1/2). Agyemang finished with 2.5 TFLs

As a team the Mountain Lions were 4-for-4 on fourth-down conversions and a 162-52 advantage in rushing yards.

FIVE TO WATCH ON DEFENSE
Jake Lilly ranks eighth in the nation in total tackles. He also leads the WVIAC in interceptions. Lilly has had at least nine tackles in a game in 13 of his last 14 games.

Silas Agyemang has lived in the backfield lately. Agyemang already has 8.5 TFLs, the fourth-most in the WVIAC on the season, including two sacks.

No player on the Concord defense has made more big plays this season than Davon Marion. The sophomore safety has two picks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Howard Jordan is coming off of a career-best 11-tackle game against West Virginia State.

Gary Saylor had a career-day in Concord's win over West Virginia State, making five tackles, one TFL and a half of sack.

FIVE TO WATCH ON OFFENSE
Calvinaugh Jones has recorded 40 rushing attempts and ran for 182 yards for a 4.6 yards per carry average. He has also proven to be a reliable receiver out of the backfield with three grabs for 49 yards and one touchdown.

Albert Rose will be making his third start of the year. Rose threw for two touchdowns last week and was also a threat with his feet, rushing for 68 yards and one touchdown on nine attempts.

Tiko Henderson has made big plays in two of Concord's games. Henderson blocked a punt vs. Winston-Salem State and caught a 44-yard touchdown pass, his first-career TD, vs. West Virginia State last week.

Ansel Ponder made a team-high three receptions last week. For the year, Ponder has averaged 12.2 yards per catch off of 19 grabs and 232 total yards.

Jocorey Robins ran the ball for the first time in his collegiate career vs. WV State, running three times for 10 yards.

SCOUTING SHEPHERD
Shepherd has been impressive to start the year. Since losing their first game of the season to nationally-ranked Shippensburg, 38-28, the Rams have won their last three contests in dominating fashion.

The preseason WVIAC favorites defeated American International 34-7 in week two, Seton Hill 42-6 in week three and Charleston 16-10 in week four.  SU has notched six consecutive WVIAC victories, with its last loss coming at WV Wesleyan on Oct. 8 last year (45-44 loss in overtime).

The Rams are led by longtime coach Monte Carter, who is in his 26th season at Shepherd. In those 26 years, Carter has racked up a record of 185-81-1. Carter has been a collegiate head coach for 32 years and has a career-mark of 216-108-2.

The Shepherd defense has been stout this year. The Rams allow just 41.2 yards rushing per game, easily the lowest total in the WVIAC and the fifth-best total in the nation. Shepherd gives up 285.8 yards of total offense and 15.2 points to its opponents per game.

Offensively, Shepherd sports a relatively balanced attack. The Rams have gained an average of 335.7 yards per game of total offense off of 134.2 yards rushing and 201.5 yards passing per game.

FIVE TO WATCH ON DEFENSE
Keon Robinson is the reigning WVIAC Defensive Player of the Week after returning an interception 48 yards for a touchdown. On the season, Robinson has 14 tackles and three pass break-ups.

Levi Barber also had an interception in Shepherd's win vs. Charleston.

Dominique Dixon is Shepherd's leading tackler. Dixon has made 30 stops, including 5 TFLs and one sack. Dixon has one of Shepherd's five forced fumbles this season.

Howard Jones has produced three sacks on the season. Jones' sack total is the fourth-highest in the WVIAC this season.

A.J. Parrish is Shepherd's second-leading tackler with a total of 26 stops off of 16 solo tackles and 10 assisted tackles.

FIVE TO WATCH ON OFFENSE
Quarterback Bobby Cooper has thrown for seven touchdowns and 767 yards in four games this year. Cooper has completed 70-of-113 passes.

Shepherd features a two-headed rushing attack of Mike Haynes and Jihad Rasheed. Haynes has run for 160 yards and two scores on 46 attempts. Rasheed has 34 carries to his name and 144 yards and two touchdowns of his own.

Wider receivers Larry Lowe and Will McKenzie have combined for 35 receptions, 386 yards and three touchdowns this year.