Box Score
ATHENS, W. Va. – The Concord University football team cut a 16-point deficit in half, but it wasn't quite enough to knock off eighth-ranked Winston-Salem State University Saturday. The Rams defeated the Mountain Lions 30-22 at Callaghan Stadium.
Concord falls to 1-1 on the season while Winston-Salem improves its record to 2-0 on the year with the victory.
Senior quarterback
Zack Grossi went 23-for-39 for 269 yards and two touchdowns in the defeat. Three Concord wide receivers had at least six catches on the day with senior
Ansel Ponder leading the way with a seven-reception day. Ponder finished the game with 117 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore
Ryan Stewart and senior
Randall Hawkins both hauled in six catches, finishing with 59 and 49 yards respectively.
Defensively, junior linebacker
Jake Lilly registered a game-high 13 tackles including 2.5 tackles for a loss. Junior defensive lineman
Silas Agyemang made career-high eight stops, one sack and three TFLs. Senior defensive back
Kevin Elliott made his first career interception while producing six tackles as well.
As a team, CU was out-gained 369-256 in total offense. Concord held a 269-239 advantage in passing yards.
The Mountain Lions immediately got going when senior linebacker
Nick Spradlin blocked a Winston-Salem State punt on the opening possession of the game, returning the ball for a touchdown to give Concord the early 7-0 lead.
However, the Rams responded by scoring 23 consecutive points to take a commanding 23-7 lead. With 2:01 to play in the first quarter, Jamal Williams caught a 10-yard halfback pass from Brandon McDonald for WSSU's first score. The visitors scored their second TD of the day three minutes into the second quarter off of a six-yard run from Maurice Lewis.
After a scoreless third quarter, Winston-Salem State forced a safety on an attempted Concord punt. The Rams then took what seemed like an insurmountable 23-7 lead when Jameze Massey took a pass from quarterback Kameron Smith 73 yards to the end zone. However, Concord was not about to roll over.
The comeback started when Concord went on a four-play, 51-yard drive that was capped off with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Grossi to Stewart followed by a successful two-point conversion attempt (Grossi to Ponder) to cut the lead to 23-15 with 10:36 remaining in regulation.
The two playoff teams from a season ago traded possessions until Smith threw his second TD of the day to give WSSU a 30-15 advantage with 3:09 left in regulation. Not to be outdone by the opposing QB, Grossi found Ponder for a 65-yard touchdown strike on the first play of the next possession to cut the Winston-Salem lead back to just eight points (30-22) with three minutes to play in the contest.
However, Winston-Salem was able to keep possession of the ball for the remainder of the game by converting two crucial third downs on the drive to grab the victory and put an end to Concord's comeback attempt.
Concord will shake of Saturday's defeat and return to action 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15 when it hosts Charleston to open up West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference competition.
