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ATHENS, W. Va. – The Concord University football team rushed for 403 yards en route to a convincing 49-21 Mountain East Conference victory vs. West Virginia Wesleyan College Saturday at Callaghan Stadium.
The 403 rushing yards were the most for the Mountain Lions since Concord ran for 416 yards vs. Southern Virginia in 2010.
The win improves Concord's record to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in league play. The Bobcats drop to 2-5 overall and 2-4 in the MEC with the loss.
As a team Concord held advantages over West Virginia Wesleyan in total yard (476 – 181), rushing yards (403 – 47) and first downs (23 – 13). Concord dominated time of possession 42:23 to 17:37 while also controlling third downs. Offensively, CU converted 7-of-15 third down attempts while the Mountain Lions' defense allowed zero Bobcats third-down conversions (0-for-6).
Leading the way offensively was junior
Ben Nester, who made a surprise start at quarterback Saturday. Nester averaged 6.9 yards per carry as he ran for a career-high 159 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns on 23 attempts. Through the air, Nester, who last played quarterback at PikeView High School, passed for 76 yards.
Sophomore running back
Calvinaugh Jones ran for over 100 yards for the third time this season, finishing the game with 106 yards and one touchdown on 19 rushes.
The Mountain Lions had two more players run for at least 50 yards on the day. Sophomore wide receiver
Tiko Henderson and sophomore fullback
Shaun Workinger totaling 63 and 50 yards on the ground, respectively, with Henderson also scoring one touchdown.
Redshirt freshman running back
Sam Wright added two touchdowns on 10 carries.
Junior wide receiver
Darrick Williams and redshirt freshman tight end
Dalton Brindo each caught one pass for 38 and 35 yards apiece.
Concord's nationally ranked defense had another solid outing, holding the Bobcats 182 yards under their season average in total offense. The Mountain Lions racked up seven tackles for loss and one interception.
Sophomore defensive lineman
Ervin Moore recorded two sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery while senior safety
Davon Marion pulled in his team-leading fourth interception of the year. Moore now has five sacks on the year and Marion has two picks over Concord's last two games.
Senior linebacker
Jake Lilly made a team-high 10 tackles followed by sophomore linebacker
Austin Dotson at six stops. The cornerback duo of senior
Riyahd Richardson and junior
Mike Carey were responsible for two pass break-ups each.
In what was a well-rounded win, the Concord kick coverage teams accounted for a pair of big plays. First, senior safety
Russell Bailey blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown by Henderson in the second quarter. The second sensational special teams play came when Lilly forced Wesleyan's Antonio Hale to fumble the opening kickoff return of the second half leading to a recovery by redshirt freshman
Logan Jenkins.
Concord sprinted out to a 21-0 lead after scoring on three of its first four possessions to start the game off of touchdowns from Nester, Jones and Wright, whose score was setup by Marion's interception.
Wesleyan managed its first touchdown midway through the second quarter, but the Mountain Lions put any thoughts of a comeback to rest with two touchdowns from Henderson off of the recovered blocked punt and a nine-yard run to take a commanding 35-7 lead into halftime.
Wright made it a 42-7 game with his second touchdown of the game off of Jenkins' fumble recovery to open the second half.
The Bobcats bounced back with touchdowns on consecutive offensive series, but never seriously threatened Concord in the second half as Nester sealed his career-day with a seven-yard touchdown run to put the Mountain Lions up 49-21 seven minutes into the fourth quarter on their way to the 28-point win.
Concord's 49 points were the most for CU since scoring 48 points in 2011 against West Virginia Wesleyan in a contest that clinched Concord's last West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship.
The Bobcats were paced by quarterback Jeremy Mussleman, who went 15-for-25 for 134 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
The Mountain Lions continue conference play Oct. 26 at Charleston. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.
