Concord Goes For 3rd Straight Win Saturday vs. UVa.-Wise

Complete Game Notes – Live Stats – Live Video – Live Audio – Concord Stats – UVa.-Wise Stats


LIVE COVERAGE
• The Concord University Sports Information Department will provide live in-game stats and live video of the game. Concord's student radio station, WVCU, will broadcast the game as well. Links to all live coverage options can be found at the top of the page.

MOUNTAIN LION NOTES
• Over the past two weeks, Concord has proven capable of winning in a variety of ways. The Mountain Lions flashed high-scoring ability with a 49-21 victory over West Virginia Wesleyan on Oct. 19 while showing they are just as comfortable in low-scoring affairs by defeating Charleston 9-3 in double overtime last week.

• Concord's two-game winning streak has pushed its record to 6-2 overall and 5-1 in MEC play. With three games remaining in the season the race for the first MEC championship appears to be between three teams, Shepherd (7-0, 6-0 MEC), Urbana (6-2, 6-1 MEC) and the Mountain Lions.

• UVa.-Wise (1-7, 1-5 MEC) defeated West Virginia State, 18-10, last week for their first win of the season.

• Concord and UVa.-Wise have played four times with the all-time series being tied at 2-2. The two schools last met in 2007 when the Cavaliers bested the Mountain Lions 35-28.

• Concord was ranked 10th in Super Region One in the initial regional rankings released earlier this week by the NCAA. The top six teams in each of the four "Super Region's" at the end of the season earn berths into the NCAA Division II playoffs. With three weeks remaining in the regular season and a contest against Shepherd, which are ranked second in SR1, scheduled for Nov. 16 there is still plenty of time for CU to earn a top-six ranking.

• The Mountain Lions' overtime-victory at Charleston in week eight was head coach Garin Justice's 20th career win. Justice has strung together an impressive 20-10 record in under three seasons at CU.  The 30 games it took Justice to get to 20 coaching victories at Concord is the second quickest of any coach in Mountain Lion history, trailing only W.S. Jackson who got to 20 wins in 27 games.

• Concord's win at Charleston was the first overtime game for the Mountain Lions since they defeated Lenoir-Rhyne 52-45 in 2009.

• Other notable accomplishments coming out of Concord's triumph over the Golden Eagles included senior cornerback Riyahd Richardson's two fumble recoveries. Richardson is the first player to recover two fumbles in a game since former Concord standout, and current assistant coach, Joe Greenway picked up two fumbles vs. Glenville State in 2010.

• In addition to scoring the game-winning touchdown, sophomore running back Calvinaugh Jones ran for 104 yards against Charleston. The performance was Jones' fourth 100-yard rushing effort of the season.

• With 739 yards on the season, Jones not only ranks fourth in the MEC in rushing, but is also well within reach of his first 1,000-yard season. He needs to average just 87 yards per game in Concord's last three games to eclipse 1,000 yards. So far this year, Jones is running for 92.4 yards per game.

• At 1,493 career rushing yards, Jones is poised to cross the 1,500-yard threshold this week.

• Senior linebacker Jake Lilly's 12-tackle game against Charleston was his 19th career-game with at least 10 tackles.

• Lilly, who ranks second in the MEC in tackles with 84 and first in Division II with five forced fumbles, needs 43 tackles to end his career as the top tackler in Concord history.

• A quartet of Mountain Lion defenders totaled career-highs in tackles against Charleston in junior linebacker Gary Saylor (10), sophomore defensive end Ervin Moore (10), freshman defensive lineman Darryl Johnson (9) and senior safety Josh Clark (9).

• As a team, the Concord defense kept a pair of impressive streaks going last week against the Golden Eagles by holding a team under 23 points for a 12th straight game and grabbing an interception for the 16th straight game.

• Junior Ben Nester took snaps at quarterback for a second consecutive week, going 0-for-1 through the air, but rushing for 56 yards on 13 attempts.

• Concord players among the MEC leaders include sophomore Andrew Huska (first in punting (41.2) and touchbacks (19)), Richardson (first in fumble recoveries (3) and senior safety Davon Marion (fourth in interceptions (4)).

• CU is just two wins away from the program's 400th victory.

• As a team Concord ranks third in the nation in points allowed per game (11.9), third in third-down defense (.207), fourth in total defense (262.5), ninth in punting (38.76) and 19th in time of possession (32:34).

• Junior cornberback Shawn Billups Jr. hauled in his first interception as a Mountain Lion last week.

• Senior safety Russell Bailey has blocked three punts this season, two of which have come in the last two games.

SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS
• UVa.-Wise comes into Callaghan Stadium sporting the conference's fourth best passing attack at 221 yards per game.

• The Cavaliers average 17.1 points per game while allowing 39.4.

• Head coach Dewey Lusk is in his third season in charge of the Cavalier program. In his time in Wise, Va., Lusk is 9-21.

• UVa.-Wise is led by arguably the conference's top wide receiver in senior James Long. Long has already caught 64 passes for 1,043 and seven touchdowns.

• Three Cavalier quarterbacks have seen equal time under center this year. Projected starter Cullen LaVoi has thrown for 599 yards, four touchdowns and nine interceptions. Backup Jeremy Eubank has 426 yards, two touchdown and eight interceptions with Ty Ryans rounding at the group with 703 yards.

A CONCORD WIN WOULD…
• A win over UVa.-Wise would mark the 19th time in Concord's 88-year history that CU has won at least seven games in a season.

• A win over UVa.-Wise would give Concord a 3-2 advantage over UVa.-Wise in the all-time series.

• A win over UVa.-Wise would narrow down the list of MEC teams that have one or less conference loss to just Concord, Shepherd and Urbana.

UP NEXT
• Concord hits the road for a final time this season when it travels to Notre Dame College on Nov. 9 for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.