Concord Cruises to 44-6 Win vs. UVA-Wise

Box Score
The victory, Concord's third straight, improves the Mountain Lions' record to 7-2 overall and 6-1 in Mountain East Conference competition. The Cavaliers fall to 1-8 overall and 1-6 in league play.

Concord led just 3-0 at the end of the first quarter before outscoring UVa.-Wise by a combined score of 41-0 over the second and third quarters to put the game out of reach. Sophomore kicker Andy Ellington's first quarter field goal started a CU run that saw the Mountain Lions score on seven of their next eight possessions.

CU's shutout bid came up just short as the Cavaliers scored their only points of the day on an 11-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter.

The Mountain Lions' offense featured a balanced attack with 139 rushing yards and 271 passing yards. The 271 yards passing were the most for Concord since throwing for 317 yards in week two against West Virginia State. CU was wildly efficient Saturday, going 7-for-14 on third-down conversions and 5-for-5 on red zone scoring chances.

For the game, Concord held advantages over UVa.-Wise in total offense (410-206), first downs (18-14), passing yards (271-164) and rushing yards (139-42).

The victory marked the sixth time this season that Concord has held an opponent to under 230 yards of total offense. For the year, Concord's nationally-ranked defense is holding opponents to just 11.6 points per game.

Novak, who took the majority of snaps at quarterback for the first time since Oct. 12, completed 16-of-27 passes for 271 yards three touchdowns and no interceptions. Sophomore wide receiver Tiko Henderson caught six passes for a game-high 109 yards and one touchdown while fellow receiver junior Darrick Williams pulled in five passes for career-highs of 92 yards and two touchdowns.

Sophomore running back Calvinaugh Jones shouldered the load on the ground, compiling 115 yards and two touchdowns on 25 rushes. His two-score day was the second of his career. Jones, who averaged 4.6 yards per carry Saturday, needs just 146 yards over CU's final two games to break the 1,000-yard barrier for the season.

Ellington provided a bounce-back performance for Concord by going 3-for-4 on his field goal attempts, including a school-record tying try from 48 yards out. Ellington has now made three 48-yard field goals in 2013.

Defensively, Concord forced three turnovers off of two interceptions from Clark and another from senior cornerback Riyahd Richardson, who also broke up three passes. Richardson's INT was the 13th of his career, the third most in Concord history.

The Concord defense accounted for nine tackles for loss with sophomore defensive lineman Ervin Moore leading the way with four TFLs. Moore finished the game with five tackles, one forced fumble and one sack; his team-leading sixth of the year.

Redshirt freshman defensive lineman Luis Serrano registered his first collegiate sack as well. Other Mountain Lions who tallied tackles for loss included senior linebacker Jake Lilly, senior safety Davon Marion, junior cornerback Mike Carey and junior defensive lineman Will Greathouse.

Lilly led all players with 12 tackles followed by Moore and senior safety Russell Bailey with five and Marion with four. In addition to making three tackles, junior defensive lineman Keith Ferguson also blocked a UVa.-Wise field goal attempt in the first quarter.

The Cavaliers were led by senior wide receiver James Long, who caught nine passes for 78 yards.

The Mountain Lions, which were ranked 10th in the initial Super Region I rankings earlier this week, will look to keep its playoff hopes alive when it heads to Notre Dame College on Nov. 9 in search of their fourth consecutive victory. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in South Euclid, Ohio.

A win over the Falcons would give Concord its first four-game winning streak since the end of the 2011 regular season.