ATHENS, W.Va. – On a historic day for the Concord University football team, they made it even more memorable by disposing of West Chester 51-36 to win its first ever playoff game in school history.
CU entered play Saturday after a bye week in the first round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs and was hosting its first ever home playoff game at Callaghan Stadium. The Mountain Lions were also 0-for-8 in previous trips to the playoffs at both the Division II and NAIA levels. However, Concord was able to rally from a second-quarter deficit of 28-24 to win by 15.
The 2014 Mountain Lions became the first team in school history to win 12 games, improving to 12-0 while WCU ends its season at 11-2 with the loss.
As it has all season, the CU special teams provided a boost as the first 10 points of the game were provided by the specialists. After West Chester's opening drive stalled out, the Golden Rams attempted a 36-yard field goal. However, sophomore defensive lineman
Darryl Johnson busted through the protection to block his second field goal in as many games.
Senior corner
Mike Carey recovered the bounding ball and raced 68 yards for the first score of the game. Junior kicker
Andy Ellington connected on a 43-yard field goal with 7:54 remaining in the first quarter, giving CU a 10-0 early edge.
The Golden Rams answered the two CU scores with a passing touchdown from quarterback Sean McCartney to tight end Tim Brown to make it 10-7. Concord then took to the air as sophomore quarterback
Brian Novak found a streaking
TJ Smith for a 71-yard score three plays later.
The second quarter featured 31 total points as WCU scored on a rushing touchdown and two passing touchdowns by McCartney to Mike Doty and Shawn Driggins. The Mountain Lion scores came on a 31-yard rush by redshirt freshman running back
Jamal Petty and a 44-yard field goal from Ellington as time expired in the first half. Concord trailed 28-27 at halftime.
A span of 90 seconds in the third quarter turned the fortunes around for Concord. After a CU turnover and a missed field goal by WCU to start the second half, the Mountain Lions scored 14 points over 1:35 in the third quarter.
Novak hooked up on a screen pass with junior wide receiver
Ryan Stewart, who sprinted 50 yards with 7:40 showing on a third quarter clock. It was his first touchdown since October 18 against West Virginia Wesleyan. The Golden Rams quickly drove the field but senior defensive back
Mishawn Cummings intercepted an errant pass from McCartney inside the CU 20-yard line.
Junior running back
Calvinaugh Jones took a handoff on the next offensive play for CU and raced 87 yards for CU's longest play from scrimmage this season and the longest run of his career, giving Concord its first lead of two touchdowns, 41-28 with 6:05 left in the third quarter.
Ellington stayed perfect on the day, drilling a 33-yard attempt, expanding the Mountain Lions' lead to 16 with 6:14 remaining in the contest.
However, West Chester didn't go away quietly as Brown found the endzone for a second time and the Golden Rams converted the two-point try, cutting the deficit to 44-36 with 5:40 left in the contest.
WCU forced CU off the field, but redshirt freshman punter
Garrett Lee tied his career-long punt by blasting a 63-yard punt and pinning West Chester at its own three-yard line. The Mountain Lions defense stood tall as they were able to turn the Golden Rams over on downs.
Jones plunged into the endzone from a yard out with 1:32 remaining in the game, sealing a 51-36 win for the Mountain Lions.
Offensively for Concord, Novak finished the day with 388 passing yards and two touchdowns. Jones ran the ball 25 times for 178 yards and his second multi-rushing touchdown game of the season. Smith and Stewart both went over the century mark receiving by catching balls for 117 and 124 yards respectively while each scored a touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball, Concord forced two turnovers as Cummings and junior defensive back
Derrick Johnson each had an interception. For De. Johnson it was his team-leading sixth interception of the season. CU's pass defense has intercepted two or more passes in six games this season.
De. Johnson, senior defensive back
Mike Carey and junior linebacker
Nick Ortiz all recorded career-high in tackles as they had 14, 12 and 13 respectively. It was the first time at least two CU defenders have had 10 or more tackles in a game since last season versus Charleston when
Jake Lilly and junior defensive lineman Ervin pulled off the feat with 10 tackles a piece.
The Mountain Lions will play number two-seeded Bloomsburg next Saturday at 12:00 p.m. The location of the game will be announced at the beginning of the week. Be sure to check in with cumountainlions.com to find out where the game will be played.
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