Concord Prepares for Senior Day Contest vs Notre Dame

Concord Stats - Notre Dame Stats - Live Stats - Live Audio - Live Video - Regional Rankings - D2football.com poll - AFCA Poll - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - Fifteen seniors will take to the Callaghan Stadium turf for the final regular season home game of their careers Saturday afternoon when the Concord University football team hosts Notre Dame College at 12:00 p.m.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will provide live in-game statistics as well as live streaming video for Saturday's contest. Additionally, Jason "Moose" Reed and Steve Cox will have the live radio broadcast on "Willie" 97.3 FM or live streaming audio. To access any of the live coverage options, follow the links at the top of the page or click here.

MOUNTAIN LION NOTES
• CU improved to 9-0 this season after defeating UVa.-Wise 30-13 behind three total touchdowns from senior running back Ben Nester.

• Concord is ranked second in the regional rankings for second straight week while the Mountain Lions moved up two spots in the AFCA poll to 13.

• Nester got the Mountain Lions on the board with a 12-yard blocked punt return before scoring his 16th and 17th career rushing touchdowns later in the game.

• Entering the matchup with Notre Dame, Nester needs one rushing touchdown to tie teammate junior running back Calvinaugh Jones as well as Bryan Hamm and Mike Lazo for fourth all-time at Concord.

• The Concord defense had a big impact in the win for Concord as they forced four turnovers for the first time since the Bowie State game.

• Senior defensive lineman Will Greathouse, junior defensive lineman Ervin Moore and junior linebacker Cade Rogers all had forced fumbles while redshirt freshman defensive back Jeremiah Johnson intercepted his fourth pass of the season.

• Moore's two sacks against the Cavaliers moved him into second place in career sacks at CU with 14 as he passed Rickey Leung-Wei

• For the season, Moore is tied for the team lead in sacks with junior linebacker Nick Ortiz and senior defensive end Anthony who all five sacks this season.

• As for Concord's 15-man senior class, 11 have been in the program for either four of five years including defensive lineman Silas Agyemang, defensive back Mike Carey, offensive lineman Josh Cottle, defensive lineman Keith Ferguson, Greathouse, Nester, offensive lineman Cody Parker, linebacker Gary Saylor, tight end Kevin Saylor, wide receiver Darrick Williams and running back Josh Williams.

• Four others, defensive back Shawn Billups Jr., defensive back Mishawn Cummings, offensive lineman Rustin Mayorga and Pyle transferred into the CU program.

• Cottle, Mayorga and Parker have anchored an offensive line that has surrendered just 11 sacks, tied for the lowest in the MEC.

• Additionally, the offensive line has led the best rushing attack in the MEC with 2,102 yards. CU's offensive  line has been the catalyst for Concord averaging 502 yards of total offense per contest.

• The quartet of Agyemang (10), Ferguson (eight), Greathouse (four) and Pyle (eight) have combined for 30 sacks in their careers with Agyemang leading the group with 10.
Moreover, Agyemang's 10 sacks are fifth all-time in CU history.

• With two more tackles, G. Saylor will become the fourth active Concord player with 100 career tackles joining junior linebacker Austin Dotson (103), Ferguson (114) and Moore (117) with 100 stops.

• This season, Saylor is second on the Mountain Lion defense in total tackles with 41.

• As for the Mountain Lion seniors in the secondary, Carey is tied for eighth in school history in interceptions (nine) and is the active leader in pass breakups (12).
Billups Jr. and Cummings have one interception each in their time at Concord.

• D. Williams and J.  Williams have been contributors to the Mountain Lions offense in their four years at Concord.

• During the 2013 season, Williams snagged the most passes of any Mountain Lion receiver (39) and was second on the team in yards (510).

• J. Williams has appeared in 30 games in his time wearing the Maroon and Gray.

• Kevin Saylor has appeared in 11 games while at CU.

• From 2011-2014, the Concord senior class has combined to go 31-11 which is the best four-year win total for the Mountain Lions since 1977-1980 when they were 35-7-3.

• In addition to the 31 wins the Mountain Lions have had over the last four seasons, the current seniors were members of CU's 2011 WVIAC Championship team.

• Heading into play Saturday, Jones has outrushed five teams in the MEC including Notre Dame who has tallied 1,040 yards.

• Through nine games, Jones has rushed for 1,073 yards and seven touchdowns.

• After rushing for a career-high 125 yards against UVa.-Wise, redshirt freshman running back Jamal Petty has 559 yards this season, making him and Jones one of two backfields in the MEC to have two running backs with at least 500 yards joining Glenville State.

• Additionally, Concord is the only team in the league to have eclipsed the 2,000-yard barrier as they have 2,102 yards this season.

• Last season in a 30-14 road win over Notre Dame, Nester scored three touchdowns, all rushing, while Jones rushed for 104 yards.

• Prior to Saturday, last year's game at NDC was Nester's only three touchdown game of his career.

• Junior kicker Andy Ellington also set the initial school record for longest field goal by hitting from 52 yards against the Falcons before tying the record this season versus Urbana.

• Last season's meeting was the first game between the two schools.

• Falcons' quarterback Ray Russ leads the conference in passing yards (3,188) and passing touchdowns (31).

• Russ is averaging 354 yards per contest which is over 60 yards more than second place.

• Notre Dame will face Concord's fourth-ranked pass defense, who is giving up 205 yards per game and leads the MEC in interceptions with 17.

• NDC's George Berry is tied for third in the league in total tackles (79).

A CONCORD WIN WOULD...
• A Concord win would give CU its first 10-win season since 1987.

• A Concord win would give the Mountain Lions their 10th home win in their last 11 tries.    

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
79 - Number of tackles for loss Concord has this season, which is tops in the MEC by 13.

17.9 -  Average punt return by junior athlete Jermeil Douse, which is tied for the best in the league.

17 - Number of home games won by CU's senior class over the last four years. They have gone 17-4 at home since 2011.

UP NEXT
The Mountain Lions will head to Shepherd Nov. 15 for its final regular season game of the season.