ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University football team could not complete its comeback as it fell 31-24 to Urbana in a Mountain East Conference game Saturday afternoon at Callaghan Stadium on Senior Day.
Freshman running back
Josh Maxwell opened the scoring as he broke free for a 53-yard run in the first quarter to give the Mountain Lions (2-9, 2-8 MEC) a 7-0 lead. However, Urbana (5-6, 4-6 MEC) scored 17 straight points to take a 17-7 lead into halftime.
Out of the intermission, Concord set up shop quickly as senior defensive back
Chaudlier Shepherd returned the opening kickoff of the second half 78 yards, down to the UU 12-yard line. Two plays later, junior quarterback
Kyle Akin found sophomore wide receiver
Isaiah Bowman on a slant route for a score to trim the deficit to 17-14.
Urbana tacked on a touchdown midway through the third quarter, and going to the final quarter Concord trailed 24-14. On the second play of the fourth quarter, freshman kicker
Luke Walls connected on a short 21-yard field to get CU back within a score of the Blue Knights.
On the ensuing UU possession, Urbana was able to take the ball inside the Concord 30-yard line, but senior defensive lineman
Justin Noble broke through for a sack on third down and forced a punt with 10 minutes remaining in the contest. Even though CU's defense was able to get off the field, the Mountain Lions were pinned back at their own two-yard line.
Akin and the offense calmly drove nine plays and 98 yards in less than four minutes to tie the game at 24-24. Of the nine plays, six went for at least nine yards including a 21-yard pass from Akin to freshman running back
Kris Copeland. The drive was also aided by a 15-yard penalty on UU at midfield.
With the score tied for the first time since the late stages of the first quarter, Concord's defense seemed poised to get the ball back to the offense as Urbana faced a third-and-long three plays after the CU score, but the Blue Knights hit on a 63-yard pass play and scored two plays later to take a 31-24 advantage with 4:32 left.
The next CU possession resulted in a three-and-out, and the Mountain Lions were never able to get the ball back.
Maxwell rushed for a career-best 176 yards and two touchdowns. His 176 rushing yards were the most for a CU rusher since
Calvinaugh Jones ran for 260 yards against UVa.-Wise October 10, 2015. Maxwell closed the season rushing for 374 yards, three touchdowns and an average of 7.1 in his final three games.
Shepherd intercepted a pass in the second quarter for his ninth career pick as he moved into the top 10 all-time in career interceptions at CU in his final game.
Noble paced the defense with nine tackles and a sack. Junior defensive lineman
Ryan Gatrell had two of the three takeaways for the Concord defense as he recovered his third fumble of the year and also intercepted his first career pass in the third quarter.
Along with Noble and Shepherd, offensive lineman
Derek Dressler, linebacker
Andrew Jakubowsky, tight end
Mark Large, wide receiver
Brandon Plyler and offensive lineman
Jack Skidmore suited up for the final time in the Maroon and Gray. Because of injury, linebacker
Zach Malone was unable to play on Senior Day, and Plyler went out early in the contest because of an injury.
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