Concord Loses Thriller at Fairmont State

FAIRMONT, W.Va. – A touchdown by Fairmont State with 1:41 left in the game was too much for the Concord University football team to overcome Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference game at Duvall-Rosier Field.

The Mountain Lions (1-3, 1-3 MEC) led throughout the entirety of the first half and into the third quarter before FSU (2-3, 2-2 MEC) scored three minutes into the second half to go up 24-20. After both teams stalled out offensively throughout the third quarter, Concord was next to get on the board as fifth-year senior wide receiver Tywan Pearce got behind the Fairmont State defense for a 74-yard touchdown reception—one of three scores on the day for Pearce.

CU was unable to put the Fighting Falcons away, and had to punt away with just over five minutes left. FSU marched seven plays and 56 yards before Michael Floria completed a pass to Joshawn Lewis in the end zone to push Fairmont State up 31-27.

But, Concord wasn't done as the connection from junior quarterback Jack Mangel to Pearce put Concord in position to take a late lead, moving inside the 30-yard line before an interception thwarted the CU comeback attempt.

The Mountain Lions raced out to a 14-3 lead in the first 20 minutes as Pearce scored twice—on catches of 89 yards and 41 yards. Sophomore kicker Giovanni Christiano connected on two second-quarter field goals, of 37 and 39 yards, to give Concord a 20-17 edge at halftime.

Pearce set a MEC single-game record for receiving yards as he finished with 288 on 10 catches and the three touchdowns. Not only was it an eight-year old MEC record broken, but also a single-game NCAA Division II record in 2021. Pearce also broke the single-game Concord record for receiving yards, set by Thomas Mayo in 2010 against Fairmont State at 258.

Mangel had a career-best 429 passing yards as he completed 21-of-37 attempts. Junior wide receiver Kris Copeland finished with 17 carries for 87 yards.

Senior linebacker Tylen Fowler, fifth-year senior defensive back Rashon Lusane and fifth-year senior linebacker Dwain Porterfield all tallied seven tackles. Junior linebacker Jordan Jones had a sack and one of two interceptions for CU as senior defensive back Xavier Braithwaite recorded the other in his first collegiate start.

Concord rolled up 493 yards of offense, the most since November 2016 at West Virginia State.

The Mountain Lions host West Liberty 2:00 p.m. October 9 for Homecoming.