Concord Welcomes West Liberty for Homecoming Matchup

Concord Stats - West Liberty Stats - Live Audio - Live Stats - Live Video - WVVA Broadcast - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University football team hosts West Liberty on Homecoming 1:00 p.m. Saturday in a Mountain East Conference contest at Callaghan Stadium.

LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Jason Reed and Steve Cox will have live radio play-by-play of Saturday's game on 94.5 Willie FM and streaming online at mywillie.com.
Stats: Live in-game statistics will be provided by the Concord University Sports Information Department. 
TV: WVVA-TV will be broadcasting the game on its station, the local NBC affiliate out of Bluefield, West Virginia. The game can also be streamed on www.wvva.com/live
Video: Concord will offer its own broadcast with Reed and Cox on the call

RECORS
Concord enters the game with a mark of 1-3.

The Hilltoppers are 3-2 and have won two straight games ahead of Saturday's matchup.

A DAY TO REMEMBER
Fifth-year senior wide receiver Tywan Pearce caught 10 passes for 288 yards and three scores on Saturday at Fairmont State. The North Kissimmee, Florida native set a Mountain East Conference and Concord record for single-game receiving yards with his performance. He broke the CU record previously held by Thomas Mayo in 2010 who had 258 yards against Fairmont State. Meanwhile, the MEC record was eight-years old set by UVa.-Wise's James Long. Pearce rolled up the most receiving yards in any NCAA college football game this season and the most in a Division II game in four years. A few more records went down at Fairmont State as well. Pearce's connection with junior quarterback Jack Mangel on an 89-yard touchdown on the game's third play was the longest pass play in program history. And  Mangel's 429 passing yards are the second most in a game in program history behind a 470-yard performance by  Ryan Pimentel in 2005 against North Greenville.

AMONG THE BEST
After Saturday's game, Pearce is now second in Division II in receiving yards per game at 171.2 per game, trailing only the University of Mary's Danny Kittner at 171.4. Pearce's seven receiving touchdowns this season are tied for sixth in the nation. Mangel's 362.5 passing yards per game rank second in Division II behind Shepherd's Tyson Bagent who played for Concord head coach Dave Walker at Martinsburg High School. After hauling in two receptions for 79 yards at Fairmont State, sophomore wide receiver Jarod Bowie is 16^th in receiving yards per game at 106.8. Not only did Pearce do a number on the single-game records at CU, but he also left his mark on the career records. His next catch will tie Mayo for second on the receptions list at Concord at 187. Pearce also jumped from seventh to third on the receiving yards list with 2,431 and needs 64 yards to move past Kory Wright for second in program history.

QUALITY NOT QUANTITY
Defensively at Fairmont State, junior linebacker Jordan Jones had just three tackles, but he made an impact. The Princeton, West Virginia native recorded his team-best second sack of the season and also intercepted a second-quarter pass to halt a potential FSU scoring drive just outside the red zone. Jones has just seven tackles for the season, but two of those seven tackles are sacks. Like Jones, senior defensive lineman Nathan Lease isn't in the top three in tackles this season, but the Kings Mountain, North Carolina native became the first CU player with both a forced and recovered fumble this season as he caused a fumble Saturday.

JACK OF ALL TRADES
The matchup at Callaghan Stadium will feature two signal callers named Jack—Concord's Mangel and West Liberty's Allison. Both have taken very different paths to get to their respective Division II schools. Mangel grew up in the shadows of the University of Georgia in Athens and attended Northeast Mississippi Community College before transferring to Concord where he has thrown for 1,760 yards and 15 touchdowns in just five career games in the Maroon and Gray. Meanwhile, Allison was a top 200 national prospect out high school in south Florida. Allison began his career at the University of Miami where he redshirted in 2016. Allison transferred to West Virginia and threw two touchdowns and four interceptions in two seasons in Morgantown. In eight career games at WLU, Allison has thrown for eight touchdowns, 12 interceptions and 1,047 yards.

SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE
The Mountain Lions have one of the most potent passing attacks in Division II, ranking third in passing yards at 362.5 while West Liberty has one of the best passing defenses in the MEC allowing just 206 yards per game. The Hilltoppers defense has already pitched two shutouts early in the season as they blanked West Virginia Wesleyan, 31-0, and kept Alderson-Broaddus off the board in a 24-point victory. Mangel has thrown for at least 265 yards in all five career starts at CU and has topped 350 yards three times. WLU has tallied seven interceptions this season. No West Liberty opponent has surpassed 230 passing yards, and in the three wins the Hilltoppers have allowed 180 yards or less through the air.

HILLTOPPERS ON HOMECOMING
Concord has won four straight games over West Liberty played at Callaghan Stadium, including a 46-33 victory in 2018. In fact, no road team has won in the all-time series since CU at West Liberty in 2013. Junior wide receiver Kris Copeland had 78 all-purpose yards in the 2018 meeting as he rushed for 47 yards on the ground and racked up three receptions for 31 yards. Pearce had two catches for 83 yards and a score in the win. Senior linebacker Tylen Fowler and fifth-year senior defensive lineman J.T. Turner both forced fumbles as CU's defense came up with four takeaways. Fowler and Lease were both in on sacks while fifth-year senior defensive back Jonathan Roebuck was big on special teams with a blocked kick on a WLU extra point.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
3- Touchdowns scored by Pearce here the most for a CU receiver since Jermeil Douse found the end zone three times against West Virginia State in 2016.

6- Years since Concord has won on Homecoming, a 63-21 win over UVa.-Wise in 2015.

493- Yards by Concord at Fairmont State, the most for a CU offense since November 2016 at West Virginia State.

WEST LIBERTY AT A GLANCE
The reigning MEC Defensive Player of the Week, Trevor Hoosier, leads the opportunistic West Liberty defense with 25 tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble. Elijah Hadley and J'Aire Pritchett each have two interceptions. David Gilcrest is tied for the team lead with three sacks. Of the 971 yards the Hilltoppers have recorded through the air, nearly half have gone to Isaiah Robinson who has 407 yards and four touchdowns. Owen Rozanc is just 2-for-7 on field goal tries this season, but three of the misses have come from beyond 40 yards. This season, Allison is 50-for-91 with three touchdowns, five interceptions and 570 yards.