WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The Concord University football team scored 31 unanswered points to pull away from West Liberty, 45-28, Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference game at West Family Stadium.
Trailing 21-14 with 2:47 remaining in the first half, senior quarterback
Jack Mangel drove the CU (5-1, 4-1 MEC) offense 83 yards in under two minutes that ended with a 14-yard touchdown to junior wide receiver
Jarod Bowie.
Out of the locker room, Concord's offense stalled inside the red zone, but sophomore kicker
Mikey Rago connected on a 27-yard field goal to break the deadlock with 10:45 left in the third quarter. After trading punts, the Mountain Lions were backed up on the one-yard line with less than three minutes remaining in the quarter.
A Mangel to Bowie 21-yard connection got CU out of its own endzone and jumpstarted a 99-yard scoring drive that bled into the fourth quarter. A 27-yard pass to senior running back
Kris Copeland set the Mountain Lions up in West Liberty (3-3, 2-3 MEC) territory, and three plays later Mangel found Bowie for a 17-yard score to push the lead to 31-21.
CU's biggest lead grew at the 12:41 mark when graduate defensive back
John Merica picked up a fumble—that was forced by graduate linebacker
Ty Maust at the WLU 42-yard line—and ran it back for a 38-21 lead.
Mangel tacked on his fifth touchdown of the day, an eight-yard toss to redshirt freshman tight end
Ethan Johnson with four minutes left. West Liberty scored with 2:04 remaining for the final margin of the victory.
The Mountain Lions raced out to a 14-0 lead on two first-quarter touchdowns from Mangel, first to redshirt freshman wide receiver
Solomon Butler, and then to junior wide receiver
Cayden Chambers. West Liberty was able to take advantage of three CU fumbles in the first half, and grabbed a 21-14 edge in the second quarter.
Concord's win at West Liberty was the first time winning at West Family Stadiums since 2011.
Mangel finished the day with a career-high 444 yards passing as he tied his career high in completions (36) and touchdowns (five). Bowie was the top target with 16 receptions, a career best, for 186 yards and two touchdowns. Butler had 84 of his 87 yards in the first half to go with a score. Chambers added five catches for 78 yards and a touchdown.
Mangel's 444 yards are the fourth-most passing yards in Division II this season. Bowie's 16 receptions matche Minnesota State- Moorhead's Gage Florence for the most receptions in a Division II contest in 2022.
Junior running back
Thurlow Wilkins churned out 80 yards on 14 carries.
Merica had two takeaways as he snared a first-quarter interception before the scoop n' score in the fourth. Maust had a team-best six tackles.
Concord rolled up 554 yards of offense and was 8-for-14 on third down. Defensively, CU held West Liberty to 2-of-13 on third down. WLU running back Quincy Wimbish ran for 211 yards and a pair of scores.
The Mountain Lions welcome MEC rival Charleston to Callaghan Stadium 1:00 p.m. October 15.
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