CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Concord University football team was defeated 54-14 Thursday night in a Mountain East Conference contest at Laidley Field.
Charleston (2-0, 1-0 MEC) jumped out on Concord (0-2, 0-1 MEC) with two first-quarter touchdowns and added a third score in the first two minutes of the second quarter to take a 20-0.
Now trailing 27-0, CU put together a sustained drive that saw it move the ball inside the 20-yard line. However, a turnover just outside the goal line snuffed out the potential scoring opportunity with 6:18 remaining in the first half.
The Mountain Lions snagged some momentum to start the second half. Charleston was unable to handle the second-half kickoff that ended up being recovered by Concord at the UC 35-yard line. Three plays later senior quarterback
Jack Mangel found graduate wide receiver
Alvin Howard for a 28-yard touchdown.
On the first Charleston play of the ensuing possession, a deflect pass found freshman linebacker
Brodee Rice for an interception. Rice ran the pick back 47 yards to set up a Mangel seven-yard touchdown to redshirt freshman wide receiver
Jake Roberts on the game's next play.
The momentum was extinguished by the Golden Eagles as 41-14 was as close as CU would get.
Mangel finished the night with 217 yards and two touchdowns. His top target, Howard, hauled in five receptions for 83 yards and his first career score as a Mountain Lion. Senior wide receiver
Cayden Chambers added six receptions for 37 yards.
On the defensive side, redshirt freshman linebacker
Ryker Brown made eight tackles. Freshman defensive
Kendall Bournes and Rice each had six tackles. Bournes added two tackles for loss while Rice had his first career takeaway.
Concord welcomes West Virginia State to Callaghan Stadium in Week 3 at 1:00 p.m. September 16.
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