Concord Rallies Past West Virginia Wesleyan in 33-31 Win

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – The Concord University football team outlasted West Virginia Wesleyan 33-31 Saturday night in a Mountain East Conference game at Cebe Ross Field.

With the game tied 31-31 late in the fourth quarter, the CU offense (1-7, 1-5 MEC) was forced off the field. However, graduate punter Josh Hutley pinned the Bobcats (0-8, 0-6 MEC) at the one-yard line after a 53-yard punt with 57 seconds remaining.

The first play from scrimmage for WVWC resulted in an incomplete pass, and on the second-down play sophomore linebackers Ryker Brown and Nehemiah Scott tackled Wesleyan running back Kevin Mitchell in the end zone for a go-ahead safety. After fielding the onside kick attempt, the Mountain Lions needed a pair of kneel downs to seal the win.

Concord had to come from behind multiple times in the game, including putting together a six-play, 75-yard drive in less than three minutes to tie the game at 31-31 with 3:33 remaining. Senior running back JQ Brown scored from four yards out after the drive opened up with a 51-yard reception from sophomore quarterback Kameron Howard to junior tight end Bryce Ferguson.

CU led after its first drive of the game as sophomore wide receiver Jake Roberts had a 64-yard catch-and-run. However, West Virginia Wesleyan outscored Concord 20-3 over the final 26 minutes of the first half to lead 20-10 at halftime.

The first long completion of the game to Ferguson, a 37-yard reception, set up Howard to find sophomore wide receiver Zion Odoms for an 18-yard touchdown on the first CU possession of the third quarter to trim the lead to 20-17.

Down 23-17, sophomore defensive back Kendall Bournes thwarted a Wesleyan drive with his second interception of the year. Two plays later, Roberts was in the end zone again after a 52-yard touchdown strike from Howard with 12:15 left in the fourth.

Wesleyan bounced back with a scoring drive of its own to lead 31-24 before the touchdown drive ending with the Brown score.

Concord outgained West Virginia Wesleyan 472-319 in the game as it had its best offensive game of the season.

Howard threw for 366 yards on 19-for-28 passing to go with three touchdowns. The top target in the game was Roberts as he set career highs in yards (159) and touchdowns (two) and matched his single-game best with six receptions. Ferguson hauled in three catches for 91 yards and freshman wide receiver Marcus Striggles added four receptions for 47 yards.

Brown rushed 29 times for 118 yards and scored for the second straight week.  

Defensively, Bournes tied for the team lead in tackles with graduate defensive lineman Jaylen Dollar as both players had eight. Brown and Scott each had six tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. Scott added an interception at the end of the first half as well as a forced fumble.

The Mountain Lions travel to Fairmont State 12:00 p.m. Saturday, November 2.