Concord Matches Up with Wheeling in Road Contest

Concord Stats - Wheeling Stats - Live Stats - Live Video - Ticket Information - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - Fresh off a 31-21 win over West Virginia Wesleyan, the Concord University football team plays its final road Mountain East Conference game when it travels to Wheeling 12:00 p.m. Saturday to face the Cardinals at Bishop Schmitt Field.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Wheeling Sports Information Department will provide live statistics and live video of the game. 

Live Stats
Live Video

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are available at this link.

SERIES HISTORY: Wheeling leads 4-1

Last Five Meetings Versus Wheeling
November 9, 2024: Wheeling 50 - Concord 30 (Athens, W.Va.)
September 23, 2023: Wheeling 44 - Concord 27 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
October 29, 2022: Concord 62 - Wheeling 31 (Athens, W.Va.)
October 30, 2021: Wheeling 15 - Concord 14 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
November 16, 2019: Wheeling 27 - Concord 20 (Athens, W.Va.)

Concord at a Glance
Overall Record: 3-5
MEC Record: 2-4
Home Record: 2-1
Away Record: 1-4
Last Five: 2-3
MEC Rank: Seventh
Streak: W1

Wheeling at a Glance
Overall Record: 4-4
MEC Record: 3-2
Home Record: 1-3
Away Record: 3-1
Last Five: 3-2
MEC Rank: Tied for Fourth
Streak: L1

TALE OF THE TAPE: Concord vs. Wheeling

Concord	Statistical Category	Wheeling
3	Wins	4
28.1	Points/Game	21.9
31.3	Opp Points/Game	26.1
127.1	Rushing/Game	134.4
276.4	Passing/Game	199.5
177.8	Opp Rushing/Game	160.0
176.0	Opp Passing/Game	218.9
403.5	Yards/Game	333.9
353.8	Opp Yards/Game	378.9
103.4	Penalty Yards/Game	77.6
38.4	Third Down Pct.	37.2
11	Takeaways	13
11	Sacks	14

Concord Leaders
Passing Yards: Tyler Mizzell (2,211)
Passing Touchdowns: Tyler Mizzell (19)
Rushing Yards: Tyler Mizzell (297), Rashad Luckey-Dowdy (294)
Receiving Yards: Keyon Concepcion (481), Que Moore (447), Damani Burrell (191)
Receiving Touchdowns: Que Moore (6), Damani Burrell (2)
Tackles: Nehemiah Scott (71), Xavier Ellison (59), Corey Radcliff (38), Jonathan Williams (36), Jaylen Dollar (35), Ar'Terrian Godfrey (34)
Tackles for Loss: Nehemiah Scott (9.0), Ethan Rennels (7.0), Xavier Ellison (6.5)
Interceptions: Corey Radcliff (5), Ar'Terrian Godfrey (2)

Wheeling Leaders
Passing Yards: Ade Olanegan (1,144)
Passing Touchdowns: Ade Olanegan (11)
Rushing Yards: Stevie Mitchell (440), Dawaun Green (240)
Rushing Touchdowns: Stevie Mitchell (4)
Receiving Yards: Jordan Kaiser (3), Colin Oberdick (3), Alex Godavitarne (3)
Tackles: Jefferson Bretanys-Desca (83), Kam Reynolds (74), Leonard Sherrod (69), Dylan Newman (50), Tyriek Scrivner (35), Keenan Johnson (32)
Tackles for Loss: Dylan Newman (8.5), Dion McIntosh (6.0), Kam Reynolds (5.0), Awwal Osinuga (5.0)
Interceptions: Leonard Sherrod (4), Jefferson Bretanys-Desca (2)

SACK MASTERS
The Concord defensive front shined in last week's win over West Virginia Wesleyan by coming up with seven sacks which was easily a season high. CU entered the contest with just four sacks on the season, but turned in the most sacks in a single game in the MEC in 2025. Senior defensive lineman Ethan Rennels led the Maroon and Gray with his first two sacks of the season. Junior defensive back Nehemiah Scott recorded 1.5 sacks in the contest while junior defensive lineman Leurys Polanco notched his first career sack, a solo takedown in the first half. In all, seven players recorded a sack on Saturday, including sophomore defensive lineman Chris Williams coming up with his first career strip sack—even though WVWC recovered the fumble. The seven sacks by the Mountain Lions were the most since a program-record 10 versus UVa.-Wise in September 2017.

GOING IN REVERSE
Aided by the seven sacks, the Concord defense racked up 14 tackles for loss Saturday afternoon which is tied for the fourth most in a Division II this season. Scott was at the forefront with four stops behind the line of scrimmage which now places him second in the MEC in TFLs (9.5). Both of Rennels' TFLs were sacks, and the Boiling Springs, North Carolina native now has 6.5 TFLs on the season which is top 10 in the MEC. With the parade of tackles in the Wesleyan backfield Saturday, CU shot up to third in the conference in tackles for loss with 46, trailing Wheeling (54) and Glenville State (47). In last year's matchup with Wheeling, the Cardinals had six TFLs while Concord only tallied two TFLs.

ON THE RUN
The Mountain Lion rushing attack picked up where it left off at Glenville State when Concord ran for a season-high 232 yards. Against West Virginia Wesleyan, CU rolled up 192 yards on the ground. Graduate running back Rashad Luckey-Dowdy ripped off 100 yards on 14 carries while scoring his second touchdown of the season—a fourth-and-goal plunge from the three-yard line in the second half. Sophomore quarterback Tyler Mizzell threw in another 76 yards on the ground. Luckey-Dowdy became the first CU running back with a 100-yard performance in the last 10 games. Mizzell scored two of Concord's three touchdowns on the ground Saturday afternoon, runs of 37 and 12 yards, which marked the first time that a CU quarterback scored twice on the ground since Ben Nester found the end zone two times against WVWC in October 2013. 

THIRD PHASE
The Concord special teams provided a significant boost versus West Virginia Wesleyan. Freshman running back Curtis Clark broke loose for a 92-yard touchdown on a kickoff return in the first quarter to give CU a 14-7 edge, a lead it would not relinquish. It was the first Concord special teams touchdown in a 15-game span, also a kickoff return at Frostburg State in 2024. Clark now has the second-longest kickoff return in the MEC this season. Redshirt freshman punter Zach Moyer had his best day in the Maroon and Gray booting the ball. The Charlotte native averaged a season-best 46.8 yards on five punts. Four of the five punts ended up inside the WVWC 20-yard line, two traveled more than 50 yards and only one punt was returned by the Bobcats, for no positive yardage.

BIG BOY PLAY
Though the CU offensive line was shuffled around early throughout the season with four different starting lineups in the first five games, the unit has been at full strength since the West Virginia State contest with the same starting combination in the last three games: redshirt freshman Treaden Henry (left tackle), junior Aidan Parsons (left guard), junior Bishop Madukafi (center), senior Antonio Smith (right guard) and junior Jacob Jeudy (right tackle). Freshman Jonathan Johnson and redshirt freshman Chase Smith have also started games this season. The offensive line has done a stellar job of protecting Mizzell by only allowing six sacks for the season which is tied for fewest allowed in the MEC. However, this week the boys in the trenches will be put to the test as Wheeling is tied for the MEC lead in sacks (14).

TAKE THE BALL AWAY
Both the Concord and Wheeling defenses thrive in turning the opponent over. Though the Mountain Lions have gone two straight games without a takeaway, CU still has 11 forced turnovers (nine interceptions, two fumble recoveries). Wheeling is tied for second in the MEC with 13 takeaways in 2025 (nine interceptions, four fumble recoveries). Saturday's game against West Virginia Wesleyan marked the first time since the final game of the 2022 season that the Mountain Lions won a game without forcing a turnover. CU has not gone three straight games without a takeaway since at least the 2011 season. For Wheeling, it has three games this year of forcing three or more turnovers, but also three games without a takeaway. The Cardinals had three or more takeaways against Fairmont State, West Virginia Wesleyan and in their most recent game versus Frostburg State.

AIR IT OUT
The Mountain Lions will go up against one of the best defenses in the MEC in Wheeling as the Cardinals only surrender 378.9 yards per game which ranks third in the conference. CU's defense only allows 353.8 yards per game, second in the league. WU has traditionally had one of the best pass defenses in the MEC under seven-year defensive coordinator Mott Gaymon. However, Concord has had good success against the Cardinals' pass defense. Over the last four meetings with Wheeling, CU has averaged 305.5 passing yards to go with a total of 17 touchdowns to just five interceptions. Mizzell is coming off back-to-back games under 250 yards passing, but is still top 10 nationally in passing yards for the season (2,211).

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
1- Jeudy is the only CU offensive lineman that has started all eight games at the same spot this year—right tackle.

13- Concord has had 13 explosive runs, rushes of 10 or more yards, in the last two games after only recording 17 in the first six games of the season.

1,632- Round trip miles traveled by CU this season after the conclusion of the Wheeling game—the same distance from Athens to Albuquerque, New Mexico

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
WU has used both Ade Olanegan and Landon Lutz at quarterback this season with both playing at least six games. Olanegan has better numbers with 11 touchdowns to just three interceptions. Jordan Kaiser and Colin Oberdick have both caught three touchdowns. Wheeling's Jefferson Bretanys-Desca (83) and Kameron Reynolds (74) are two of the top four tacklers in the conference. Under seventh-year head coach Zac Bruney, Wheeling is looking for back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in program history, needing to win two of its last three games, vs. Concord, at Glenville State and at West Liberty.