WISE, Va. – The Concord University football team raced out to a 30-8 halftime lead before holding off UVa.-Wise, 37-29, for a season-opening win Saturday evening at Carl Smith Stadium in non-conference action.
Saturday's win gave head coach Cody Edwards a win in his head coaching debut.
CU (1-0) blocked a field goal on the first UVa.-Wise (0-1) possession of the game, and then proceeded to march 81 yards over eight plays that ended with a three-yard rush by sophomore quarterback
Tyler Mizzell, giving Concord a 7-0 lead with 9:26 left in the first quarter.
Just over four minutes later, graduate defensive back
Corey Radcliff ran back a 27-yard interception—one of three in the game for Concord—for a score with just over five minutes left in the opening period.
UVa.-Wise answered with a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter, but sophomore linebacker
Xavier Ellison blocked the point after try. Senior
Jayden McCurdy collected the loose ball running it back for two points.
Concord's lead remained double digits at 16-6.
Redshirt freshman wide receiver
Dom Collins capped the first half with a pair of touchdown scores. The first Collins' score was a 23-yard strike from Mizzell. And with 8:44 remaining in the first half, Collins got behind the defense for a 64-yard score.
UVa.-Wise got a late safety in the first half to trim the Concord lead to 30-8.
The sides traded scores in the third quarter. The Cavaliers connected on a 15-yard pass with 9:30 left in the third period before Mizzell found sophomore wide receiver
Que Moore for a 12-yard score just over three minutes later.
UVa.-Wise made it a 37-22 contest with 13:37 remaining, and got within one possession after a 97-yard drive. After Concord had to punt the ball away with 1:37 remaining in the contest, the Mountain Lion defense stood tall and forced a turnover on downs at the Wise 35-yard line to secure the win.
In his Concord debut, Mizzell threw for 388 yards and three touchdowns. The top target for Mizzell was Collins who hauled in seven receptions for 186 yards and two touchdowns. Moore finished with four catches for 67 yards and a score. Redshirt freshman wide receiver
Keyon Concepcion grabbed three passes for 78 yards.
The back end of the CU defense led the charge for that side of the ball. Sophomore linebacker
Xavier Ellison had a career-best 10 tackles. Junior defensive back
Nehemiah Scott tallied nine stops. Radcliff was one of two players with eight tackles to go with his defensive score.
Sophomore defensive back
Ar'Terrian Godfrey became the first Concord player with multiple interceptions in a game since 2017.
CU had 14 pass break-ups in the game.
Offensively, Concord outgained the Cavaliers, 411-340.
The Mountain Lions travel across Mercer County Saturday, September 6 to face Bluefield State.
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