By RICH STEVENS
for www.wvsuyellowjackets.com
A harried drive at the end of the first half put the West Virginia State University football team on the ropes, but the Yellow Jackets came roaring back in claiming their second four-game winning streak since 1998 on a record-setting day at Dickerson Stadium at Lakin Field.
The Yellow Jackets overcame a 13-point third-quarter deficit on their first possession of overtime to slip past upset-minded West Liberty 39-33 in a Mountain East Conference battle.
Following a West Liberty missed field goal on the first possession of overtime, running back
Juawan Etheredge went in from 25 yards out on State's first play of the OT to provide the difference while the Yellow Jacket sideline cleared in celebration on the field.
"We knew all week it was going to be a tough, four-quarter, 12-round kind of battle," said first-year coach
John Pennington, whose team improved to 5-3 (4-3 MEC) to stay on pace for its first eight-win season since 1968. That year, coach Colin Cameron's Yellow Jackets finished 8-1. State finished 11-0 in 1987 under Clifton Moore before being forced to forfeit the victories because of an ineligible player. State finished 7-3 in 2007 and 2008 under Earl Monroe.
"At halftime and the whole game, we told them not to worry about the scoreboard, just play Yellow Jacket football, and let the scoreboard take care of itself," Pennington said.
West Liberty scored on a 20-yard Savion Johnson run with 29.4 seconds left in the first half to give it 19 points – five more than its average for the season, and the team's first rushing TD of the season.
State was on the opposite end, being held to 13 in the first 30 minutes after beginning the game averaging 38.1 points.
Senior quarterback
Matt Kinnick had 64 yards rushing in the first half to lead State, which played without leading rusher
Calil Wilkins. A sophomore from Temple Hills, Md., Wilkins has 723 yards rushing, but was nursing an ankle sprain and sat out the contest.
Kinnick and running backs Etheredge and
Dionta Brown picked up the slack in combining for 275 yards, almost 75 more than the team's season average.
The day did not pass without a record being set. Senior wide receiver
Quinton Gray became the school's leader in career receptions, finishing with 10 for 98 yards and a touchdown that helped force overtime.
Gray tied the mark with 9:40 left in the third on a 3-yarder and broke it two plays later, on a 6-yard catch.
"I knew (how close I was to the record)," Gray said, "but, I really tried not to focus on that and tried to be there for my team. Tyrell (Henderson), who is pretty much like my brother, him getting injured really hurt us, so I wasn't really focused on the reception record."
In 37 career games, Gray has 236 receptions for 3,031 yards and 22 scores, nine of which have come this season.
The record was within reach, but a loss appeared inevitable for State, which relied on the leg of
Aaron Ball. Ball had a season-high four field goals, giving him 12 successful kicks on 13 attempts. His success helped chip away at a West Liberty lead which was 26-13 with 3:49 remaining in the third.
His 29-yard field goal concluded a 13-play, 67-yard drive to cut the lead to 10, and added a 23-yarder following a West Liberty fumble on a punt to make it a seven-point game.
Ball's leg helped State maintain its perfection in the red zone, where the Yellow Jackets are 31-of-31 for the season. In the first four years of the MEC, no team has converted every red zone opportunity. In 2013, Shepherd was 42-of-51 with 31 TDs, followed by Charleston (47-55, 40 TDs) in 2014, Shepherd (52-59, 37 TDs) in 2015, and UVa-Wise (34-41, 21 TDs) last season.
West Liberty answered against the 10th-ranked defense in the 11-team MEC, needing only seven plays and 2:07 to return the lead to 14 points at the 12:55 mark of the third.
State scored the final 20 points of the game on an Etheredge 7-yard run, a Gray TD reception, and Etheredge's game-winner in OT.
The Yellow Jacket offense rebounded from its first-half struggles, finishing with 489 yards and scoring almost a point over its scoring average for the season.
Kinnick completed 25-of-37 passes for 229 yards and a score and rushed for 106 yards. Etheredge (111 yards) and Brown (58) filled in more than capably for the injured Wilkins.
A.J. Barrette had six receptions for 67 yards, and
Jamal Brown four catches for 40 yards as Kinnick completed passes to eight players.
West Liberty's rushing attack resulted in 260 yards, led by Jeremiah Ortiz with 179 yards. Savion Johnson had 90 yards and the Hilltoppers' first rushing TD of the season.
The Yellow Jackets return to action on Saturday when they visit Fairmont State for a 4 p.m. meeting with the Falcons. State's final home game of the campaign comes on November 4 when it hosts Urbana in a noon game on Senior Day.
