WVSU Drops Tough 34-27 Decision on Road - West Virginia State University Athletics

West Virginia State University Athletics

The Yellow Jackets dominated the first half of play Saturday afternoon at Fairmont State.

But the Falcons returned the favor in the second to come back and win 34-27 and end the WVSU winning streak at four games.

The game was played in cold, wet, conditions in a contest that finished under the lights due to a 4 p.m. start time. WVSU took an early 3-0 lead on a 30 - yard Aaron Ball field goal.

Fairmont went ahead 7-3 after recovering an errant snap on a Jacket punt attempt at the WVSU 11.

The teams traded punts until the final minutes of the first half when the Yellow Jackets reeled off three touchdowns in 2:58 to move ahead 24-7.

AJ Barrette and Quinton Gray caught touchdown passes from Matt Kinnick of nine and 30 yards. The scores came just 12 seconds apart as the Falcons fumbled the kickoff after the first score.

Juawan Etheredge added the third score 22 seconds before halftime after Noble Zuschlag intercepted a Falcon pass at the Fairmont 37 and ran it back to the 29.

On all WVSU controlled the ball for 23 out of 30 minutes in the opening half.

That would all change after the break though as Fairmont State scored on its first five possessions to go ahead 34-24 before the Jackets were able to get on the board again with a Ball field goal in the fourth quarter.

"It was a game of runs," WVSU Head Coach John Pennington said. "We had one right before the half and they had one in the third quarter and we just couldn't stop the bleeding."

Kinnick hit 20-29 passes for 203 yards. Gray finished with 13 catches for 150 and Etheredge ended up with 81 yards on 23 carries.

WVSU returns home for a noon meeting with Urbana Saturday.

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