Yellow Jackets Hit Road in Search of Fourth Straight Win - West Virginia State University Athletics

West Virginia State University Athletics

    The West Virginia State football team heads north to West Liberty Saturday looking for a fourth win in a row.

    Meanwhile the Hilltoppers will be looking to avoid a fourth consecutive loss.

   Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m. and it will be Homecoming for West Liberty which comes into the contest with a 2-5 record.

   The Yellow Jackets go into the contest with a 4-3 mark overall and 3-3 record in the Mountain East.

    This will be the 62nd time the programs have met and while the Hilltoppers have won seven of the last nine. WVSU has won the last two including a 39-33 overtime thriller in Institute last season.

    The 2016 game at West Liberty was also tight with the Yellow Jackets winning 37-30.

    "They are always dangerous at their place," WVSU Head Coach John Pennington said. "It will be a tough game."

   West Liberty features a defense that leads the MEC in interceptions and is ranked 12th nationally with 11.

    Junior cornerback Josh Ojo leads the way with six tying him for second in the country.

   But while the Hilltopper defense ranks second in the MEC with 17 takeaways they rank dead last in total offense producing just 284.4 yards per game.

   WVSU ranks third in that same category with 459.1 yards per game and is coming off of the biggest rushing game in the program's history with 451 yards on the ground.

    Quarterback Faustino Saucedo ranks fourth in the MEC in passing efficiency and has thrown just four interceptions in 155 attempts.

    The Yellow Jackets are second in the league in both rushing and scoring average while West Liberty ranks ninth against the run and in scoring defense.

    Sophomore Calil Wilkins is second in rushing with an average of 119.3 yards per game while fellow sophomore Dylan Lucas is 10th with 52.1. After sitting out the first half of the season due to an injury freshman back Carl Garmon has come on the last couple of contests.

     Garmon ran back a kickoff 94 yards for a score and gained 56 yards on 10 carries against Kentucky State. Last week he picked up 116 yards on 14 tries.

    Senior Charles Westbrook paces the Hilltopper ground game with 72.3 yards a game as the team averages 192.7. Junior quarterback Zach Phillips is second with 37.2.

    Phillips has hit 56-of-120 passes for 558 yards. Senior Brenton Colabella has also seen plenty of action under center this season. He has hit 72-of-120 attempts for 661 yards.

    Sophomore H-back Ridge Durbin has 30 catches for 185 yards followed by Shane Phillips with 20 for 233 to pace the Hilltopper air attack.

    Senior Tyrell Henderson leads WVSU with 37 reception for 609 yards including a long of 76 while junior Zach Pate is second with 30 catches for 353 yards.

     On the defensive side of the ball senior linebacker Cliff Clark leads the West Liberty defense with 89 total tackles, 54 of them solo. He ranks third nationally in overall tackles and second in solo.

       The Yellow Jacket defense is lead by senior linebacker Joe Stoneman with 72 total tackles, 24 solo. he also has nine tackles for a loss and 4.5 sacks.

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