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West Virginia State University Athletics

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Photo: Todd Griffith
38
Winner West Virginia St. WVSU 3-3 , 3-2
3
West Va. Wesleyan WVWC 0-5 , 0-4
Winner
West Virginia St. WVSU
3-3 , 3-2
38
Final
3
West Va. Wesleyan WVWC
0-5 , 0-4
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
WVSU West Virginia St. 7 10 14 7 38
WVWC West Va. Wesleyan 3 0 0 0 3

Game Recap: Football | | James Garcia, Sports Information Director

WVSU dominates West Virginia Wesleyan on the road, 38-3

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. -- The West Virginia State University football team hit the road on Saturday afternoon for a Mountain East Conference matchup with West Virginia Wesleyan. The Yellow Jackets absolutely dominated their opponent for the second week in a row and came away with a decisive 38-3 victory over the Bobcats.

WVSU makes the jump to 3-3 overall, 3-2 in the MEC with the win. Meanwhile, WVWC drops down to 0-6 on the season, 0-5 in conference action with the loss.

Freshman running back Malik Newton rushed for over 100 yards for the third time this season. He had 16 carries for 131 yards to average 8.2 yards per rush. Senior wideout Tyrone Lyte made four catches for 96 yards and two touchdowns to lead the receiving corps. Junior quarterback Donovan Riddick completed 12-of-20 passes for 188 yards and three touchdowns without throwing an interception or taking a sack.

The State defense was relentless from beginning to end. Juniors Christian Thompson and Paul Davis each recorded an interception to create two turnovers and a huge stop on an attempted fourth down conversion caused the third. Another Junior on defense, linebacker Payton Lunsford, added 11 more tackles to his season total in an effort to remain atop the MEC leaderboards in that category.

Senior kicker Martin Ahlstroem was perfect on the day. He made his only field goal attempt from a distance of 37 yards and converted all five of his point after tries.

The Yellow Jackets received the opening kickoff and were left with 89 yards to pay dirt after being called for holding on the return. Despite the early setback, West Virginia State marched down the long field with a solid mix of running and passing plays. On second and 10 from the Wesleyan 28 yard line, a play action pass play was called that allowed Keedrick Cunningham to find space on a post pattern over the middle. Donovan Riddick threaded the needle to Cunningham who then made the dash into the endzone for the opening touchdown of the contest, 7-0.

The Bobcats took seven minutes off the clock with their first drive of the game. They made it all the way down to the State eight yard line before being faced with a third and six situation. Corlyn Witcher and Cody Stanley teamed up for the tackle that stopped the rusher three yards short of a first down. The ensuing 22-yard field goal was converted, 7-3, with 3:36 remaining in the first quarter.

Malik Newton shook off a tackle behind the line of scrimmage on the first play of the next drive and found an opening for a 28-yard rush that carried WVSU into WVWC territory. Another big play was not in the works, however, and the drive eventually stalled out at Wesleyan's 20 yard line. Martin Ahlstroem ensured that points were added to the board with a 37-yard field goal attempt that sailed through the uprights, 10-3, not long after the start of the second quarter.

Paul Davis made an interception on the following drive to return possession to the Yellow Jackets. A 15-yard personal foul penalty against the Bobcats gave WVSU a short field, 28 yards, to work with. Cunningham nearly scored again on a 22-yard reception that left State with a goal-to-go situation. Short-yardage specialist Dant'e Jones ended up smashing his way over the goal line, 17-3.

West Virginia Wesleyan made it down to State's 19 yard line on the next drive. The Bobcats attempted a fourth down conversion with nine yards to go, but were unsuccessful. There were six-and-a-half minutes left to play in the first half after the turnover. Neither offense was able to get anything going in the closing minutes of the second quarter so the score remained at 17-3 going into halftime.

By the third quarter, West Virginia State's will had already been imposed on the struggling Bobcats. After a missed field goal by West Virginia Wesleyan's kicker from 29 yards out, the State offense took over for yet another scoring drive. The first score of the second half was courtesy of a masterfully executed flea flicker drawn up after a fourth down conversion. The confusion caused by the trick play left Tyrone Lyte wide open for a 43-yard touchdown strike, 24-3, with just under eight minutes to play in the third stanza.

The Yellow Jackets tacked on another seven points in the closing seconds of the third quarter. After Brennen Schmitt placed a punt inside the five yard line, the Wesleyan offense was backed up against their own endzone. The State defense then forced a three-and-out and the resulting punt was shanked. With 27 yards to score, a play action pass on the first play of the drive allowed Barry Hill to streak past his defender and come down with the lobbed pass in the endzone, 31-3.

The fourth quarter was nearly a formality with such a large gap between the two opponents. The Yellow Jackets pieced together their longest scoring drive after starting out from their own four yard line with 12:24 remaining in the contest. Two separate 23-yard rushes from Newton and a 33-yard pass completion from backup quarterback Drew Chance to Lyte in between made up most of the yardage. A fade route run by Lyte from one yard out was completed to cap off the 96-yard, four-minute drive, 38-3.

The final eight minutes of the game was a matter of running out the clock with Wesleyan looking to limit any more damage and State looking to bring home its third victory on the season. West Virginia State did just that when the clock reached triple zeros.

WVSU had a near perfect balance of running and passing with 197 yards on the ground and 222 yards through the air for 419 total yards of offense. On the other side of the ball, the State defense held WVWC to a season-low 268 yards of total offense.

Next up for West Virginia State is the most highly-anticipated Homecoming game in the 130-year history of the university. It will be a true Homecoming for the Yellow Jackets who will be returning to Lakin-Ray Field at Dickerson Field for the first time this season. Newly installed artificial turf and stadium lighting will be revealed as the first-ever night football game takes place in Institute. WVSU will host UNC-Pembroke at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 16th in what will go down as a historic occasion for WVSU Athletics.
 
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