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West Virginia State University Athletics

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FB21 Newton
Photo: Todd Griffith
30
Winner West Virginia St. WVSU 1-2 , 1-1
23
Fairmont St. FALCONS 0-3 , 0-2
Winner
West Virginia St. WVSU
1-2 , 1-1
30
Final
23
Fairmont St. FALCONS
0-3 , 0-2
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
WVSU West Virginia St. 14 9 0 7 30
FALCONS Fairmont St. 0 3 7 13 23

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

WVSU picks up first win at Fairmont State, 30-23

FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- The West Virginia State University football team picked up its first win of the season against Fairmont State, 30-23, on Saturday afternoon at Duvall-Rosier Field. The Yellow Jackets outgained the Falcons by over 100 yards.

WVSU improves to 1-2 overall, 1-1 in the Mountain East Conference with the victory. Meanwhile, FSU falls to 0-3 on the season, 0-2 in the MEC with the defeat.

Freshman running back Malik Newton, who transferred from Pitt before the start of the season, had a career day. He carried the ball 27 times for 180 yards and one touchdown to solidify himself as the new workhorse in the backfield. Fifth-year fullback Dant'e Jones was still heavily involved as usual with 18 rushing attempts for 89 yards and one touchdown.

Junior quarterback Donovan Riddick was off to a great start with nine completions on 11 passing attempts for 121 yards and a touchdown before he suffered an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the game. Receivers Keedrick Cunningham and Barry Hill combined for eight catches and 117 yards with Hill making the one touchdown grab.

Junior Payton Lunsford continued to lead the defensive unit with 12 total tackles. He made five solo tackles and two tackles behind the line of scrimmage, including a nine-yard sack. Senior defensive back Ibrahim Sesay was the next leading tackler with eight total, including six on his own.

West Virginia State received the kickoff to start the game and found the endzone in under three minutes. A 26-yard strike from Donovan Riddick to Barry Hill brought the Yellow Jackets down to Fairmont State's 16 yard line. Malik Newton then rushed three times to move the pigskin to the two yard line before Hill made a one-hand grab to finish off the opening drive, 7-0.

The Falcons' first drive stalled out in six plays to give WVSU the ball back with just under 10 minutes to go in the first quarter. Paul Davis sacked the opposing quarterback on fourth down to return possession to the Yellow Jackets near midfield. A well-balanced, five-minute long drive ensued that ended with Dant'e Jones barreling over the goalline from two yards out, 14-0. 

The next score for West Virginia State came on the heels of a seven-play, 56-yard drive that trickled over into the second quarter. Martin Ahlstroem lined up a 40-yard field goal that hit its mark with 13:43 remaining in the first half, 17-0.

The Falcons finally crossed midfield on the next drive but were held to a 22-yard field goal after AJ Joyce hurried the quarterback on third-and-five, 17-3.

West Virginia State took over again with 10 minutes to go and proceeded to rush for big chunks of yardage. Newton had two big gains of 16 and 20 yards while Jones broke off a 22-yard rush that would later set up Ahlstroem for a 29-yard field goal attempt that was converted, 20-3.

Offensive possessions were traded until the Falcons ended up with the ball with two minutes left in the opening half. A quick three-and-out gave the WVSU offense another shot to score before halftime. The Yellow Jackets marched 56 yards down the field to set up another field goal attempt for Ahlstroem. He was good from 29 yards out this time just before the close of the second quarter, 23-3.

The third quarter went Fairmont State's way. An untimely fumble set the Falcons up for a long touchdown drive. They managed to string together a 17-play, 93-yard drive that lasted five minutes and resulted in seven points, 23-10. 

The only other scoring opportunity of the third quarter was a 41-yard field goal attempt by Ahlstroem that bounced off the upright with around three minutes left. The WVSU defense then forced another quick three-and-out to set up a drive that would carry over into the fourth quarter.

Starting at their own five yard line, the Yellow Jackets ran exclusively to make it all the way down the field. Newton handled the brunt of the workload and finally punched the ball in from one yard out to cap off the seven-minute, 18-play scoring drive, 30-10. At the end of it, nine minutes were left in the game.

A couple of long passing plays made up the majority of the 70 yards on the ensuing Falcons drive. Fairmont State took three minutes off the clock to score a touchdown and miss the point after try, 30-16.

West Virginia State then left two minutes on the clock with the next possession. A 42-yard field goal attempt missed the mark to leave the score as is.

The Falcons were able to score one last time after they started their final drive with a 50-yard pass completion. FSU eventually found the endzone but did not recover the onside kick afterwards to give WVSU the victory. 

West Virginia State ran for 282 yards and averaged five yards per carry. On the other hand, Fairmont State had only 70 yards rushing on the day and averaged only 2.4 yards per rush.  

The Yellow Jackets will take another road trip next Saturday, Sept. 25th to play No. 8 Notre Dame (Ohio). The kickoff is scheduled for noon.
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