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West Virginia State University Athletics

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Photo: Todd Griffith
7
West Virginia St. WVS 1-1 , 0-1
18
Winner Frostburg St. FSU 2-0 , 1-0
West Virginia St. WVS
1-1 , 0-1
7
Final
18
Frostburg St. FSU
2-0 , 1-0
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
WVS West Virginia St. 7 0 0 0 7
FSU Frostburg St. 0 0 3 15 18

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

WVSU suffers first defeat at Frostburg, 18-7

FROSTBURG, Md. – The West Virginia State University football team (1-1, 0-1 MEC) suffered its first defeat of 2022 by a score of 18-7 on the road to Frostburg State (2-0, 1-0 MEC) on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Kameron Vargas led the WVSU defense with a career-high 14 tackles, including eight solo tackles. Three other WVSU defenders recorded double-figures in tackles. AJ Joyce, Jeremiah Covington-Griggs, and Ibrahim Sesay each racked up 11 tackles.

Senior quarterback Donovan Riddick faced constant pressure and was sacked four times. He completed 15-of-30 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown. He also led the rushing attack by netting 33 yards on 16 attempts.

A roughing the kicker penalty on a fourth-and-four punt kept Frostburg State's first drive of the game alive.The State defense held strong, though, and forced the Bobcats to punt again. The State offense took back over from its own three yard line.

Donovan Riddick scrambled twice for 24 yards to quickly get the Yellow Jackets out of dangerous territory. He made another big play on third-and-10 later in the drive by finding Keedrick Cunningham between the hashes for a 24-yard connection. Riddick then found Javion Monroe on third-and-11 for a 19-yard touchdown strike to break the stalemate. The Yellow Jackets gained a 7-0 lead with around three minutes remaining in the opening quarter.

The rest of the first half was a defensive stalemate. The next eight drives all ended with punts. The longest drive after the touchdown was an eight-play, 20-yard drive by West Virginia State midway through the second quarter. Without either offense being able to get anything going, WVSU held onto its seven-point advantage through halftime.

Frostburg's run game was effective on the first drive of the second half. The Bobcats ran the ball 14 times before throwing a single pass on third down that came up short of the marker. The 60-yard drive took eight-and-a-half minutes off the clock and resulted in a 26-yard field goal that shrunk West Virginia State's lead to four, 7-3.

A pass interference penalty against WVSU on third-and-four kept Frostburg's drive alive that lasted through the end of the third quarter. The Bobcats started the quarter-ending drive from their own 14 yard line and were able to move 81 yards down the field before stalling at State's five yard line. Again, a pass play came up short of the first down and brought the field goal unit out. The 22-yard attempt sailed through the uprights after another clock-eating drive that left 12:24 on the scoreboard in the final quarter. The Yellow Jackets were left with a slim one-point advantage to defend, 7-6.

A three-and-out by West Virginia State gave the pigskin right back to FSU. Eight plays later, the Bobcats broke into the end zone for the first time with a 13-yard rush. They went for two after the score but were unsuccessful. WVSU ended up down by five, 12-7, with just under seven minutes remaining in the fourth stanza.

The Yellow Jackets went for it on fourth down in their own territory on the ensuing drive. The fourth down conversion failed and handed the ball back to Frostburg on State's 27-yard line. The WVSU defense stood strong and forced another field goal to be kicked. The kick was good and separated the teams by eight points, 15-7, with three minutes to go.

The WVSU offense still struggled to get anything going on the following possession. A bad snap on fourth down turned the ball back over to the Bobcats with a minute-and-a-half remaining in the contest. FSU ran another minute off the clock before kicking a 35-yard field goal to seal the game, 18-7.

West Virginia State's defense held Frostburg State's offense to three points through three quarters, but eventually ran out of steam in the fourth quarter after being left out on the field for the majority of the contest. FSU possessed the ball for over 40 minutes and relied heavily on its run game. The Bobcats only managed 63 passing yards but were able to rack up 215 rushing yards by the final whistle.

The Yellow Jackets will return to Institute for their next game against Fairmont State on Saturday, Sept. 17th. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
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