WHEELING, W.Va. – Devin Cox scored on a 3-yard touchdown rush in overtime Saturday to lift the West Virginia State University football team to a 30-24 victory at Wheeling University. The win snaps a five-game losing streak for the Yellow Jackets and marks the program's first overtime win of the season.
Joe Dailey completed 12 of 22 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns while adding 20 rush attempts for 60 yards. Cox carried the ball 19 times for 39 yards and the game-winning touchdown. Malik Leggett caught two passes for 72 yards, while Malik Baker and Amare Ary each recorded a touchdown reception. Defensively, WVSU registered two sacks, including a solo sack by DJ Harmon Jr. Willie DeSantis IV posted a team-high 11 total tackles, and Eric McGuire forced 31 yards lost against the Cardinals' offense.
Wheeling scored on its opening drive, going 60 yards in nine plays to take a 7-0 lead. WVSU answered with a 15-play, 75-yard drive that spanned over seven minutes, capped by a 4-yard Dailey touchdown pass to Baker. Joseph Shrader converted the extra point to level the score at 7-7.
Following a exchange of punts, the Cardinals scored on their first possession of the second quarter to take a 14-7 lead with 6:10 remaining in the half. WVSU took over at its own 10-yard line and executed an eight-play, 90-yard drive punctuated by a 34-yard Ary touchdown run. Shrader added the extra point to level the score at 14-14.
After the Yellow Jackets' defense forced a punt, an errant snap sailed over the Wheeling punter, allowing Demary Toney to recover the ball at the Cardinals' 33-yard line with just over a minute left in the half. Five plays later, Dailey connected with Ary over the middle for a 22-yard touchdown pass, with Shrader converting the extra point to put WVSU ahead 21-14. Following a 79-yard Wheeling kickoff return, the Cardinals converted a field goal as time expired to cut the margin to 21-17 at halftime.
After Wheeling missed a field goal on its opening drive of the second half, the teams traded punts before WVSU took over at its own 37-yard line. The Yellow Jackets drove inside the Wheeling 10-yard line, setting up a 22-yard Shrader field goal to extend the lead to 24-17 with 1:23 remaining in the third quarter. Wheeling responded on its subsequent drive, assembling a 16-play, 68-yard march to level the game at 24-24 with 7:52 left in regulation.
WVSU orchestrated the final drive of regulation, but a pass intended for Ary fell incomplete as time expired to force overtime—marking the second time this season WVSU has played extra time. On Wheeling's opening possession of overtime, the WVSU defense turned away a third-and-short attempt from the Yellow Jackets' 8-yard line, forcing a field goal attempt that missed wide right.
The Yellow Jackets relied on their ground game in overtime, calling rushes on six of seven plays, starting with a 9-yard run by Dailey. Following a Wheeling pass interference penalty, WVSU needed just three plays to secure the win as Cox rushed right for the game-ending touchdown.
WVSU steps out of MEC action next week to host Monroe University on Saturday, Oct. 24. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. at Lakin-Ray Field at Dickerson Stadium.
