GLENVILLE - With five weeks remaining in the West Virginia Conference football season, Glenville State College is still well in the mix to win a championship.
However, following last week's 14-9 setback at Concord, second-year Pioneer head coach David Hutchison's program can't afford another setback this season.
The task at hand beginining at 1 p.m. Saturday inside Morris Stadium for the G-men (2-4, 2-1) is taking care of business against W.Va. State (2-4, 1-2).
During last week's 14-9 setback at Concord, the Pioneers failed to score an offensive touchdown and lost starting quarterback Darold Hughes to a head injury in the second half. Hughes' status for Saturday is questionable to doubtful and if he can't go the Pioneer offense is going to have to lean more on tailback Rahmann Lee.
"He's got some very special running back abilities," Hutchison said of Lee, who is ranked 27th nationally in rushing yards per game and has 649 stripes with a 6.4 yards per carry average.
"He's got very good vision, great balance and a good change of direction and burst. He's probably been our most consistent offensive weapon this season. The great thing is he's only a freshman."
Fact Box
Game Time
W.Va. State (2-4) at
Glenville State (2-4)
Kickoff: 1 p.m. Saturday
In the event Hughes has to sit out, the Pioneers have a trio of candidates who could see time behind center - Michigan junior transfer Justin Feagin, fellow junior Tony Guidugli or true freshman Dante Roberts, who played at both Palatka and Fleming Island High Schools in Florida. Second string signal-caller Steffen Colon was lost for the year during the preseason because of an ACL injury.
"They all can run our system," said Hutchison, who would prefer not to burn Roberts' redshirt. "You expect the O-line and the running backs to step up and you have to lean on the running game a little more.
"Rahmann has been getting about 20 carries a game and he may get 30 this week. We are looking for Quin Thornton to have a breakout game. He's healthy again."
The Yellow Jackets enter the contest coming off a rough 52-19 setback to West Liberty, but they did play Concord tough in a 23-16 setback. W.Va, State has been exactly 50-50 in terms of run versus pass this year as they have both 189 rush and pass attempts.
"You can see they got a talented team as they almost beat Concord. They didn't play very well against West Liberty," Hutchison added. "I think they are definitely a better team than they were a year ago.
"Their quarterback (Ricky Phillips) is probably the most talented quarterback in the conference. He can really throw it and is very athletic. We'll have to do a good job pressuring and attacking him and force him to make quicker decisions than he wants to."
Phillips has thrown for 1,125 yards and is completing a little more than 50 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns and nine picks. Aubura Taylor leads the ground attack with 333 yards, but is averaging just 3.1 yards per carry. Josh Johnson (25-302) and Ervin Kent (21-328) lead the State wideouts while Tyler Long (55 tackles) and Durelle Evans (three interceptions) are the top State defensive standouts.
For the G-men, Orlandus Harris (35-350) and Robert Jiles (22-362) have been the top pass-catching targets thus far and both have found the end zone five times. James Johnson currently leads the Pioneers with 50 tackles while teammate James Washington has a team-high five sacks.
