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GLENVILLE – West Liberty jumped ahead 23-0 after a quarter here Saturday afternoon inside Morris Stadium on Glenville State’s homecoming and left town with a 44-22 Mountain East Conference victory.
The Hilltoppers (7-1, 5-0) took the opening kickoff and needed just four plays to march 75 yards to take the lead for good as the Pioneers (1-7, 0-5) suffered their sixth consecutive setback for first-year head coach Jake Casteel.
WLU used a 28-yard completion from Kohl Meisman to Levi Gullion on the game’s initial snap from scrimmage. After the nation’s second-leading rusher Hunter Patterson took his first carry for 15 yards, Meisman hit Jaylin Harcum for a 19-yard gain and Anthony May’s 13-yard scoring burst followed. Aidan Grella' PAT was true for the 7-0 lead with 13:27 still on the clock.
The Pioneers, who welcome in W.Va. State at 1 p.m. next Saturday, got a 16-yard JD Sherrod to Zavione Wood completion to get a first down on their opening drive, but were forced to punt.
Although GSU’s Bryson Oliver had an interception, the hosts got the ball at the 2 and on the first play Hilltopper Chris Thompson tackled Jamir Fox for a safety and a 9-0 lead.
Patterson, who finished with nine carries for a game-high 133 yards, proceeded to make it 16-0 on West Liberty’s next play as he raced 69 yards for a touchdown at the 5:48 mark.
Glenville State tried to answer and get on the scoreboard via a 34-yard Brody Layman field goal, but it was blocked.
That led to the 23-0 deficit when May scored from 28 yards out and although the Pioneers finally dented the scoreboard, the hosts trailed 30-7 at halftime following a Patterson 47-yard scoring burst.
Sherrod had TD tosses of 11 yards to Kyree Bunny and 64 yards to Caden Harris as the Pioneers cut the deficit to 30-22 early in the fourth, but Meisman responded with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Dominic Ellis-Diaz and May punched another one in from the 4 with 5:23 remaining to set the final score.
May added 89 ground yards on 15 attempts for the Hilltoppers, who return to action at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Fairmont State.
Glenville State, which held a 24-22 edge in first downs, was limited to 49 rushing yards on 27 attempts while allowing 278 on 35 carries.
Sherrod finished 25 of 47 for 319 yards. Harris led the way with game-highs of eight receptions for 135 yards.
West Liberty, who watched Meisman hit 12 of 23 for 150 yards with Gullion (5-73) being his top target, was flagged 16 times for 152 yards.
West Liberty 44, Glenville State 22
WLU (7-1, 5-0) 23 7 0 14 – 44
GSU (1-7, 0-5) 0 7 7 8 – 22
W: Anthony May 13 run (Aidan Grella kick) 13:27, 1st
W: Chris Thompson safety 6:05, 1st
W: Hunter Patterson 69 run (Grella kick) 5:52, 1st
W: May 28 run (Grella kick) 0:33, 1st
G: Touchdown N/A (Brody Layman kick) 10:28, 2nd
W: Patterson 47 run (Grella kick) 8:43, 2nd
G: Kyree Bunny 11 pass from JD Sherrod (Brody Layman kick) 11:08, 3rd
G: Caden Harris 64 pass from Sherrod (Bunny pass Sherrod) 12:24, 4th
W: Dominic Ellis-Diaz 17 pass from Kohl Meisman (Grella kick) 12:08, 4th
W: May 4 run (Grella kick) 5:23, 4th
Team stats
WLU: First downs: 22; Rushes-yards: 35-278; Passing yards: 150; Total yards: 428; Passing: 12-23-1; Punts-average: 4-38.5; Fumbles-lost: 1-0; Penalties-yards: 16-152
GSU: First downs: 24; Rushes-yards: 27-49; Passing yards: 319; Total yards: 368; Passing: 25-47-0; Punts-average: 5-35.4; Fumbles-lost: 0-0; Penalties-yards: 8-85
Individual stats
WLU: Rushing: Hunter Patterson 9-133, Anthony May 15-89, Jay’Den Birch 7-19, Kohl Meisman 3-9; Passing: Meisman 12-23-1, 150 yards; Receiving: Levi Gullion 5-73, Dominic Diaz-Ellis 4-37, Jaylin Harcum 2-21, Anthony Campbell 1-19
GSU: Rushing: Jamir Fox 10-39, Amir Simmons 2-7, Zavione Wood 6-2, JD Sherrod 9-1; Passing: Sherrod 25-47-0, 319 yards; Receiving: Caden Harris 8-135, Kashez Gedeon 2-58, Wood 6-39, Joziah Gonzalez 1-24, Rico Thomas 1-19, Simmons 1-13, Triston Walker 3-12, Kyree Bunny 1-11, Lucas Ripptoe 1-5, Fox 1-3
Next games: W.Va. State at Glenville State, 1 p.m. Saturday; West Liberty at Fairmont State, 1 p.m. Saturday.