GLENVILLE, WV – Glenville State got big plays from its special teams and passing game in pulling away to a 41-14 victory against West Liberty on a wet, raw and windy Saturday afternoon at Morris Stadium.
The Pioneers (2-3, 2-0) racked up nearly 500 yards of total offense with much of that produced by the strong right arm of quarterback Darold Hughes.
Glenville’s senior signalcaller completed 15-of-24 passes for 298 yards, highlighted by back-breaking touchdown passes of 85 and 46 yards to Jakhari Murphy.
The West Liberty defense kept things close in the early going as the Hilltoppers (0-5, 0-3) turned Glenville away twice inside the WLU red zone in the opening quarter, once with a clutch goal line stand and again with an Alec Wood interception.
The hosts broke through on special teams when Darrien Hudson blocked a West Liberty punt, scooped up the ball at the Hilltopper 15 and danced into the end zone to give the hosts a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
West Liberty drove into Glenville territory on the ensuing possession but the Pioneers took over at their own 20 following a punt. Two snaps later, Hughes flipped a short screen pass to Murphy, who cut across the field and picked up a wall of blockers to sprint untouched down the right sideline for an 85-yard touchdown.
Late in the quarter, a Glenville punt was downed at the WLU 1 – one of four Pioneer punts to be downed inside the Hilltopper 5 on the day. Glenville forced a 3-and-out and wound up getting the ball at the West Liberty 13 following a short punt. Kareem Alexander muscled into the end zone from a yard out for a 21-0 Pioneer lead at the half.
Hughes opened the second half with a 46-yard TD pass to Murphy but the Hilltoppers struck right back when sophomore WR Brandon Schroeder got behind the Pioneer secondary to haul in a 61-yard scoring strike from L.D. Crow.
It was the longest play of the season for West Liberty but the visitors couldn’t sustain the momentum as Glenville tacked on a pair of Colston Bayless field goals to take a 34-7 lead into the final quarter.
The Pioneers pushed the lead to 41-7 on a 2-yard run by Derek McRae midway through the fourth quarter before backup QB Ben Rogers led a 99-yard scoring march for the Hilltoppers, capping the drive with a thread-the-needle strike to Schroeder on 4th-and-goal from the Glenville 13 with just over a minute remaining.
Crow and Rogers combined to complete 13-of-35 passes for 197 yards and 2 TDs with no interceptions. Schroeder was the leading receiver with 4 catches for 91 yards while tailback Brandon Davis ran for 63 yards on 14 carries.
West Virginia State provides the Homecoming opposition on Saturday afternoon at West Liberty. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Russek Field.
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