FAIRMONT, W.Va. – Fairmont State’s Austin White slammed into the end zone from three yards out with just 36 seconds remaining here Thursday night to give the Falcons a 36-30 win against a mistake-prone West Liberty team under the lights at Duvall-Rosier Field.
The Hilltoppers (1-2, 1-1) had taken their first lead of the night, 30-28, on a 41-yard field goal by Christian Morris with just 4:30 showing on the fourth quarter clock and the WLU defense forced Fairmont (1-2, 1-2) into a 3-and-out on the ensuing possession.
West Liberty was unable to pick up a game-clinching first down but a clutch 51-yard punt from Morris pushed the hosts all the way back to their own 17 with just 2:24 to play.
Aided by a roughing-the-passer penalty, Falcon QB Cooper Hibbs led a march into WLU territory but found himself facing a 4th-and-2 call at the Hilltopper 39 with only 1:11 remaining. On the biggest play of the night, Hibbs kept the ball on an option fake and darted 33 yards up the middle for a 1st-and-goal at the West Liberty 3, setting up White’s game-winning score on the very next snap.
“We have no one to blame but ourselves,” said disappointed WLU head coach Roger Waialae. “You can’t throw 5 or 6 picks and expect to even have a chance. We did a good job fighting to overcome those but we have to get that corrected. The bottom line is you have to make plays to win the game and we didn’t make enough plays.”
With starting quarterback Dakota Conwell unavailable due to injury, the Hilltoppers alternated senior vet Dylan LaGarde and redshirt freshman Brenton Colabella at quarterback. The two signalcallers combined to complete 13-of-23 passes for 3 TDs but also threw 5 interceptions and lost a fumble.
One of the interceptions was returned for a touchdown and the fumble also led directly to a Falcon score. When the smoke cleared, West Liberty had turned the ball over 7 times on the night to just one for Fairmont State.
The frustrating loss overshadowed an outstanding performance by sophomore TB Jeremiah Ortiz. The returning starter carried 28 times for a career-high 217 yards, highlighted by a 63-yard scoring sprint that cut the Falcon lead to 21-20 with 3:14 left in the third quarter.
West Liberty got the ball back near its own 30 following a Falcon punt but Colabella fumbled while being sacked for a 14-yard loss and the hosts recovered at the WLU 13 on the next-to-last play of the third quarter.
Hibbs, who had a huge night for Fairmont, pushed the lead to 28-20 with a 4-yard scoring toss to LaChristopher Lee with 13:04 to play. Hibbs completed 22-of-38 passes for 187 yards and 2 TDs while rushing for 85 more yards and another score on 9 carries.
West Liberty was far from finished. Colabella bounced right back with a 27-yard TD pass to senior TE Daree Goodwin – his second touchdown catch of the night – to once again pull WLU within a point, 28-27, with just under 10 minutes to play. Goodwin led all receivers with 6 catches for 97 yards and 2 TDs.
The Hilltoppers got the ball right back when Zach Barnes stripped White on a running play and Cordell Felder recovered the fumble at the WLU 35. A key pass interference call and several big runs by Ortiz moved the Black and Gold all the way to the FSU 24 before the drive stalled and Morris came on to kick the go-ahead field goal.
White was Fairmont’s leading rusher with 16 carries for 98 yards while Brandon Boyd topped the Falcon receivers with 8 catches for 77 yards. Marcus Porter had a team-high 9 tackles and a 69-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter.
Jed Fue led the West Liberty defense with 9 tackles and 2 tackles-for-loss while Barnes had 5 total tackles, 3 tackles-for-loss and a forced fumble.
The Hilltoppers return home next week to host Urbana in a Thursday night game. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at West Family Stadium.
