WEST LIBERTY, WW. – There will be no rest for the Hilltoppers once the West Liberty University football team kicks off its 2011 season with a Sept. 3 visit to Edinboro (Pa.).
That early-September opener will be the first of 11 straight Saturday afternoon contests for a Hilltopper program that is gunning for a seventh consecutive winning season under head coach Roger Waialae.
“I like it,” said Waialae. “Last year we had a 10-game schedule with a Thursday night game and two open dates. This year we’ll be able to get into a routine right from the start and stay with it through the end of the season.”
The challenging schedule brings back all 10 foes from the 2010 slate and adds a trip to NCAA Division II independent North Carolina-Pembroke on Nov. 12 as the season finale.
All three of the Hilltoppers’ non-conference foes are established regional playoff contenders.
Edinboro upset then-No. 7 West Liberty, 20-19, in last year’s season opener and has been ranked in the Top 25 two of the past three years.
Southern Connecticut, which makes its first trip to Russek Field for the home opener on Sept. 10, is coming off its 17th consecutive season at .500 or better under veteran coach Rich Cavanaugh and has earned NCAA Division II playoff berths in four of the past six seasons.
UNC-Pembroke, a first-time foe, has won 23 games over the past three years and was ranked as high as No. 14 a year ago before a couple of late-season losses. The North Carolina team earned a bid to the 2009 post-season field.
“One of our goals every season is to make the playoffs,” Waialae said. “They use a mathematical formula to rank the teams in the region so it’s not enough just to win games. You have to beat good teams. That’s why we schedule them.”
There are plenty of challenges on the conference front as the Hilltoppers must go on the road to face the only other teams to beat them a year ago – defending regional champion Shepherd and a West Virginia Wesleyan team which went 9-2 but just missed a post-season bid.
West Liberty travels to Wesleyan on Sept. 17 before returning home to host Fairmont State on Sept. 24 in the annual Hall of Fame Game. The Hilltoppers visit Glenville State on Oct. 1 before W.Va. State invades Russek Field for Homecoming on Oct. 8. Back-to-back road games at Shepherd (Oct. 15) and Charleston (Oct. 22) follow before West Liberty hosts Seton Hill in Alumni Bowl XVI on Oct. 29.
Concord provides the opposition in the final home game on Nov. 5 before the season-ending trip to UNC-Pembroke.
“Each year’s team takes on its own personality,” Waialae said, “but our returning guys know we blew a golden opportunity last year. We had the lead in all 10 games but made some costly mistakes and wound up giving three of them away.
“It just emphasized the fact that every play is a big play. That’s been a great motivator for our guys in the off-season conditioning program. I’m really looking forward to starting back up again in August.”
WEST LIBERTY
Date Opponent Time
- Sept. 3 at Edinboro (Pa.) 1:30 p.m.
- Sept. 10 Southern Connecticut 1 p.m.
- Sept. 17 *at W.Va. Wesleyan 1 p.m.
- Sept. 24 *Fairmont State-x 1 p.m.
- Oct. 1 *at Glenville State 1 p.m.
- Oct. 8 *W.Va. State-y 1 p.m.
- Oct. 15 *at Shepherd Noon
- Oct. 22 *at Charleston 1 p.m.
- Oct. 29 *Seton Hill-z 1 p.m.
- Nov. 5 *Concord 1 p.m.
- Nov. 12 at UNC-Pembroke 1 p.m.
*-West Virginia Conference game
x-Hall of Fame Game
y-Homecoming
z-Alumni Bowl XVI
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