GREENSBURG, Pa. – The West Liberty University defense returned two interceptions for touchdowns and Isiah Moody rushed for a career-high 119 yards here Saturday afternoon as the Hilltoppers coasted to a 41-29 victory against winless Seton Hill at Offutt Stadium.
West Liberty (5-4, 4-3) never trailed in handing the Griffins (0-9, 0-7) their 11th straight loss but had to weather a career day from Seton Hill quarterback Andrew Jackson, who threw for 439 yards and 5 touchdowns in a losing cause.
The Hilltoppers jumped out to a 10-0 lead after the first quarter on the strength of a 45-yard interception return by junior linebacker Marquis Bradley – the first of his two interceptions on the day – and a 23-yard field goal by Jeff Hoak.
Freshman QB Dylan Lagarde added a 2-yard TD pass to fellow freshman TE Jesse Rose midway through the second quarter but the offense struggled to move the ball with any consistency over the first two quarters and the Hilltoppers settled for a 17-10 lead at intermission.
Senior QB L.D. Crow, who had been sidelined for the past several games with an ankle injury, relieved Lagarde at the end of the first half and seemed to provide a steadying influence.
After a muffed punt by Seton Hill on the first possession of the second half gave West Liberty the ball at the SHU 17, Crow needed just two snaps to find Brandon Schroeder on a slant route for a 15-yard TD.
Jackson answered with a 75-yard bomb to Niko Hall-Brown less than a minute later, but David Huggins blocked the PAT – one of three blocked kicks by WLU special teams – to keep the score at 24-16.
It didn’t stay that way for long as Crow led a quick march for another Hoak field goal, this one from 31 yards out, for a 27-16 Hilltopper advantage.
The West Liberty defense got the ball back with a 3-and-out and Crow put together a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive that ended with a 2-yard burst by Moody to give the visitors a 34-16 lead heading into the final 15 minutes.
Jackson gave the SHU fans hope with a 7-yard TD pass to D.J. Carter at 12:16 of the fourth quarter but that 34-23 margin was as close as the Griffins would get.
Forced to throw on nearly every down, the West Liberty defense ended Seton Hill’s next two possessions with interceptions by Rod White and Bradley but it fell to Tanner Stocker to apply the coup de grace.
With time ticking down and the Griffins backed up deep in their end of the field, the sophomore defensive back stepped in front of a Jackson pass at the SHU 10 and waltzed into the end zone for a touchdown that put the game out of reach, 41-23, with just 1:27 remaining.
Jackson closed out the scoring with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Trae Cook with 28 seconds to play.
Moody turned in a workmanlike performance, carrying the ball 31 times for his 119 yards – both career-highs. Crow came off the bench to complete 9-of-18 passes for 124 yards and a TD with no interceptions. Rose celebrated his first career start with a team-high 6 catches for 34 yards while Schroeder had 3 grabs for 47 yards.
Hall-Brown led all receivers with 11 catches for 223 yards.
West Liberty closes out its WVIAC slate on Saturday with a 1 p.m. game at Concord.
GAME NOTES
X West Liberty’s Marco Ricchetti had his third straight double-figure tackle game with a dozen stops
X Seton Hill’s 439 passing yards are the most by a West Liberty opponent since Edinboro threw for an NCAA Division II playoff record 630 yards in an 84-63 loss to the Hilltoppers in 2009
X The Hilltoppers improved to 7-1 all-time against the Griffins
X This was the last meeting between the two schools for the foreseeable future as Seton Hill is leaving the WVIAC and will begin play in the PSAC next fall
X Hall-Brown’s 223 receiving yards are the most by a WVIAC player since Concord’s Thomas Mayo had a 258-yard day against Fairmont State on Nov. 6, 2010
X Saturday’s combined 22 penalties for 221 yards are the lowest totals for a WLU-SHU game since 2006. The teams had combined for an average of 25 penalties and 244 penalty yards in the previous five meetings
X Seton Hill has just 4 wins in its last 47 games dating back to the end of the 2008
