WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – After playing to its strengths in a gritty road win at Virginia State, the West Liberty University football team kicks off the West Virginia Conference portion of its schedule at home on Saturday against West Virginia Wesleyan.
Coach Roger Waialae’s Hilltoppers (1-1, 0-0) snapped a 6-game losing streak dating back to last fall with last week’s 14-13 gut check in Virginia while the Bobcats (0-2, 0-0) – which went 9-2 a year ago – are coming off their fourth consecutive loss, a 27-16 setback at the hands of Bentley (Mass.).
West Liberty has been an offensive juggernaut throughout most of head coach Roger Waialae’s eight-year run at the helm but it’s a bit of a different look on the hilltop this season.
After handing Virginia State its first home loss in two seasons, the 2012 Hilltoppers head into league play ranked last in the WVIAC in scoring offense but leading the league in scoring defense, total defense and pass efficiency defense.
“There’s that old cliché about a team making its biggest improvement from Week One to Week Two,” Waialae said. “We certainly made a major jump. We still turned the ball over too much but the defense made some really big stops and the offense had some good long drives. I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage offensively and defensively. If we take better care of the ball, it really wouldn’t have been much of a game.”
While the Hilltopper philosophy seems to have executed a 180-degree turn after a pair of low-scoring games, don’t look for the Black and Gold to start putting together game plans based on three yards and a cloud of dust. Waialae and his coaching staff are simply playing to the strengths of a roster that features much more depth and experience on the defensive side of the ledger.
“We had so many guys coming back on defense, especially on the defensive line, that we knew we were in pretty good shape there,” Waialae said. “It was hard to tell with the eight turnovers in the opener but our defensive line play has just been outstanding in the first two games. (Junior LB) Marquis Bradley came up big last week. He was playing on the same side with (junior WS) Marco Ricchetti and that freed Marco up to do some things. Those guys seem to have a pretty good chemistry working together.”
Ricchetti had 11 tackles, 4 tackles-for-loss and an interception to earn WVIAC Defensive Player of the Week honors. Bradley finished with 10 tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss, 2 pass break-ups and a sack.
Junior QB L.D. Crow bounced back from an early interception to complete 23-of-32 passes for 167 yards and the go-ahead touchdown, a 5-yard laser to All-WVIAC WR Brandon Schroeder. Kenjay Trueblood had 23 carries for 79 rushing yards and a score while Schroeder, coming off a 1,000-yard receiving year as a sophomore, finished with a game-high 77 receiving yards on 5 catches.
“I saw a lot of positives on offense last week,” Waialae said. “We were much better up front and our backs were running hard. We’re still going to throw the ball but on our long drives we were about 50-50 run/pass so we wound up with about a 10-minute advantage in time of possession. It was a hot day and that really helped our defense.”
Wesleyan is coming off back-to-back 9-2 seasons but is rebuilding on the offensive side of the ball after losing QB Adam Neugebauer – the nation’s leading passer in 2011 – and All-American WR Jon Meadows. Senior QB Nate Montana, son of NFL legend Joe Montana, transferred in for his final collegiate season and has started the first two games but the Bobcats have struggled to move the ball at times.
The defense is led by All-American DE Jonas Celian, who leads all active NCAA Division II players in sacks and tackles-for-loss, along with fellow senior DE Brian Vukela. All-WVIAC FS Jon Maddox, who started his career at West Virginia, heads a talented secondary.
Wesleyan took advantage of West Liberty’s injury-riddled offensive line and ran away with a 43-8 win in last year’s meeting. Attacking in waves, the Bobcats posted 10 tackles-for-loss and 6 sacks while recovering four fumbles and picking off a pair of passes. Waialae expects more of the same on Saturday.
“With the success they had crowding the box and bringing pressure on every play, I don’t know why they’d change,” Waialae said. “Offensively, they’re still a short passing team but they’ve been more vertical this year. They’re taking more shots over the top and they’re also running the ball a lot more. Last year, they hardly ran at all.
“After the game last week, we told our guys to remember the feeling and to think about all the hard work they put in to get that feeling. We want to have that feeling again on Saturday.”
GAME NOTES
X Saturday’s game has been designated as Hall of Fame Day. The WLU Hall of Fame will honor its newest members – Steve Gilson, Branden Hinkle, Mark Schwertfeger, Mike Young and members of the 1977 national championship bowling team – during halftime ceremonies.
X The West Liberty defense has not given up a drive longer than 49 yards this season – a span of 32 opponent possessions
X Hilltopper CB Rod White leads the nation with an average of 3.0 passes defended per game
X W.Va. Wesleyan was just 1-for-20 in third-down conversions in last week’s loss to Bentley
X Bobcat backup QB Zane Zebrasky is the son of former West Liberty QB Frank Zebrasky, a first-team All-WVIAC selection in 1979
