WEST LIBERTY, WV – The West Liberty University football team closed out its spring drills Saturday when the Gold (offense) splashed its way to a 42-35 victory against the Black (defense) in the annual Black and Gold Game at rain-soaked Russek Field.
The Hilltoppers are replacing 20 seniors – including four All-Americans – from last year’s team which led the nation in scoring and total offense for the second straight season.
Head coach Roger Waialae, who has strung together six consecutive winning seasons on the hilltop, saw room for improvement in certain areas but was generally pleased with the team’s overall progress.
“I think we got what we wanted out of spring practice,” Waialae said. “We’re a better football team now than we were when we started a few weeks ago and that’s always your goal in the spring.”
Tyler Tucci, who backed up NCAA Division II record-setting QB Zach Amedro last fall, completed 17-of-27 passes for 178 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the Gold team. Tucci also had 2 catches for 14 yards as a slot receiver.
Brandon Schroeder, a returning starter at wide receiver, had 6 catches for 89 yards to lead the receiving corps while tight end Travis Coon had 3 grabs for 33 yards – including a 20-yard TD pass from Tucci that Coon caught in a crowd at the 5-yard-line before bulling his way into the end zone.
Tailback Arvin Bell, who backed up All-Region tailback Kevon Calhoun a year ago, was the game’s leading rusher with 6 carries for 26 yards. Bell also had 3 catches for 31 yards and had what would have been a 26-yard TD catch called back when the play was blown dead.
Scott Victorio, a versatile Fairmont State transfer who played his high school ball at nearby Brooke, had 6 carries for 17 yards and caught 3 passes for 13 yards – including a 4-yard TD strike from Tucci to cap the first scoring drive of the day.
“The kids who have been here before played pretty well,” Waialae said. “Game speed is different than practice speed and those guys are a little more used to it. I thought Tyler was a little hesitant getting the ball on a couple of occasions but you can see the athleticism he brings to the table. He showed he can make some plays and run the offense plus he also did some good things at receiver. Tyler is such a good football player, he’s going to find a way to get on the field in the fall. He makes things happen.”
Saturday’s game wasn’t all about the offense. The defense kept the score close with four interceptions, three fumble recoveries and four quarterback “sacks.” The defense wasn’t allowed to tackle the quarterbacks but the officials would blow the play dead whenever the pass rush got within arm’s reach.
The defensive highlight of the game came near the end of the scrimmage when Schroeder tried to hit Tucci with a wide receiver throw-back pass. Marco Ricchetti, a returning sophomore starter in the WLU secondary, picked it off in full stride and sprinted 69 yards for a touchdown.
Special teams even got into the act with some big plays of their own. Lloyd Phillips, a speedy wide receiver, came firing off the edge to block two punts while Josh Wilson drilled a 40-yard field goal.
“I’m pretty happy with where we’re at defensively right now,” Waialae said. “You can see the secondary is improved. We had several different guys making plays on the ball back there and I think our defensive line is as good as anybody’s. It’s hard to get a good read on our offense right now because we have so many skill position kids coming in for pre-season camp in August but we had players making plays on both sides of the ball today and that’s what West Liberty football is all about.”
The Hilltoppers open the 2011 season on the road with a Sept. 3 game at Edinboro (Pa.). Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.
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