Scots Thump Hilltoppers
Two early turnovers doom West Liberty in 35-10 lossBy DON CLEGG
Article Photos
Fact Box
Edinboro 35, West Liberty 10
Edinboro14 0 14 7 - 35
West Liberty3 7 0 0 - 10
First Quarter
WL-FG Hager 30, 11:29
Edin-H.Brown 4 run (Romanias kick), 6:32
Edin-Harris 2 run (Romanias kick), 3:35
Second Quarter
WL-Ore 10 run (Hager kick), 14:50
Third Quarter
Edin-J.Brown 49 pass from Harris (Romanias kick), 12:04
Edin-Rybicki 19 pass from Harris (Romanias kick), :32
Fourth Quarter
Edin-Burr 50 pass from Harris (Romanias kick), 10:44
- ? ?
STATISTICS
EdinWL
First downs2323
Rushes-yds41-13535-149
Pass yds296149
Passing18-23-016-26-1
Return yds570
Punts-Avg.2-40.54-35.5
Fumbles-lost0-04-2
Penalties12-1266-65
Time of Poss.32:3027:30
Individual Statistics
RUSHING-Edinboro, H.Brown 19-69, Davis 11-49, Battles 6-16, Harris 3-3. West Liberty, Ore 13-112, Hills 11-57, Amedro 7-(-1), Rocchio 1-(-4), Worek 2-(-6), Calhoun 1-(-9).
PASSING-Edinboro, Harris 18-23-0-296. West Liberty, Amedro 14-20-1-115,Worek 2-3-0-34, Rocchio 0-3-0-0.
RECEIVING-Edinboro, Cerro 3-45, Rybicki 3-44, Nolan 2-29, H.Brown 2-21, Dixon 2-19, Gossett 2-16, Burr 1-50, J.Brown 1-49, Boland 1-19, Battles 1-4.
By DON CLEGG
For The News-Register
A skydiver thrilled a near-capacity crowd Saturday when he parachuted onto the newly installed Mondoturf at West Liberty's Russek Field to deliver the game ball moments before the much-anticipated season opener against NCAA Division II Northeast Regional rival Edinboro (Pa.).
Unfortunately for the host Hilltoppers, their parachutes never opened.
West Liberty dug itself an early hole with two quick turnovers and never recovered as the Fighting Scots pulled away to a 35-10 victory.
"I can't remember a worse performance," said head coach Roger Waialae after seeing his high-octane offense held to just 93 yards and zero points in the second half. "I can't remember the last time we were held to just 10 points. We spent the whole game shooting ourselves in the foot."
The bullets started flying soon after the hosts got a 30-yard field goal from Billy Hager to go up 3-0 on the game's opening possession. Virginia Tech transfer Branden Ore highlighted the march with an 18-yard catch.
After the West Liberty defense forced a punt, quarterback Zach Amedro led the Hilltoppers on another march into Edinboro territory but this drive didn't end well.
Fighting Scots free safety Ben Swank jumped in front of an Amedro pass at the Edinboro 38 and streaked 57 yards down the right sideline before being hauled down from behind at the WLSC 5.
Two snaps later, Houston Brown darted into the end zone from 4 yards out and the visitors had a 7-3 lead.
That lead jumped to 14-3 a couple of minutes later when a fumbled center snap was recovered by Edinboro at the West Liberty 26.
Junior quarterback Trevor Harris - the reigning PSAC West Offensive Player of the Year - scored on a 2-yard run at 3:35 of the opening quarter to push the margin into double digits.
"We hadn't dropped a center snap all month in camp but we did (Saturday)," Waialae said. "We just never got into a good rhythm on offense."
Despite the struggles, West Liberty was still very much in the game. Ore scored his first touchdown as a Hilltopper with a nifty 10-yard run on the first snap of the second quarter.
The talented speedster reversed his field after being bottled up and collected a crushing block from fellow running back Kevon Calhoun to turn the corner and win the race to the pylon.
That cut the deficit to 14-10 and ended the scoring for the first half as both offenses struggled with consistency in the mutual season opener.
The issue was still in doubt as the second half got under way but that wouldn't be the case for long.
Harris led Edinboro on a 72-yard, seven-play touchdown drive to open the third quarter, covering the final 49 yards with a perfectly thrown spiral to a wide open Josh Brown.
It was the first of three second-half touchdown strikes by Harris, who completed 18 of 23 passes on the day for 296 yards and three TDs.
"We just had too many blown coverages," said Waialae. "We'd be in man but a couple of guys would switch like they were in zone and leave receivers running free.
"Football's pretty simple. The team that makes the most plays and has the fewest mental mistakes is going to win every time."
Ore broke off a 20-yard run to open the Hilltoppers' ensuing possession but the odds of West Liberty staying in an offensive shootout with the Fighting Scots went off the charts on the very next play.
Amedro was flushed from the pocket and got tangled with the referee while being dragged down from behind for a 17-yard loss. The former John Marshall all-stater had to be helped off the field and could not return.
"Zach pulled his hamstring," said Waialae. "It's the same one he pulled last year but it's too early to say how bad it is."
Backup signalcallers Nick Rocchio and Nate Worek were unable to light a fire under the WLSC offense, which managed just three first downs the rest of the game.
Harris wrapped up the scoring with TD tosses of 19 yards to Ryan Rybicki in the final minute of the third quarter and a 50-yard bomb to Jeremy Burr early in the fourth quarter.
Ore was the game's leading rusher with 112 yards on 13 carries and also added 66 receiving yards on six catches. Eddie Hills had 57 rushing yards on 11 attempts.
The Hilltoppers will try to get back on track this week when they travel to Canton for a noon kickoff against Walsh.
