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WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. -West Liberty University head football coach Roger Waialae is always on the lookout for playmakers and there were plenty on display Thursday night as the Hilltoppers wrapped up spring drills with a spirited Black and Gold Game under the lights at West Family Stadium.
A trio of Hilltopper quarterbacks passed for a combined 362 yards and five TDs with no interceptions to highlight a controlled scrimmage which saw several starters watching from the sidelines and numerous others limited to a handful of reps in what was more of a tightly-controlled scrimmage than an actual game.
“All three of our quarterbacks made great strides this spring and you saw that tonight,” Waialae said.
“We have our entire passing game in for (returning starter) Dakota Conwell now and with last season under his belt, he’s really developing a good comfort level.
“Dakota has really been doing a great job with his reads and sight adjustments but (Brenton) Colabella and (Dylan) LaGarde have been coming on, as well. We have a lot of guys on both side of the ball with the ability to make big plays and that’s a good situation.”
Conwell, who was only on the field for a handful of series, made the most of his limited time by completing 6-of-8 passes for 154 yards and 3 TDs. Colabella, a redshirt freshman, completed 11-of-15 throws for 160 yards and 2 scores while senior-to-be LaGarde hit on 5-of-15 throws for 48 yards.
Returning starters Anton McCallum and Daree Goodwin impressed. McCallum had a game-high 5 catches for 34 yards while Goodwin had 82 yards on 3 grabs. Newcomer Osman Kargbo led all receivers with 103 yards on just 2 catches – including a 60-yard TD toss from Conwell.
Micah Lowe had 4 catches for 61 yards, including a 38-yard TD from Conwell, while H-Back Trevor Hardesty caught a 50-yard TD pass from Colabella and added a 6-yard catch. Tight end Marcus Malara caught a 2-yard TD pass from Colabella and a 4-yard TD strike from Conwell.
Newcomer Ronald Jefferson was the game’s leading rusher with 42 yards on 9 carries, including a 2-yard TD burst. Returning junior Ty Peterson ran for 30 yards on 7 carries while redshirt freshman Devone Penick had 27 yards on 5 carries and showed no ill effects from a knee injury that kept him off the field last year.
Zach Musilli wrapped up the scoring with a 35-yard field goal.
On the defensive side of the ball, redshirt freshman linebacker Cliff Clark had 6 tackles and blocked a PAT while returning starter defensive back Charles Simons was also charted with 6 stops as they tied for the Gold team lead in that category.
There were no interceptions but returning vet Jevon Fripp along with redshirt freshman Kelechi Adoma and newcomer Marquee Johnson were each credited with a sack while returning starting DB Terrance Baldwin and veteran Cordell Felder each had a fumble recovery.
Felder also put a pair of points on the Gold scoreboard early in the scrimmage when he scooped up a PAT that had been blocked by newcomer Parrish McKnight and outraced everyone to the opposite end zone for a defensive PAT.
“This was one of the best springs we’ve had in terms of improving as a football team,” said Waialae, who is looking to build on last year’s 6-5 season with a strong returning nucleus. “Now we need to have the discipline to follow that up with a great summer and report back in August ready to pick up where we left off.”
The Hilltoppers open the 2015 campaign at home on Sept. 5 against defending Mountain East Conference champion and NCAA Division II national semifinalist Concord. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at West Family Stadium.