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WHEELING - The Mountain East Conference football schedule kicked off on Saturday on Bishop Schmitt Field at Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration and WesBanco Stadium as Wheeling University (2-2, 1-0) welcomed in Fairmont State for the conference opener, and it took the full 60 minutes to decide the winner. In the end, the Cardinals came out on top 28-24, getting off to a 1-0 start to MEC play for the third year in a row.
After going back and forth throughout the afternoon, it would come down to the final drive for both teams, with the Cardinals trailing 24-21. Fairmont would have a 41-yard field goal that sailed wide right, and the Cardinals were set at their own 22 yard line with 7:52 to play.
It was a series of short plays that got the Cardinals past midfield, as they chipped away throughout the drive. Wheeling did not have a gain of more than 10 yards on the drive, and set themselves up with a 2nd & 9 at the Falcon 21 yard line. A pass interference call would get them inside the 10-yard line, and Landon Lutz did the rest, scampering in from seven yards out for the touchdown. John Marshall grad Conor Fitzpatrick would sail the extra point through the uprights and Wheeling held a 28-24 lead with 2:53 to go. The Falcons nearly took the lead right back, with a 30-yard break away by James Borbor, but a shoe string tackle by Arthur Pierre-Antoine kept him out of the endzone.
Fairmont State was still set up in field goal range at the Wheeling 32, and the defense would have to come up with one more stop. After three short runs up the middle, it came down to a 4th-and-one at the Wheeling 23.
Fairmont State handed the ball to Rickey Hunt Jr. up the gut, and the Cardinal defensive line swallowed him up at the line of scrimmage securing the win. The Cardinals would kneel down the ball three times to run out the clock and they would come away with the 28-24 win. It was the second straight season that the Cardinals started the season 1-0 and they look to build on that momentum as they head into their bye week.
It was a big day for the Cardinal ground game, with four different runners racking up 142 yards on the ground. Leading the effort was O’Marion Taylor, who carried the ball four times for 53 yards, while Dawaun Green had 19 carries for 44 yards.
Lutz would pick up both rushing touchdowns, including the game winning score from seven yards out, totaling 44 yards on the ground. In the passing game, the graduate quarterback would finish 14-26, throwing for 211 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception on the day. St. Clairsville alum Colin Oberdick finished with two catches for 17 yards and a score.
In the fourth quarter with Wheeling trailing 24-14 and looking to get momentum back on their side, Solo Love would give them the field position, taking the kick-off to the Fairmont State 48 and Wheeling would capitalize. Lutz would find Oberdick on a toe-tapper in the back of the endzone, and Fitzpatrick would make it a 24-21 game.
Wheeling returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 3, when it hits the road to face West Virginia Wesleyan College at 1 p.m.