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WVWC suffers first loss

FAIRMONT — West Virginia Wesleyan’s football team suffered their first loss, falling 35-10 to an opportunistic Fairmont State squad in the Mountain East Conference Game of the Week.

On the turf at Duvall-Rosier Field, the Bobcats committed four turnovers (two lost fumbles and two interceptions), and the Falcons capitalized, racing to a 29-7 halftime advantage that Wesleyan could not overcome.

Fairmont State kicker Sam Keil drilled three first quarter field goals from 35, 26, and 21 yards, staking the Falcons to an early 9-0 lead.

After Keil’s third boot, Wesleyan received their highlight of the night, as Jujuan Linzy raced 99 yard with the kickoff return, cutting the margin to 9-7. It was the second straight game for Linzy returning a punt or a kick-off for a touchdown as he scored on a punt return last week against West Liberty. That return gave him MEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors last week.

Led by quarterback Jujuan Young-Battle, Fairmont State responded with three second quarter touchdowns.

Young-Battle found Laurence King from 59 yards out at the 13:52 mark, and less than two minutes later, Terrell Charles scored a rushing touchdown from the two-yard line.

Young-Battle closed the first half scoring himself, delivering a four-yard scoring run just 2:29 before the intermission.

Wesleyan’s Tyler Fischer kicked his fourth field goal of the season in the third quarter, a 37-yarder that cut the deficit to 29-10.

Fairmont State responded with Young-Battle finding Jeff Iweh from 13 yards out for the night’s final tally. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter.

Fairmont State led in total yards 405-206 and in first downs 20-11.

Wesleyan’s Devin Montgomery led all rushers with 86 yards on 14 carries while Luke Casey gained 24 yards on three attempts.

Bobcat quarterback Ryan Deal completed 11 of his 26 passes for 127 yards. Deal was sacked four times on the night.

Kenny Lewis Jr. snagged a team-high five catches for 62 yards.

Brandon Grayson led the defense with 10 total tackles.

Young-Battle led the FSU offense, connecting on 16-of-21 passes for 271 yards and a pair of scores.

Andre Hall was his top target with seven catches for 143 yards.

Wesleyan falls to 2-1 overall with the loss and 2-1 in the MEC.

Fairmont State improves to 2-1 with the win and 2-0 in the MEC.

Coach Del Smith’s Bobcats return home, hosting Urbana Saturday at noon in another MEC contest

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