West Liberty's Homecoming game against Glenville State on Saturday was billed as a showdown between two of the nation's top NCAA Division II running backs.
The Pioneers' Jerry Seymour and the Hilltoppers' Branden Ore didn't disappoint but, as so often happens in such meetings, an unsung hero stepped up to steal the show.
Glenville quarterback James McCants passed for three touchdowns, rushed for two more scores and racked up nearly 260 yards of total offense to lead the Pioneers to a 42-39 victory against their mistake-prone hosts at Russek Field.
After getting off to a horrific start, West Liberty (4-3, 3-1) stormed back from a pair of 21-point deficits to pull within striking distance late in the fourth quarter.
But quarterback Zach Amedro fumbled while being hit from behind on Glenville's fourth sack of the game with 1:20 remaining. The Pioneers (4-3, 3-1) recovered and ran out the clock to hand the Hilltoppers their first West Virginia Conference loss of the season.
"After the way we played in the first half, we could have folded up our tents and gone home," said WLSC head coach Roger Waialae. "I'm proud of our guys for battling back and giving themselves a chance to win it at the end."
"The only thing we did differently in the second half is we just decided we were going to play and that's what's so upsetting. I don't care who you're playing, you have to play two halves."
Glenville dominated the first two quarters, taking advantage of some poor West Liberty tackling to rack up more than 300 yards of total offense while the Pioneer defense held the potent WLSC attack to less than 100 yards of total offense.
McCants torched the Hilltopper secondary with two long touchdown strikes. The second one, a 39-yarder to Brian Miles, came on the first snap after Amedro had fumbled while being sacked and pushed the margin to 28-7 with 3:35 left in the opening half.
Ore, who rushed for 116 yards and 5 touchdowns on the day, closed the gap to 28-14 with a pretty 23-yard scoring scamper just before halftime.
Glenville turned another turnover into points early in the third quarter as R.J. Suttles intercepted an Amedro pass at the WLSC 30 and ran it back to the 25. Two plays later, McCants shook off several would-be tacklers while darting up the middle for a 14-yard touchdown on a quarterback draw.
"We knew about McCants and we prepared for him as well as Seymour," Waialae said. "We had guys in position but you have to make plays against teams of this caliber. We had too many people standing around waiting for somebody else to make a play."
Trailing 35-14, the Hilltoppers suddenly seemed to hear the alarm clock going off.
Billy Hager kicked a 21-yard field goal at 5:47 of the third quarter and Ore sprinted in from 15 yards out on the first series of the fourth quarter as the aroused hosts trimmed the margin to 35-24.
Glenville then appeared to salt the game away, grinding more than 5 minutes off the clock on a drive that ended with McCants finding a wide-open David Russell on a post route for a 19-yard score.
That touchdown, which came on a third-and-18 call, pushed the score to 42-24 and left West Liberty just 7:42 to come up with the three scores it needed to win or force a tie.
The Hilltoppers came up with two of those scores in just a little more than two minutes.
A 32-yard pass and run from Amedro to Ore set up a 12-yard Ore touchdown gallop with 6:35 remaining.
Hager then executed a high-bouncing onside kick that was gathered in by the hosts' Lawrence Robinson at the WLSC 44.
After a sack, Amedro fired a 27-yard pass to Eddie Hills and then found Ryan Travis on a 23-yard slant that carried down to the Glenville 27.
Two snaps later, Ore danced up the middle and then cut back out to the right sideline for a 27-yard touchdown. Amedro hit Travis for the 2-point conversion and West Liberty was within a field goal, 42-39, with 5:27 still to play.
That was as close as the Hilltoppers got. Seymour, who ran for 153 yards on 24 carries, ground out one first down for the Pioneers and helped Glenville run more than three minutes off the clock before turning it back over to West Liberty.
Backed up to their own 13, Amedro picked up a first down at the 28 with a pass to Hills as the clock turned under two minutes but two straight incompletions set the stage for the sack and fumble that ended the WLSC comeback.
Amedro completed 20-of-36 passes for 282 yards but was sacked four times and lost a pair of fumbles.
"That's not all on Zach," Waialae said. ''It's not 1-on-11 out there. The line has to block, receivers have to make catches, somebody has to step up and make plays.
"We have a loss in the conference now but we still play the two other teams that didn't have a loss so if we win out, we'll be co-champions at worst."
"The big thing is that we're still in this but we have to stay together to keep that in play. It's my job to make sure everybody understands that."
West Liberty hits the road Saturday to take on nationally-ranked West Virginia State.
Game Notes
* Kelsey Jones of New Cumberland was crowned Homecoming Queen at halftime. The Homecoming King was Cody LaRue of Wintersville.
