SPENCER, W.Va. – The Glenville State Football team opened MEC play earlier today at County Stadium in Spencer, falling to the University of Charleston, 31-28, in GSU's second Home Away From Home game. The Pioneers totaled 359 yards of offense while the Golden Eagles had 355, including 214 on the ground.
1st Quarter
Charleston opened the game with a sustaining drive, chopping off over six minutes of game time and putting the first points of the game on a three-yard TD run from Ean Hamric. The Pioneers answered back quickly with
Anthony Garrett connecting with
Arnav Thornhill for 69 yards on the first play from scrimmage to put GSU in the redzone. Three plays later, Garrett found
Jeremiah King across the middle for a touchdown, notching things up at seven all.
2nd Quarter
After consecutive punts by both teams, King and the Pioneers once again logged an impressive drive with the redshirt sophomore capping off the possession with a six-yard TD run. A forced three-and-out by the GSU defense set the Pioneer offense up for success as
Amari Colon-Brown played tip drill in the back of the endzone to give Glenville State a 21-7 advantage.
Charleston's Yves Bosmans leaked out on a wheel route down the sideline and all Hamric had to do was toss it and Bosmans did the rest, running 57 yards to the endzone to quickly make the game a one-score affair. A strip sack allowed UC to get the ball one more time before the half and they were able to muster together three points on a field goal as GSU held closely to a 21-17 halftime lead.
3rd Quarter
Penalties started to catch up to the Pioneers in the second half, first stalling a promising drive with a personal foul on a first down pickup, forcing a
Zander Watson punt. The Golden Eagles went back to what they do with a long, run-heavy drive that led to a 15-yard touchdown connection between Hamric and Aiden Diaz. The Pioneers seemed to have the drive ended on a 3
rd down stop but a roughing the passer kept it alive as UC took the 24-21 lead.
4th Quarter
The offense became stale late in the 3
rd quarter and that carried over into the final stanza, with Charleston taking full advantage of the Pioneer defense logging a lot of time on the field. UC special teams came up big with a blocked punt to give their offense the ball just two yards out from the endzone. A play later, Hamric ran it in to create a two-score ballgame.
Glenville State once again stalled in their following drive, turning the ball over on downs at the UC 29-yard line. Following a defensive stop, the Pioneers were able to drive 90 yards in just under a minute to trim the deficit to 31-28 on an
Anthony Garrett TD run from two yards out. The onside kick frp, GSI bounced out of bounds and UC kneed the remainder of the clock out, escaping with a 31-28 victory over the Pioneers.
Final Stats
Charleston
Quarterback Ean Hamric scored all four touchdowns for the Golden Eagles, throwing two and running in two. He had 141 yards through the air and 83 on the ground. Justin McDuffie ran the ball 24 times for 82 yards while Joshua Donald had 55 yards rushing. Yves Bosmans (three catches, 79 yards, one TD) and Aiden Diaz (four catches, 39 yards, one TD) were Hamric's favorite targets.
Defensively, the Golden Eagles were led by Aden Miller and Denoris Wardlow's six tackles each. Brian Jones had a good day with five tackles and a strip sack fumble. Carter Hamilton led the way in the backfield with two tackles for loss, one sack and a forced fumble.
Glenville State
Anthony Garrett completed 60% of his passes and threw for 257 yards and two scores in the defeat. He also had a rushing TD.
Jeremiah King led the rushing game with 16 carries for 60 yards and one score. Arnov Thornhill led the Pioneers in receiving for the second-straight game, recording two receptions for 91 yards.
Naseem Pacheco had four grabs for 38 yards while
Amari Colon-Brown and King both notched touchdown receptions.
It was a busy day for the linebacking crew as Braden Bogs had 12 tackles and 0.5 TFL while
Shary Jefferson notched nine tackles a 0.5 TFL.
Brandon Penn added eight tackles and a TFL from his safety position also.
Kalon Curry (four tackles, 1.5 TFL, 0.5 sack) and
Alexander Hedhili (two tackles, one TFL) were strong up front for GSU.
Up Next For The Pioneers
The Pioneers will face off with rival Fairmont State next Saturday (Oct. 4) in the Battle For The Bit at RCB Eagle Stadium in Clarksburg. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
