October 15th, 2023 by WCBC Radio
Frostburg State Football team rallied on offense after being held scoreless in the first quarter, defeating Concord on the road Saturday afternoon by a final score of 34-3.
Frostburg received the ball first, gaining 11 yards on their first drive before being forced to punt. The Mountain Lions took over on their opening possession, marching down to FSU's seven yard-line to complete a 23-yard field goal for a quick 3-0 lead. Both teams struggled to get their offense going to finish out the quarter, with both sets of defenses stepping up. Junior Jeremiah Baxter was credited with a broken up pass, as the Bobcats didn't allow CU to get into scoring position.
To start the second quarter, FSU continued to struggle getting the ball down the field, handing the ball back to the hosts. The Mountain Lions completed a quick pass for 29-yards, putting them back in Frostburg territory. The Bobcats were able to hold Concord to another field goal attempt, this time missing a 28-yarder, keeping the score 3-0 with 8:49 left in the second. Now starting a drive at their own 20 yard-line, senior Evan Branch started the possession out strong with an 18-yard rush. Senior Graham Walker then found sophomore Jamil Bishop for a 37-yard completion and another Bobcat first down. Continuing the pressure, Branch had back-to-back runs, the latter trotting 13 yards into the endzone for Frostburg's first score of the day. Senior Dayne Koontz went out to tack on the extra point, putting FSU up 7-3.
Junior Leonard Scott broke up a pass on the Mountain Lions' next possession, as the Bobcats quickly got the ball back. Sophomore Sean Aaron started the drive off strong, running the ball four straight times for a total of 63 yards and three straight first downs. Walker proceeded to keep the ball for an eight yard rush of his own, as Frostburg ended up on Concord's 16-yard line. Koontz looked to set up for a 33-yard field goal, knocking it down with ease for a 10-3 FSU lead with 1:26 left in the half, as the score remained the same heading into the break.
CU began the offense to start the second half, as three quick plays and a broken up pass by sophomore Wylan Harich forced a punt for the Mountain Lions. Aaron opened second half play for FSU with three straight carries for a total of 25 yards. Being on Concord's 20-yard line, Koontz attempted a 37-yard field goal, tacking on three more points for Frostburg, now for a 13-3 lead. The Bobcats defense continued to handle CU's offense, forcing another three and out for the Mountain Lions, only allowing them to gain one yard on offense. With the energy and momentum high, sophomore Amari N'namdi-Hall gave FSU great field position after a 19-yard punt return. On the very next play, Branch burst through the offensive line, running 30 yards to the endzone for an FSU touchdown. Koontz knocked the extra point through the uprights, now for a 20-3 Bobcat lead with 10:01 left in the third.
Concord was able to gain some yardage on their next possession, but Frostburg continued to keep them outside of scoring range. With another possession, Branch put up a strong 43-yard rush for an
FSU first down, putting the Bobcats on CU's one-yard line. Walker ran it in himself, as Koontz tacked on the extra point, with Frostburg jumping out to a 27-3 lead. Carrying that energy from offense to defense, Harich and junior Austin Amadi broke up back-to-back passes on defense, as junior Vincent Nwachi snagged an interception on the next play.
Branch started the Bobcats off with a 17-yard rush, followed by a 25-yard gain by Aaron. With a couple more short runs for Frostburg, Walker was set up for a four-yard touchdown pass to N'namdi-Hall, with Koontz successfully kicking another extra point, as FSU jumped ahead 34-3 with 12:34 left in the fourth.
Another successful defensive outing lead to a three and out for the Mountain Lions. Frostburg quickly regained possession but was unable to keep the hot offensive streak going. The Bobcats rounded out the game with a broken up pass from senior James Coleman, a sack from sophomore Rainer Halveland, and an interception by senior Trevor Craig, as Frostburg stood strong on both sides of the ball for the 34-3 victory.
With a terrific day on offense, the Bobcats finished with a total of 324 rushing yards, the program's most in a game since joining Division II and the most overall since gaining 385 on the ground against Wittenburg in 2017. Branch went for a total of 142 yards and Aaron tallied 129 himself. Walker threw 6-for-10 for 74 yards, as Bishop finished with three catches for 57 yards. On defense, Harich was credited with a total of six tackles for the team leaad, with Nwachi and junior Rashaan Simpson each tallying five. FSU had 423 total yards on offense, compared to Concord's 258, with the three points allowed being the fewest allowed all season for Frostburg.
With the win, Frostburg improves to 5-1 on the season, while Concord falls to 0-7. The Bobcats will return home for a Thursday night game, hosting West Virginia State at 7 PM on October 19, as the game is set to be broadcast live on MASN and SportsNet Pittsburgh. For more information and updates, please visit frostburgsports.com.
