Box Score
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Just to look at the stat sheet you would see a close contest, but a three-touchdown effort by Jordan Roberts (Madison, WV) made a 35-24 win over West Liberty nothing like it appeared on paper.

The Hilltoppers (1-7, 1-5) outgained Charleston (2-6, 2-3) 388-to-316 in total yards and accumulated 22 first downs to just 14 for the home team. The contest followed the tale of the numbers in the first half as Roberts rumbled for his first score just 41 seconds into the second quarter just after WLU opened the scoring to knot the game at 7-7.

Just three minutes later West Liberty put together their second sustained drive of the afternoon ending in a 36-yard field goal to put the Charleston Homecoming crowd in its seats with a 10-7 advantage. The Golden Eagles wasted little time in putting to rest any thought the Hilltoppers had in spoiling the Homecoming parade as Roberts again went to work. The one-man offensive jugernaut returned the ensuing kickoff 51-yard to the Hilltopper 34 yard line, which led to a 31-yard scamper just two plays later. The second Roberts touchdown allowed WLU to hold the lead for just 44 seconds, which would send the teams into the halftime break.

After the teams made their halftime adjustments a renewed attack was expected from the Hilltoppers offense, but their comeback chances would be stunted by UC special teams. West Liberty tried to slide under the radar to keep Roberts and company off the field as they attampted an on-side kick to open the second half, which was abruptly recovered by the quick reflexes of Taylor Farley (Winfield, WV).

Farley's recovery proved pitotal in many ways importantly it led to a momentum and point swing from which the visitors would never recover. Roberts took the first play from scrimmage in the second half for 33 yards to the Hilltopper 8 yard line. On the next play, freshman Marquis White (Pompano Beach, FL) slipped thru the defense for his second touchdown of the his career to increase the advantage to 21-10.

Charleston's defense continued to stand strong throughout the third quarter to keep West Liberty off the scoreboard. In the fourth quarter, the Golden Eagle managed to put the game away by taking advantage of two critical Hilltopper mistakes.

The wheels seemed to come off when a fumbled punt return was recovered by Charleston's Tyler Hamilton (Forest City, NC). Roberts followed the fumble recovery just three plays later with his third score of the afternoon (28-10) to continue his glide up the UC record books as he now sits in fifth all-time for rushing touchdowns in a season (9).

What seemed if it couldn't go any worse for the West Liberty special teams unti only turned into a disaster on the ensuing kickoff. The Hilltoppers return tandum was unable to manage the Puma Nuredini (Naples, FL) kick allowing it to bounce unattended around the goal line. The miscue turned into an immediate Charleston touchdown as Ryan Foster (Cincinnati, OH) raced down the field to recover the ball in the endzone to seal the win for UC making the score 35-10 with just 13:24 remaining.

WLU managed two touchdowns going away as UC used their possessions to run as much clock as possible eventually walking away with a 35-24 victory.

Roberts accumulated 134 rushing yards on an astounding 7.9 yards per carry to bring his season total to 904 yards. He is now just 96 yards shy of becoming just the second 1,000 yard rusher since Charleston restarted football in 2003. Roberts did manage to imprint his name in the UC record books with his overall performance as he tallied 214 all-purpose yards increasing his season total to 1,556 eclipsing Aaron Higdon's previous mark of 1,448.

Keeping the West Liberty defense on its toes all afternoon was quarterback Maurice Leak (Waxhaw, NC) who quietly had a solid performance with 107 yards on 13-of-20 passing, while rushing for 62 yards. Leak spread the ball around to eight different receivers in the win as Daniel Cherry (Jacksonville, FL) led the receivers with three receptions for 26 yards.

Defensively, Aaron Dunlap (St. Albans, WV) continued to show why he is the teams leading tackler getting his nose in on 13 tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss. Jeff Green (Johnson City, TN) kept constant pressure on the Hilltopper quarterbacks ending the afternoon with 1.5 sacks and 2.0 tackles for loss, while totaling seven overall tackles.

UC outrushed West Liberty 209 yards to just 61 to make up for a sizable 327-107 difference in the air.

Charleston now awaits Glenville State who comes to Charleston for a 1:00 pm matchup next Saturday, Oct. 29.