Box Score

INSTITUTE, W.Va. - Behind 414 yards on the ground the University of Charleston captured its fourth-straight win with a 42-20 victory over Kanawha Valley rival WV State, on the road Saturday afternoon at Lakin Field.

Jordan Roberts (Madison, WV) made no doubt he is one of the top running backs in the country as the UC offense for the third consecutive week revolved around the talented power back. Roberts set the Charleston single-season rushing record by rumbling for 229 yards on just 19 carries, which led to three touchdowns.

Just as it has been during the second half of the season Roberts' success behind the offensive line helped to produce space for shifty quarterback Maurice Leak (Waxhaw, NC) to operate. As the Yellow Jacket defense keyed in on stopping Roberts, Leak managed to escape into space where he is most dangerous. Despite only passing for six yards on five completions on the day Leak played a pivotal role in leading the Golden Eagles to the win. Leak dropped back to pass on multiple occasions and found space in front of him allowing for the quarterback to accumulate 161 yards on 12 runs for an incredible 13.4 yard per carry average and a touchdown.

Early in the contest it seemed as though WVSU had found a way to bottle up the Leak/Roberts combination that had been so successful the last three weeks. WV State put the first points on the board midway thru the first quarter with a 29 yard field goal. It only took the Golden Eagles 1:56 to respond with a score of their own as Leak escaped a collapsed pocket on third down for a 38 yard scamper that ended in the endzone. On a very windy day Puma Nuredini (Naples, FL) didn't hit the extra point making the lead 6-3.

On the next possession, West Virginia State showed that despite their 1-8 record coming into the game that anything can happen in a rivalry game. WVSU quarterback Ricky Phillips found Ervin Kent for a 15-yard touchdown toss to retake the lead at 10-6.

On Charleston's second possession in the second quarter Roberts benefited from another long Leak run with just 5:33 on the clock before halftime. After Matt Duncan (Jonesborough, TN) slammed Phillips on a fourth and five from the Charleston 32 yard line to retake possession. On the first play of the drive for UC Leak weaved thru the Yellow Jacket defense for 52 yards taking the ball to the WV State six yard line. From that point, Leak handed the ball to Roberts who rumbled thru the right side for the score on what would be just a 35 second drive. The was questions on the status of the point after by Nuredini as the Charleston players on the field stood in shock when it was ruled no-good to make the score 12-10.

In a true rivalry game fashion the Yellow Jackets found themselves in the lead (13-12) two minutes later after a 28 yard field goal on their next possession. UC finally managed to put enough distance on the scoreboard that a field goal could reach. On the Golden Eagles final touch of the half Leak and Roberts put together back-to-back 10 yard runs that led to Charleston's only major strike by air on the day. Leak found Daniel Cherry (Jacksonville, FL) in the front corner of the endzone from nine yards away to take an 18-13 lead into halftime.

The second half was 100% in the University of Charleston's favor as Roberts carried the ball for two consecutive touchdowns. His score in the waning minutes of the third quarter capped a 99 yard drive that put the Golden Eagles up 25-13 as they started to pull away from the outmatched Yellow Jackets. The second Roberts strike was the flip-side of his first score in the second half. Instead of working their way down the field Roberts took it straight to the house with a one-play sprint for 80 yards that gave UC plenty of breathing room at 32-13.

WV State found the endzone for the final time on the afternoon midway through the fourth quarter as Fabian Payne made the score 32-20.

Nuredini shook off his early game troubles to nail a 21 yard field goal with just 1:48 remaining to play for what was thought to be the game sealing points. As Phillips tried to rally his team down the field in an effort to get the score within 11 points Bam Harrison slammed the brakes to the Yellow Jacket drive with an interception that he took 56 yards for a touchdown setting the final tallies in the scorebook at 42-20.

Defensively, Aaron Dunlap (St. Albans, WV) had a record breaking performance in setting the single-game tackles mark. Dunlap put together a 19 tackle effort that included 2.5 tackles for loss and sack, while booking three quarterback hurries. The previous single-game mark was 17 tackles set by LeDominique Williams against WV State in 2006.

Jeff Green (Johnson City, TN) capped a solid season by finishing 2011 with his mark on the UC record books finishing with 8.5 sacks, which is good enough for third place as the single season mark stands at 11.0.

Freshman Isaiah Gibson (Hampton, VA) provided support from the secondary with 2.0 tackles for a loss, while registering 2.0 sacks along with six tackles.

The University of Charleston concludes the 2011 campaign with a 5-6 overall record to go with a 5-3 mark in West Virginia Conference play.