Box Score
BUCKHANNON, W.Va. - A pounding effort on the ground lifted the University of Charleston football team to a 28-23 victory over WV Wesleyan as the Golden Eagles outgained their hosts 184-22 in the rushing stat line, Saturday afternoon.

WVWC (3-7) put the first points on the scoreboard by taking their opening possession down the field with a 12 play, 81 yard drive that showed flashes of success against the dominant Charleston defense yet was held to a 22 yard field goal.

UC (8-2) didn't stay behind in the contest for long thought as they quickly took their next possession down the field for a score. A pair of penalties kept the stalling drive alive near midfield before speedster Darrell Byrd (Columbus, OH) escaped around the end for a 43 yard touchdown sprint that handed the Golden Eagles a lead they never reliquished.

Headed into the second quarter the University of Charleston offense continued to eat up clock and yards on the muddy grass surface. Despite their success on the ground it was an opportunistic pass that opened up the contest just before halftime. Byrd, ever the big playmaker, struck for his second homerun ball of the game by pulling in a 75 yard pass from John Knox (Salisbury,NC), which he took nearly to the house before being pushed out at the one yard line. Leading scorer Jordan Roberts (Madison, WV) had no trouble putting the ball in the endzone for the 14-3 advantage.

Five minutes into the second half Nate Montana finally was able to get enough footing on the messy field to put together a sizable threat in the air when he connected for a 25 yard touchdown to pull WV Wesleyan back within 14-10. Charleston wasted little time in recreating their cushion in the scorebook as Roberts took six-straight handoffs on the next drive to walk the visitors within striking distance....and strike they would. Knox found Shaq Williams (Charleston, WV) in the endzone from 15 yards away to cap the 62 yard drive and hand the Golden Eagles a 21-10 lead.

The fourth quarter offered some fireworks as WV Wesleyan made their comeback charge, but left themselves little time to take the win. Montana snuck in for a rushing touchdown to make the score 21-16, but the scoring drive ate nearly six minutes of precious fourth quarter clock and the failed two-point attempt did little to help the comeback.

Dorian Curry (Columbus, OH) blew up a fourth down play with six minutes to play in order to hand his offense a short field to work with. Byrd all but put the game away by responding the short field with another long run. He broke loose for a 32 yard touchdown to cap Charleston's scoring on the day.

WVWC added a late touchdown going away to set the final score at 28-23, but the victory formation would be the last touches of the ball for UC to improve to 8-2 on the season.

Byrd led the rushing attack with 77 yards and two touchdowns on only three touches, while Roberts, the nations 10th best rusher, concluded the afternoon with 61 yards. Knox did enough by air to keep the Bobcats off balance as he accumulated 169 yards on 11-of-21 attempts.

Defensively Bam Harrison (Cincinnati, OH) led the way with seven tackles, while teammates Curry and Ricky Steele (Cincinnati, OH) each book interceptions of Montana, son of Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana.

UC wraps up the 2012 regular season at home against Kanawha Valley rival WV State on Saturday, Nov. 10 with kickoff set for 1:00 pm. Admission to the game is free thanks to game sponsor Fas-Check who will be giving away an array of prizes during the game.