Charleston, W. Va – The Charleston Golden Eagles went toe-to-toe with the Glenville State Pioneers in a nail-biting affair on Saturday afternoon. Charleston's biggest objective for this matchup was to play complementary football, and they did just that. 
 
The Basics
Location: University of Charleston Stadium at Laidley Field
Score: UC 41, GSU 34
Records: UC (3-3, 3-2 MEC), GSU (3-3, 2-3 MEC) 
 
How it Happened
It was well known before the opening kickoff that this was going to be a hard-fought 60 minutes. In the early stages of conference play, both teams were looking to get the upper hand in the Mountain East Conference standings as Charleston and Glenville State both came in with MEC records of 2-2.
 
Glenville State would strike first after a four-minute drive down the field ending with a Tariq Miller receiving score to go up 7-0 early in the first quarter. On the ensuing drive, Charleston would answer back with a throw of their own; this one coming from the arm of Javonte Howard to Tae Marrero from 36 yards out to knot the score at 7-7. 
 
Just before the end of the first quarter, the Golden Eagles would take the lead with Howard's legs as he sprinted into the endzone on a fourth down conversion inside the redzone, putting the score at 14-7. 
 
In the second quarter of play, a long Pioneer drive would end in six as Javian Bellamy would run a hard six yards through Charleston defenders into the endzone. This, however, would fail to tie things up as the extra point was blocked by Kadin Jarrouj and the Golden Eagles held their lead by one.  
 
Charleston, with 1:23 on the clock before halftime, would utilize their hurry-up offense. Rafael Floyd was found deep down the field by Howard and brought the Golden Eagles all the way to the Pioneer 35-yard line. After a 15-yard carry from Chavon Wright, Charleston would go into the half with three more points after a 23-yard field goal from Tim McCutchen. 
 
The Pioneers received the opening kickoff and made great use of their possession as they marched 65 yards down the field and punched their way into the endzone on a two-yard run from Saeed Galloway to give the Pioneers the 20-17 lead. 
 
The Golden Eagles would answer right back on their next drive as Javonte Howard threaded a needle through three Pioneer defenders to Colby Cooper from 28 yards out to take the 24-20 lead. 
 
In the fourth quarter, Nick Evans came up big for Charleston on the next drive as he sacked Anthony Garret in the backfield and knocked the ball loose. The Golden Eagles would recover the football and turn the opportunity into points on a 36-yard McCutchen field goal to extend the lead to 27-20. 
 
Explosive plays for the Pioneers on their next two drives resulted in a Glenville State lead after Saeed Galloway found two more rushing touchdowns on consecutive drives, giving the Pioneers the 34-27 lead. 
 
With 3:54 left in the game, Charleston needed to act quickly. Finding his inner Forrest Gump, Marquan Herron caught a pass from Howard at the 45-yard line and took care of the other 55 yards as he galloped down the field and tied the game up at 34-34. 
 
With a tie ballgame, Roderick Webb would put on his cape and snatch the ball out of the air as he intercepted Anthony Garrett and gave the Golden Eagles primetime real estate at the Pioneer 48-yard line with 2:34 remaining in the game. 
 
Webb then handed his cape to running back Josh Brown who was ready to put the game away. The Golden Eagles marched down the field and Brown would put the icing on the cake as he pounded his way into the endzone from five yards out for the late go-ahead touchdown. 
 
A failed hail-mary attempt at the horn from Glenville State would put the game to rest as Charleston would take the 41-34 win over the Pioneers. 
 
Up Next
Charleston will travel down to Athens, WV to take on a very talented Concord Mountain Lion football squad on October 15^th at 12:00 PM.