Charleston, W. Va. – Charleston squared off with the Pioneers of Glenville State on Saturday. Both teams came into the contest fresh off two Mountain East Conference victories, making this for matchup where only one team would remain at the top of the MEC standings heading closer to the midway point of the regular season.
The Basics
Location: University of Charleston Stadium
Score: UC 29, GSU 17
Records: UC 5-0 (3-0 MEC), GSU 2-3 (2-1 MEC)
How it Happened
After forcing a punt on Charleston's opening possession, Glenville State turned their opening drive into points with a 31-yard field goal from Brody Layman to take a 3-0 lead over the Golden Eagles. Charleston's offense marched down the field on their next possession and took the lead with a Chavon Wright rushing score from three yards out; after multiple penalties on the extra point try, head coach Quinn Sanders elected to go for the two-point conversion and converted with yet another punishing run from Wright to go up 8-3 in the first quarter.
On a 3rd and 2 from Glenville State's 39-yard line, Wright would burst through the Pioneer defensive front for 39 yards and strut into the endzone to extend the lead to 15-3. The Pioneers capitalized on a tipped pass on their next possession and turn it into a 77-yard touchdown reception from Anthony Garrett to Tariq Miller to cut the lead down to five points. Using that momentum on the scoring drive, Glenville State converted a surprise onside kick on the ensuing kickoff to gain an extra possession midway through the second quarter, but ultimately would punt after a three and out. It was a battle of field position to end the first half, but no points would be scored for the remainder of the half with Charleston taking the 15-10 lead into the locker room.
After a missed field goal from Charleston on their opening possession of the half, Glenville State took 12 plays to take seven minutes off the clock and find the endzone on a quick throw to Naseem Pacheco for the 17-15 Pioneer lead. The Golden Eagles matched the Glenville State touchdown with a 29-yard throw from Ean Hamric to Jadus Davis to regain the lead at 22-17.
In the fourth quarter, Charleston's punt block unit came up in the biggest way, blocking two back-to-back punts by Breece Hoff and Derrick Crawley Jr. The second blocked punt would result in points after Chavon Wright galloped up the field 30 yards and into the promise land to extend the Charleston lead to 29-17. On Glenville State's final possession, Ra'Shaad Morris would put the nail in the coffin as he picked off a deep throw into the endzone for a touchback. The Golden Eagles took the remaining time of 7:36 off the clock to secure the 29-17 victory.
Up Next
Charleston will be back at home this upcoming Saturday as they take on the Wheeling Cardinals on October 12th with kickoff set for 12:00 PM. The last time these two teams faced was in 2022 where Charleston took a 19-12 victory in a very tight ball game on the road in the Northern Panhandle.
