After the 37-19 loss against UNC Pembroke on Saturday Sept. 23, the spirit of the Hilltop was still alive in celebrating their newly crowned Homecoming royalty, queen Emily Rudy and king Haden Derrow. 

Derrow and Rudy are quite the pair with their school spirit and close friendship. Rudy asked Derrow to be her running mate and he accepted immediately saying that it would be an amazing experience. According to Derrow the pair were shocked when their names were announced as the Homecoming Queen and King. They have a plan to get the students of West Liberty University (WLU) to be more involved with clubs around campus. 

Derrow encourages students to experience what WLU has to offer, “ Get out there, go join something and enjoy the experience as it goes by fast”. 

Roger Waialae, head coach of the Hilltoppers, said there were plenty of opportunities to score for West Liberty, but they did not execute the plays properly. He will be working with the team this week, to get them ready for the rest of season and is going to be making some possible changes. He used words like “hardworking” and “resilient” to describe his players and is confident in their ability to execute the play.

The Hilltoppers season has not been an easy one for the team with many injuries during games. They lost two tailbacks, a safety and three wide receivers, but are hoping to get a couple of their players back on field. Coach declared his remorse for the injured, especially the seniors, but explained that he is focused on the team as a whole.  

Waialae commented on the leadership of his team, he quickly responded about John Brown and Cam Rice, with the goal of getting the rest of the team up to their level. Additionally, Khadeem Richards stepped up Saturday and is predicted to do well for the Hilltoppers this season as well. Coach is very proud of the offensive line for their performance on Saturday. 

Waialae said “The team ran the football well, having 22 rushes and 19 passes, which is right where we want to be”

Wailae still shows resilience and said the team’s ultimate goal is to win, taking it one game at a time. The team is currently having practices and lifts to prepare for the upcoming game against Concord, which will be at 1 p.m. away on Saturday. This is a pretty even matchup, but Concord has a lot of All-MEC players which is going to force the Hilltoppers to be good all around.