By Cody Shook, Sports Editor
The West Liberty University Hilltoppers football team will travel this Saturday to take on the Glenville State Pioneers in a Mountain East Conference battle. The Hilltoppers will kickoff the second half of their season at 1 p.m. with hopes to finish with an above .500 record.
This year, the football team is 2-4 overall and they will be chasing after their first road win of the season. They are 0-3 on the road and 2-1 at home. The Hilltoppers have only played one Saturday road game this season, but that was against a nationally ranked Notre Dame College team that still remains undefeated.
The Pioneers of Glenville State come into the week with an identical 2-4 overall record and a flipped home/road record. They are 0-3 at home and 2-1 on the road, so at the end of the day, one of these teams will be getting in the win column for the first time.
This weekend’s game will be the homecoming game for the Pioneers, which means there will be a lot of energy in the stadium and Glenville will be looking to get their second win in a row.
Last week, the Pioneers took on Concord University on the road and came away with a hard fought 41-35 victory over the Mountain Lions. The Pioneers offense accounted for 530 yards on the ground and through the air. They also turned the ball over three times with two fumbles and one interception. The defense did their job, only giving up 265 yards, with 195 of them coming on the ground.
The Hilltoppers had less success in last week’s game as they had to take on the Shepherd Rams, undoubtedly one of the toughest teams in the Mountain East Conference. A final score of 26-14 in favor of the Rams was a one score game until the final minutes of the game when Shepherd scored a touchdown to make it a 12 point game.
The Hilltoppers rushed for 77 yards and two touchdowns while Brenton Colabella led the offense in the passing game with 195 yards on 18 completions. However, 272 yards of total offense was no match for the 397 put up by the Shepherd Rams offense.
Glenville State doesn’t have the top offense in the conference but they are a team that won’t back down. The Pioneers have scored 17 or more points in every single game so far this season, so the Hilltoppers offense will need to be on their game to steal a win on the road.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Glenville, W. Va. These 2-4 teams are both hungry to turn around their seasons in the second half.
Photo Credit: Hilltoppersports.com
