FSU loses barnburner to WVSU, 55-37

INSTITUTE, W.Va. — Frostburg State dropped a road game to West Virginia State 55-37 on Saturday afternoon. Frostburg got an immediate boost as junior Tra'Shaun Timmons took the ball 58 yards to the Yellow Jackets 32. Despite not being able to get a first down, the Bobcats still put points on the board through Mountain Ridge graduate Tyler Cook's 45-yard field goal. Frostburg's defense kept WVSU at bay on its first drive, as a penalty on their punt gave great field position once again. Junior quarterback Jordan Brooks found Timmons for a 13-yard gain before going to classmate Ray Adames for 28 yards for a score and a 10-0 lead. On the first play on WV State's ensuing drive, sophomore Gavin Kendrick forced a fumble that classmate Isaiah Osafo-Mensah fell on to hand the ball right back to the Bobcats' offense. Sophomore Brett Patterson then carried twice for seven yards before breaking through on a 22-yard score to put FSU up 17-0 with just seven minutes gone. The Yellow Jackets finally got themselves going on their next possession, as quarterback Joe Dailey found Amare Are for 25 yards on the first play, then connected with Malik Baker for another 22. On a third-and-7 from the 23, Dailey ran 17 yards to earn the conversion before taking the ball again from six yards out to get WVSU on the board at 17-7. WVSU needed just three plays for Dailey to find Ary on a 33-yard score to quickly pull within 17-14 at the end of the first quarter. After WVSU forced another Frostburg punt, Devin Cox and Dailey used the ground game to get up the field, with the latter punching it in from a yard out to help the Yellow Jackets take a 21-17. Brooks earned a first down on a 15-yard scamper on FSU's next drive, but it halted there, and the Bobcats were forced to punt it back to the hosts. On just three plays, WV State kept the points coming on a 20-yard Jojo Restall carry, 27-yard connection from Dailey to Ary and a 13-yard Dailey run to go up 28-17. The Bobcats finally got some momentum back on the next drive with Brooks going to Timmons for 26 yards. Then on a third-and-8, Patterson caught a swing pass and took it 51 yards to the house to get Frostburg within 28-24. Frostburg forced a Yellow Jackets' turnover as Ary made a catch and sprinted to the end zone but was caught by sophomore Keegan Thorne, who forced a fumble that was recovered by classmate Osman Fanny. Looking to get up the field quickly, Brooks had a nine-yard run followed by passes of 10 and 14 yards to senior Austin Paul-Umstead and Adames. However, a holding penalty later stopped the drive and gave the ball back to WV State. Dailey had a 10-yard run followed by a deep strike to Ary for 52 yards, with the two then immediately connecting again from 16 yards to give WVSU a 34-24 lead at the half. The Yellow Jackets muscled their way down the field after receiving the second half kick. Restall ran a 26-yard carry to the Bobcats 15 before some trickery had Ary passing to Baker for a 41-24 score. After another empty Frostburg possession, Dailey found Ary for 15 yards and a 48-24 game to close the third quarter. Timmons returned a kickoff 80 yards to the WV State 15. Patterson took the ball on each play from the red zone, eventually scoring from three yards out to make it 48-30 after a failed two-point try. Continuing to put points up, WVSU struck again through Cox running 42 yards up the gut for a 55-30 score. After sophomore Blake LaBelle found Timmons for a third-down conversion, FSU immediately gave the ball up on a fumble that was recovered by the Yellow Jackets. For one of the first times of the game, Frostburg's defense came up with a stop that was led from the outset by senior Daquan Stevenson stopping the first run for a five-yard loss. The sides then traded punts with the Bobcats going on a two-minute drill late in the game as LaBelle found Timmons twice for a combined 36 yards. Sophomore Rodrigo Delgado then took the ball three times for 19 yards and classmate Tobie Lewis saw his first action of the season, finding senior Daysen Shell for completions of seven and fourteen yards, the latter being the final touchdown of the day for a 55-37 final. Patterson netted 105 yards and three total touchdowns. Timmons led the receiving corps with seven catches for 94 yards. With the loss, Frostburg drops to 4-6 on the year while WV State improves to 5-5. The Bobcats will next play their season finale at home on Saturday against Fairmont State at noon.