West Virginia State Open Season with a WIN!

INSTITUTE, West Virginia  -- No more waiting.

After months of anticipation and a 150 minute lightning delay the WVSU football team defeated Lock Haven 19-14 Saturday afternoon at Dickerson Stadium in the season opener for both squads.

"It's a great feeling," said Yellow Jacket Head Coach Jon Anderson who picked up his first career win. "It feels great because the coaching staff did a great job and the players bought into what we are doing and it's a real team victory."

The Jackets were solid in every phase of the game with several young players making an impact in their first college action.

Quarterback Matt Kinnick completed 24 of 35 pass attempts for 230 yards.

"Matt did a good job managing the game," Anderson said. "I was real pleased with him."

Running back Tevin Brown ran for 129 yards, and wide receiver Quinton Gray hauled in seven passes for 53 yards. Linebacker Dennis Gardeck made eight tackles and cornerback Kevin Coffie six.
Kinnick and the rest were all playing in their first college game.

The Yellow Jackets took a 6-0 lead into halftime on the strength of two Kole Patterson field goals.

They stretched it to 13-0 on a two yard run by freshman quarterback Matt Kinnick with 12:50 left in the third quarter. The score was set up by an 18-yard completion from Kinnick to freshman Quinton Gray.

Moments later play was halted as lightning streaked across the sky in the distance.

Play was suspended at 2:45 p.m. with 12:06 showing in the third on the game clock. Both teams headed to their locker rooms and the stands emptied as rain began to fall.

NCAA rules require a 30 minute wait after any lightning is seen. The last sighting occurred at 4:45 and the teams headed back to the field to warm-up with play resuming at 5:15 p.m., a two and one-half hour stoppage.

"That was a challenge," Anderson said. "I was worried that our kids would come out and not handle it well and they didn't for a while but the kids stepped up."

When play resumed the Bald Eagles caught fire, driving for back-to-back touchdowns to take a 14-13 lead with 55 seconds remaining in the period.

After losing a fumble at the Lock Haven 47 on the next possession it certainly looked as if momentum had completely abandoned the Yellow Jackets.

But they did not fold.

"That is one of the things we talked about a lot going into the season," Anderson said. "We call it riding waves, you can't get too high or too low."

The Jackets rebounded quickly.

They forced Lock Haven into a three-and-out after the fumble recovery.

After the Bald Eagles punted WVSU took over on its own 23 yard line and quickly marched 77 yards for the game winner.

A Brown run accounted for 57 yards of that and Kinnick hit Tyler Carrillo with a 12-yard strike for the score.

"Everybody gets put in adverse situations at times," sophomore defensive lineman Sam Lester said. "I think we handled it well."

The defense held the remaining 9:51 with a Lock Haven pass falling incomplete out of bounds on a fourth down and two play from the Yellow Jacket 36 with seven seconds left in the game.

"It feels good," Lester said. "It was a long time coming."

The defense broke up 12 passes and intercepted one on the day. Senior Wenly Beliard and sophomore Mitchell Rowell also contributed eight tackles.

Special teams play was strong as Cory Broughton averaged 36 yards on five punts and landed all of his kickoffs around the goal line while Patterson made both of his field goal tries.

Talir Satterfield-Rowe averaged 31.7 yards on three kickoff returns and Gray 9.5 on a pair of punt run backs.

The offense ran up 451 yards and had just the one turnover.

Rowe added 72 rushing yards to finish with 167 all-purpose yards on the day. Josh Caiquo had 63 receiving yards while Joe Thornton and Shanin Bennefield each pulled down five passes.

"It was a team win," Anderson said. "It's something we are all proud of but it's what is expected."

The victory broke a 17 game losing streak dating back to a September 29, 2012 win at Seton Hill.
The Yellow Jackets will get back to work in preparation for a visit from Concord next week.

BOX SCORE

COURTESY WEST VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS