INSTITUTE – Brandon Edwards' interception at the West Virginia State two-yard with 12 seconds remaining in the game secured a win for the West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats here today against the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets in an MEC contest.
Wesleyan held on for a 25-22 win.
Edwards, a freshman cornerback, stepped in front of a Matt Kinnick pass for his first interception as a Bobcat to put away the Yellow Jackets on an overcast day on a muddy and wet surface and Dickerson Field.
The win was the second in a row for head coach George Shehl and his Bobcats. They evened their record to 3-3 overall and 3-3 in the MEC.
State dropped to 2-4 overall and 1-4 in the MEC.
Both offenses were stuck in the mud early on as the teams exchanged punt after punt in the opening quarter.
Wesleyan was finally able to get something going near the end of the quarter.
Tailback Michael Anderson had a big hand in Wesleyan's first scoring drive.
Starting at their own 34-yard line, Anderson ripped off runs of six, one and 29 yards. Quarterback Tyler Bolen, starting for the injured Jeremy Musselman, carried twice for four yards before finding Anderson for a 12-yard pass to the State 14-yard line.
The drive ended when Bolen completed a 14-yard pass to Zach Shademan with one second remaining on the first quarter clock.
The extra-point kick was no good on the muddy playing field, but Wesleyan led by a 6-0 score.
Wesleyan would add to their lead right before halftime.
Starting at their own 15-yard line, Wesleyan marched 85 yards in 12 plays taking 3:53 off the clock.
Wesleyan scored on a nice pass across the middle to Zach Schademan who took it into the end zone for a 32-yard gain with eight seconds left in the second quarter.
Wesleyan's two-point conversion was no good, but the 'Cats owned a 12-0 lead at the intermission.
West Virginia State took the first possession of the second half to the end zone when Kinnick hit Shanin Bennefie for a 51-yard touchdown pass. That cut Wesleyan's lead to 12-7.
On State's next possession, Desmond Holley forced a Tevin Brown fumble and recovered it for Wesleyan at the Yellow Jacket 25-yard line.
It took Wesleyan five plays to find the end zone as Bolen fired a 10-yard pass to Stephen Rogalski with 5:42 remaining in the third quarter.
The extra-point kick went wide left, but Wesleyan owned an 18-7 lead.
West Virginia State controlled the next 10 minutes of the game as they scored on their next two possessions to take their first lead.
The Yellow Jackets had a 22-18 advantage with 12:09 remaining in the game.
The Wesleyan offense really bogged down as they went three-and-out on their next three possessions, including failing to score after starting a drive at the State 38 after a fumbled punt attempt by the Yellow Jackets.
The Bobcats moved the ball when they needed to in crunch time of the game.
Following a Yellow Jacket punt, Wesleyan took over the ball at their own 26 with 4:01 left on the clock.
Wesleyan marched 74 yards in just seven plays to recapture the lead.
They scored when Bolen found Anderson out of the backfield for a 14-yard scoring strike, Bolen's fourth of the game with 1:46 remaining in the game.
State moved the ball down to the Wesleyan's 18 before the game-saving interception by Edwards.
Wesleyan racked up 295 yards of total offense. It is only the second time this season Wesleyan has been held under 400 yards.
Anderson led all rushers with 94 yards on 32 carries.
Bolen completed 16 of his 38 attempts for 219 yards and four scores.
His favorite receiver was Schademan who caught six passes for 115 yards and two scores.
Junior linebacker Mike Savage led the defense with 12 tackles.
The 'Cats will return to action this Saturday when they host Concord at 1 p.m. in their Homecoming Game.
Concord will enter the game with a perfect 6-0 record after beating Urbana, 50-20.
