FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State football team defeated Fairmont State under the lights at Bobcat Stadium on Thursday night by a final score of 16-14.
The game was broadcast on regional television by MASN, and will be rebroadcasted on Friday by AT&T SportsNet. Prior to the game, both teams honored Senator George Edwards, a graduate of both universities and a representative of Western Maryland for the past 40 years.
The Bobcats started with the ball to open the game, from which redshirt freshman Sean Aaron ripped off a 16-yard run to start off the drive. After picking up another first down, Frostburg went for it on fourth down, though the drive ended on a pass breakup by the Fighting Falcons. Fairmont took advantage of the field position and scored on a 19-yard run from Myles Miree to make the score 7-0.
On the following drive the Bobcats answered with a strong drive from redshirt sophomore Graham Walker, who completed four passes down the field. Senior Josh Maxwell capped the drive off on a hard fought two-yard run, with junior Dayne Koontz evening the score at 7-7 on the made extra point.
Frostburg finished the first quarter driving down the field, though the defense of the Falcons stiffened up and held the Bobcats to a 38-yard field goal and a 10-7 lead. Bobcat senior defensive end Luke Freeman got a sack to force a punt on Fairmont's next drive, allowing Koontz to knock another three points through on a 25-yard made field goal. Both defenses played well to end the half, with the offenses forced into three straight punts, as the Bobcats took their 13-7 lead into halftime.
For the second straight home game, Frostburg opened the second half with an onside kick, as Koontz popped up a short kick that was recovered by freshman Jaylen Boyd right on the Bobcat sideline to steal a possession. On the very next play, Aaron broke off a 30-yard run to move the ball deep into Falcon territory. A made field goal was taken off the board when Fairmont had 12 men on the field, from which Frostburg would again attempt a field goal after three plays, though for the first time of the day, Koontz pushed his effort wide right.
After a forced punt by the Bobcat defense, the offense picked up a nice third down conversion when Walker found sophomore Seth Fitzgerald for the first down. Koontz would redeem himself on a 41-yard made field goal, giving Frostburg a much-needed two score lead.
Down 16-7, Fairmont drove the ball down to the Bobcats' 10-yard line before redshirt sophomore DJ Denson came down with a crucial third down interception to keep the Falcons off the scoreboard.
On the opening fourth quarter drive for the Falcons, Denson came down with his second interception of the night, thwarting another Fairmont drive. The visitors would not go away quietly, and would put together nearly an eight-minute drive, getting into the endzone to make the score 16-14. The Bobcat defense finished off the game on a Freeman pressure that pushed Fairmont back 13 yards and out of field goal range. Frostburg was able to kneel down and run out the clock to win the game 16-14.
Walker finished the night 16-of-24 for 157 yards, while Aaron had 14 rushes for 108 yards, while also making a pair of catches totaling 18 yards. Senior Donnell Milligan led the receiving corps with five catches for 78 yards. On the defensive side, Denson grabbed the headlines with his pair of interceptions, while redshirt freshman Yasir Holmes having a fantastic all-round game, providing a team-high nine tackles to go along with two and a half tackles for loss and a sack. Freeman added three and a half tackles for loss and a sack himself.
With the victory, Frostburg improves to 5-3 on the year, while Fairmont falls to 3-5. The Bobcats are back at home next Saturday, October 29 for a 1 p.m. game against Alderson Broaddus, where it will also be Senior Day at Bobcat Stadium. Information and updates will be posted at frostburgsports.com.
