CHARLESTON, W. Va. – The Frostburg State football team traveled to play Charleston (WV) for a mid-day Saturday matchup, coming away 34-28 winners for their first road victory of the season.
 
The Golden Eagles won the toss and choose to defer the ball to the second half, giving the Bobcats the ball to begin the game, though their opening drive stalled out after gaining 20 yards on five plays. UC's offense took the field for the first time and was met by Frostburg's defense, which held strong and forced a punt. The second Bobcat drive started with a 17 yard connection from sophomore Graham Walker to redshirt freshman Jordan Marcucci. Walker then found senior running back Josh Maxwell on a flat route for a 23 yard gain. Walker capped off the 72-yard drive with an eight yard run himself to make the score 7-0 with an extra point by junior Dayne Koontz. The Bobcat defense forced a quick three-and-out, but the offense gave the ball right back to Charleston on a turnover. The Golden Eagles returned the favor, giving the ball away on an interception from sophomore Wylan Harich. 
 
FSU carried their momentum into the start of the second quarter, as they pushed down to the Charleston 22-yard line and set up a 39-yard field goal from Koontz. The Golden Eagles would find their stride later in the quarter, scoring on back-to-back drives to take their first lead at 14-10. Frostburg responded with an impressive drive that started on their own 25 with just under three minutes to go. Sophomore Isaiah Lester came on in relief of Walker and completed six passes on the drive that was capped off with a fourth down pass off a play action to Marcucci that gave FSU a 17-14 halftime lead.
 
The Frostburg defense would start the second half with withstanding Charleston's drive until senior AJ Felton pulled in an interception at the FSU 34 yard line. Maxwell would have back-to-back bursts that eventually set up another Bobcat field goal from Koontz, making the score 20-14. UC would answer quickly, scoring in just two plays on a 54-yard catch and run to re-take the lead 21-20.  After back-to-back punts, the Bobcats would get an explosive play out of redshirt freshman Sean Aaron, as he ran for 70 yards down to the UC five yard line that set up another Marcucci touchdown catch for a 27-21 lead.
 
Redshirt sophomore Vincent Nwachi would come up with a big pass breakup to end Charleston's opening drive of the fourth quarter. Two plays, later the Lester-to-Marcucci connection struck again, this time for a 73-yard score, with the Koontz extra point making it 34-21. UC would provide a response on the following drive, going 51 yards on six plays to cut the deficit to 34-28. With just over two minutes left, the Bobcats would have a chance to put the game out of reach with another field goal attempt, though it narrowly missed wide right, giving the Golden Eagles a chance to drive down the field. Harich quickly put an end to that thought with his second interception of the game on the first play of the drive. The Bobcats were able to run out the clock and finish the game in victory formation, winning 34-28.
 
Lester finished the game with 235 yards passing and three TD passes. Both Aaron (120) and Maxwell (109) topped the 100-yard mark on the ground. Marcucci led the receiving corps with five catches for 96 yards and three scores. Harich had a fine all-round day, tying for the team lead in tackles with eight, along with redshirt sophomore Colby Street, to go with his two interceptions.
 
With the win, Frostburg improves to 3-0 on the year, while Charleston falls to 1-2. The Bobcats return to action at home in Bobcat Stadium on Saturday, September 24 against Concord, with kick-off set for 1 p.m. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.