Frostburg State University Athletics

INSTITUTE, W. Va. – The Frostburg State Football team dropped their road game to West Virginia State 55-37 on Saturday afternoon.
 
FSU elected to receive the opening kick-off and got an immediate boost as junior Tra'Shaun Timmons took the ball back 58 yards all the way to the Yellow Jacket 32. Despite not being able to get a first down, the Bobcats still put points on the board through sophomore Tyler Cook's 45-yard field goal. Frostburg's defense kept WVSU at bay on their first drive, as a penalty on their punt gave great field position once again. Junior Jordan Brooks found Timmons for a 13-yard gain before going to classmate Ray Adames from 28 yards for a score and a 10-0 lead.
 
On the first play from scrimmage on WV State's next drive, sophomore Gavin Kendrick forced a fumble that classmate Isaiah Osafo-Mensah fell on to hand the ball right back to the 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 3^rd-and-7 from the 23, Dailey ran 17 yards to earn the conversion before taking the ball again from six out to get on the board at 17-7. For the first time of the period, the Bobcat offense couldn't get much going, as 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 forcing another Frostburg punt, Devin Cox and Dailey used the ground game to get up the field, with the latter punching in from a yard out to take a stunning lead 21-17. Brooks was able to get a first down on a 15-yard scamper for FSU's next drive but it would halt there, punting the ball back to the hosts. With 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 3^rd-and-8, Patterson caught a swing pass and took it 51 yards to the house to get within 28-24.
 
Hoping to keep the pressure up going to halftime, Frostburg forced a Yellow Jacket turnover as Ary made a catch and sprinted to the end zone but was caught by sophomore Keegan Thorne, who forced a fumble to be 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 would later stop the drive and give 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 having received the second half kick, with Restall having a 26-yard carry to the Bobcat 15 before some trickery had Ary passing to Baker for a 41-24 score. Frostburg couldn't made much headway in their possession, as after another sustained drive, Dailey found Ary for 15 yards and a 48-24 game to close the third quarter.
 
Timmons had another big kick return hoping to spark some energy, going 80 yards all the way to the WV State 15-yard line. Patterson took the ball on each play from the red zone, eventually scoring from three yards out to make things 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 on, 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 on the day to go with a pair of touchdowns, as 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, November 14 against Fairmont State at 12 p.m. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.