FROSTBURG, Md. - The Frostburg State Football team won in its home opener over Assumption on Saturday afternoon by a final score of 24-19.
FSU opened the game receiving the opening kickoff and looked to set the tone, working the ball methodically down the field. On the first play from scrimmage, junior Jordan Brooks found senior JeVonn Gilyard on the left side for a nine-yard gain, with the Bobcat QB later finding classmate Ray Adames twice for 14 total yards. The Bobcats nearly saw the drive come to an end on 3rd-and-4 from the AU 43 but a holding call against the defense kept the drive alive. Junior KJ Smothers then took the rock on a bustling 18-yard run to get into the red zone. On 3rd-and-5 from the 10-yard line, Brooks had junior Amirr Coles open in the end zone, but the low throw hit off his hands and forced a 27-yard field goal from sophomore Tyler Cook throught he uprights for a 3-0 lead.
Frostburg's defense looked strong early, forcing a quick three-and-out, with senior Landon Alexander providing a spark in the return game, taking the punt back 37 yards for some great field position. The FSU offense ran through Smothers, who was able to convert a 4th-and-1 before Brooks passed to junior Tra'Shaun Timmons to get to first-and-goal. Smothers gained and then lost two yards, with an incompletion then setting up fourth down, as rather than attempting a second field goal, the Bobcats decided to go for it, with Brooks being brought down in the backfield for a turnover on downs.
The Greyhounds improved upon their first possession of the game, going 11 yards on a 3rd-and-3 for their first fresh set of downs, however the drive wouldn't last much longer. After gaining four yards on two carries, Assumption looked for a swing pass to running back Widley Jean-Francois, which was well-read by graduate Kamari Ramsey, blowing up the play for a three-yard loss and a punt to start the second period.
Penalties plagued Frostburg's drive, as a pair of big plays were brought back for unsportsmanlike conduct and holding, bringing the ball all the way back on a 3rd-and-33. Sophomore Brett Patterson made a nice run for 14 yards but not enough for a first down, forcing senior Sam Dominguez to punt. Finding a seam through FSU's coverage, TJ Gilbert took the ball back 37 yards to the Bobcat 27 to set up the Greyhound offense. In just two plays, Dom Santiago had completions of 9 and 18 yards, the latter being to the back of the end zone to Will McNamara to give AU a 7-3 lead.
Looking to get some momentum back, Smothers converted a first down on a seven-yard run while Adames took an end-around for another eight. After Brooks scrambled for five yards on a 3rd-and-7, Frostburg again went for it on fourth down, as Smothers was stopped a yard short of the line to gain for another turnover on downs. FSU locked down on defense, forcing a three-and-out and a pooch punt from Santiago.
After Smothers carried for nine yards, Brooks found Timmons in space for a 23-yard gain and getting just outside the red zone. On a 3rd-and-4, Brooks looked for a pass over the middle to keep the drive going but was picked off by Marquis Atkins, whose long return was pulled back for a holding call but still giving the Greyhounds the ball. Despite an 11-yard gain on AU's first play, Frostburg's defense had a couple key stops, with senior Trevor Watts forcing a bad pass and graduate Ramal West breaking one up to force a punt. The Bobcats wouldn't be able to send their offense out, however, as the ball bounced off the back of a blocker, with Assumption recovering the ball at the FSU 27. Santiago needed just one pass to McNamara to streak across the middle and into the end zone to head into the half up 13-3 after a botched extra point.
The Greyhounds had a chance to really capture momentum, receiving the second half kick-off with the ball. They ran into a tough Bobcat defense, however, forcing a short series after graduate Rainer Halveland had a combined tackle and a QB hurry to force a punt. A short kick went out of bounds at midfield, setting FSU up with some good field position. Smothers gave Frostburg some much better positioning with three straight carries going for 31 total yards. Brooks then found Timmons wide open for another six, with graduate Owen Doyle then converting a 3rd-and-1 at the 10. Following an Assumption penalty, Smothers carried four yards into the end zone to cut the deficit to 13-10.
AU had a couple of penalties on their next drive that resulted in a stunning 1st-and-30, however Santiago used his legs on a 15-yard carry and his arm on a 39-yard shot to McNamara to get them all the way down to the Frostburg 25. Aided by an Assumption holding call, the Bobcat defense was able to stay afloat, with West and sophomore Keegan Thorne earning back-to-back pass break-ups and forcing a turnover on downs. Looking to keep that momentum, Brooks hit Adames on the second play of the drive for a 77-yard TD to take the lead 17-13 after Cook's extra point.
Still looking for more, FSU held the Greyhounds to 22 yards on their next drive, as sophomore Isaiah Osafo-Mensah broke up the first down pass, then Santiago was brought down at the line of scrimmage before another incompletion brought up another punt. Ramsey and Adames both broke through their blocks, as the kick cannoned off the former's helmet, with the latter scooping the ball up all the way at the three-yard line to take things into the fourth quarter.
After being shut down twice, the third time was the charm for Smothers, who added his second score of the day from the one-yard line, making it 24-13 FSU. AU still had no answer on offense, gain just one first down on their next two possessions, however their defense was able to finally keep Frostburg off the board on the other end of the field on two straight punts. Assumption then had one of their best drives of the day, aided on a first play pass interference. Santiago maneuvered downfield, as Kaiden Brochu added carries of 11 and 10 yards before punching in from the one-yard line. Looking to get within a field goal, the Greyhounds lined up to go for two but a false start drove them back five yards, with Santiago's pass eventually missing his intended target to bring the score to 24-19.
FSU hoped to run out the clock with four minutes still on the clock but could only take off 80 seconds, as a third down sack of Brooks brought Dominguez back out to punt. As AU looked to shift momentum, Frostburg's pass defense stepped up to the task, as senior Will Burns and Ramsey broke up a pair of passes to force a turnover on downs. Now inside the final two minutes, the Bobcats still were unable to kill the clock off, however they did force Assumption to use their final timeout, taking it all the way down to five seconds on fourth down. Needing to just get a clean play away, Dominguez quickly caught the ball and punted from midfield into the endzone as zeroes hit the board for the 24-19 final.
Brooks finished the game 14-of-20 with 212 yards and a TD. Smothers had 119 yards to go along with a pair of TDs on the ground, while Adames had his second straight game with over 100 yards and scored his third TD of the season. Junior linebacker Carter Mazalewski led the team with six tackles, as Ramsey was all over the field with a tackle for loss, two PBU's, and the blocked kick.
With the win, Frostburg improves to 1-1 on the year, while Assumption drops to 0-2. FSU will next go on the road to open MEC play, facing West Liberty on Saturday, September 19 at 1 PM. For more information, please visit frostburgsports.com.
