Frostburg State beats Geneva 31-10 in Season Opener

The Frostburg State Bobcats’ football season began on Saturday, September 3. The team showed what they’re made of as they beat the Geneva Golden Tornadoes 31-10 in front of a crowd of 3,875 people at Bobcat Stadium.

Frostburg’s quarterback Connor Cox completed 23 of his 31 passes and threw three touchdown passes: two to wide receiver Russell Neverdon in the first and fourth quarters, and one to wide receiver Joe Beckford in the third quarter. Cox ended up passing for a career-high of 243 yards.

The offense racked up 345 offensive yards and outmatched Geneva’s 211 yards of offense. Neverdon caught balls for 107 yards and the two touchdowns from Cox, while wide reveiver Austin Bonsall had 42 receiving yards. Beckford added 29 yards, including the touchdown catch in the third quarter. Another factor of the Frostburg offense was sophomore running back Rashawn Johnson. Johnson rushed for 25 yards on nine carries and one touchdown. A 5-yard touchdown run by Johnson put the Bobcats up 14-0 in the first quarter.

Frostburg’s defense was just as impressive as it held Geneva to just 102 offensive yards on five first-half possessions. FSU forced Geneva to punt four times in the opening half and allowed a field goal as the visitor’s only points of the half, with FSU up 14-3.

FSU senior kicker Isaac Robinson also added to Frostburg’s edge as he nailed a 26-yard field goal in the third quarter.

On Geneva’s side, the offense finally got going in the second half as quarterback Devin Kelosky evaded tacklers, got some blocks, and ran up the sideline for a 77-yard rushing score that trimmed Frostburg’s lead to just 17-10.

However, it was not enough as the Bobcats answered back with 65 yards in eight plays and the Cox-to-Beckford hookup pushed FSU’s lead to 23-10.

In the fourth quarter, FSU’s special teams swarmed Geneva punter Colton Booher in the end zone for a safety, giving the Bobcats a 25-10 lead. FSU added six more points as Cox found Neverdon in the end zone for the game’s final points.

DeLane Fitzgerald is in his third year as Frostburg State Football Head Coach, and was proud of the way his team played. “I thought last night’s performance was a solid start to the season,” he said. “It was an extension of our scrimmage last week in that we are getting a little better each week.”

Frostburg scored in all four quarters of the game and never trailed Geneva. The win is the third straight for the Bobcats in the series and gave them the overall lead in the series 13-12-1.

The Bobcats’ next game is against Wesley College on Saturday, Sept. 10, in Dover, Del. at 1:00 p.m. “In preparation for Wesley, we are only going to focus on getting better this week.” Coach Fitzgerald said. “In college football a team usually shows the most improvement from week one to week two of the season. We want to improve this week.”

We should be in for an exciting season, Bobcat fans.

Featured image courtesy of Cassidy Zagone.