FSU Football Moves To 5-3 With Win Over Fairmont State

On Thursday, October 21, The FSU Football team hosted Fairmont State. Both teams are coming off losses to conference opponents and are looking to get back in the win column. 

Fairmont stopped FSU on a 4th down and got the ball around midfield to start their first possession. A “roughing the passer” penalty from DL Luke Freeman gave Fairmont an extra 15 yards. Combine that with a 15-yard pass to WR Naseem Pacheco, Fairmont found themselves facing a 3rd down and 6. A handoff to RB Myles Miree who took it 19 yards to score gave Fairmont the early 7-0 lead over FSU. 

The Bobcats like to respond when they get scored on and that’s exactly what they did. RB Sean Aaron caught a 13-yard pass and added a 24-yard run to help keep the drive alive. QB Graham Walker then found WR Max Davis for a 13-yard reception. RB Josh Maxwell finished off the drive with three rushing attempts with the last one being a 2-yard touchdown run. Frostburg ties the game early in the first quarter at 7.

The Bobcats’ defense held Fairmont’s offense to a four-play drive after a “false start” penalty pushed them back five yards. FSU cornerback Yasir Holmes made one of his nine tackles (game-high) to force a long 3rd down which Fairmont couldn’t complete. Max Davis returned the punt for 10 yards to give the Bobcats great field positioning. 

Frostburg moved the ball down the field before the first quarter ended after two 1st downs by RBs Sean Aaron and Evan Branch. FSU could not gain the yards to make another first down so they brought out kicker Dayne Koontz who made a 38-yard field goal. Frostburg leads 10-7.

With the ball back in Fairmont’s hands and only up three points, this Frostburg defense needed a stop. After completing a first down Fairmont ran the ball and another tackle made by DE Yasir Holmes put them at another long 3rd down. On 3rd down and 8, DE Luke Freeman sacked QB Connor Neal for a loss of 5 yards. There were two “unsportsmanlike conduct” penalties on both teams that were offset forcing Farimont to punt again.

On the first play of Frostburg’s fourth possession QB Graham Walker airs one out to WR Donnell Milligan for a 33-yard reception, putting them 26 yards away from a touchdown. A 16-yard pass to RB Josh Maxwell put FSU on the 7-yard line. Fairmont held the Bobcats’ run game stopping them twice before a “false start” on the FSU offense pushed them back to a 3rd down and 10. Another good stop by Fairmont made Dayne Koontz come out and nail a 25-yard field goal to extend the Bobcats’ lead to 13-7.

That Bobcats’ defense stayed ferocious and forced a 3-and-out on Fairmont for the second time. After getting the ball back Head Coach Eric Wagoner decided to put in backup QB Kisaye Barnes who ran the ball three times for 7-yards leading to a punt.

FSU leads at the half 13-7.

The Bobcats started the second half with an onside kick that they recovered. RB Sean Aaron started the drive with a 30-yard run to set up Frostburg at the 28-yard line. An incomplete pass and a rush for no gain made the Cats attempt a field goal. The kick was good from 40-yards but a penalty on Fairmont gave FSU a 1st down. No first down was made after a huge opportunity given by Fairmont and this time kicker Dayne Koontz misses the 31-yard field goal. 

The Bobcats’ defense was on fire tonight with yet another 3-and-out by the defense leading Fairmont to give the ball right back to the Bobcats’ offense.

This FSU offense seemed to be able to find holes in Fairmont’s defense with a couple of rushes that led to a first down and a 16-yard reception by Seth Fitzgerald. However, Frostburg couldn’t find the endzone and settled for another field goal which was made by Dayne Koontz. Frostburg 16 – Fairmont 7.

With the third quarter coming to an end Farimont needed to gain some yards and get their offense going. They did that with 3 catches totaling 59 yards putting them 15 yards from the endzone. The next pass thrown by Fairmont was intercepted by CB DJ Denson in the endzone which resulted in a touchback. These two defenses gave up yards during the drive but stay solid while defending the endzone. 

The Bobcats had to punt after the interception. With the FSU defense back on the field CB DJ Denson didn’t want just one interception he wanted TWO. After another deep pass completed by Fairmont, FSU CB DJ Denson went up and got his second interception of the night just 4 game minutes after his first one. FSU completed 1 first down but ended up punting with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

An eight-minute 16-play drive led Fairmont down the field. Fairmont State WR Naseem Pacheco led the drive with three catches for 34 yards before RB Kobe Harris caught a 3-yard pass to score a touchdown. Frostburg 16 – Farimont 14.

Frostburg tried to run the clock out and waste as much time as they could, but with the run game going nowhere and gaining no 1st downs they punted after just 25 seconds with the ball. This great Bobcat defense got one last chance to stop Fairmont from scoring to win the game. Fairmont completed two 1st downs before losing 13 yards on a short pass that put them at 2nd down and 23 yards. Fairmont didn’t gain enough yards to attempt even a field goal giving the ball back to FSU who kneeled the ball to win the game.

With the win, FSU moved to 5-3 on the season. The Bobcats are looking to win two in a row for the first time since week 3. They will host Alderson Broaddus (0-7) for their last regulation game in Bobcat Stadium next Saturday at 1:00 p.m.