Braves look to regain confidence as West Liberty visits
Oct. 28—PEMBROKE — For much of the 2022 football season, The University of North Carolina at Pembroke coach Shane Richardson has openly discussed the ups and downs of his team's confidence level as the team's results have seen similar ups and downs.
After a 70-21 loss last week at Charleston, the Braves will look to regain the confidence from a previous three-game win streak. They'll do so in front of one of the biggest crowds of the year Saturday at Grace P. Johnson Stadium as Mountain East Conference foe West Liberty for a 2 p.m. kickoff.
"We've got to stay true to what we've been able to accomplish this year and not forget about that," Richardson said. "We've had flashes of a lot of really good things, and we can't forget who we are and what we truly stand for, and what we still want to accomplish. It's really easy to be able to look at a difficult defeat and really start to catastrophize everything — and it's really quite simple. We control a lot of the outcome that goes on. We've got to lock in and everybody's got to come out with the energy and the effort and the execution that it takes to be on their best."
While the Braves (4-4, 4-3 MEC) are still mathematically in the Mountain East Conference championship race, last week's loss makes a title realistically unlikely. Notre Dame (Ohio) leads the conference at 6-1, one game ahead of Concord and Wheeling and two clear of the Braves.
With that in mind, Richardson's goal is to keep his players motivated for the Braves' three remaining games to still play their best football down the stretch.
"Just because there might be some tangible things out there that might be a lot more difficult and that you don't have as much control over now, it doesn't mean that you stop playing college football," Richardson said. "If you're 18 to 23 years old and playing college football, you should be motivated to go out and play better than your opponent, no matter what's at stake."
West Liberty (4-4, 3-4 MEC) lost 42-21 to Wheeling last week; the Hilltoppers have lost three of their last four, with an overtime win at Fairmont State on Oct. 13, after starting the season 3-1.
"They're a team that is capable of beating any team any week, and I think they're very solid across the board," Richardson said. "I think they've got a good ground game offensively and they do just enough to keep you off guard, and I think they can give you some fits with their defense as well. I expect a tough game out of them."
Senior Quincy Wimbish is one of the best backs the Braves have seen this season, rushing for 722 yards and five touchdowns through seven games.
"I think he's quick, I think he's got really good vision. I think he hits holes very well," Richardson said. "He does a very nice job of running hard, and when there's open spaces, he finds them and makes the most of them. He's just a very well-rounded running back. Size, speed, vision, the ability to be very productive every game — he's a very good player."
Rudy Garcia has thrown for 1,210 yards and nine touchdowns for the Hilltoppers, completing 58.1% of his pass attempts, but also has 16 interceptions this season. His leading targets include Rashawn Harvey (392 receiving yards, one touchdown), Chris Charles (317 receiving yards, two touchdowns) and T.J. Griffin (204 receiving yards, three touchdowns).
Defensive leaders for West Liberty include defensive backs Shyoun Petteway (52 tackles, two interceptions) and Shon Stephens (30 tackles, eight interceptions), linebacker Zach Dixon (45 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles) and defensive lineman Cameron Rice (27 tackles, 12.0 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks).
UNCP won last year's meeting 27-17 in West Virginia and the Braves lead the all-time series 2-1.
Chris Stiles can be reached at 910-816-1977 or by email at cstiles@robesonian.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @StilesOnSports.
