Frostburg holds on to beat Fairmont State 16-14

Oct. 21—FROSTBURG — Frostburg State held on to beat Fairmont State 16-14 under the lights on Thursday at Bobcat Stadium.

"The biggest takeaway from today is finishing the game," Frostburg head coach Eric Wagoner said. "We weren't able to finish last week and that was a problem. We were able to finish this one. Would like to be able to put them away a little bit earlier, but we're gonna take that W and keep our guys rolling in the right direction."

The Bobcats (5-3, 4-3 Mountain East Conference) led by nine in the fourth quarter. The Fighting Falcons (3-5, 3-4 MEC) cut their deficit to two late in the game, but were unable to complete the comeback.

Sean Aaron was heavily featured on Frostburg's opening drive. He picked up two first downs on the ground including a 15-yard gain on his first run. After the drive stalled, the Falcons took advantage of a roughing-the-passer penalty on the Bobcats. It put the ball at Frostburg's 38. A few plays later, Myles Miree walked in from 19 yards out to give Fairmont the lead.

The Bobcats responded with a nine-play drive that ended with a two-yard run by Josh Maxwell for six points. He set it up with a 24-yard run earlier in the drive.

The Bobcats had several drives where they moved it well on offense, but were unable to find the end zone. Frostburg had two drives that both started beyond its own 40. Despite some big plays including a 33-yard pass from Graham Walker to Donnell Milligan, the Bobcats failed to reach the end zone both times. Both drives led to field goals by Dayne Koontz as he hit from 38 and 25 yards out.

"Lack of execution, getting into situations and not finishing drives," Wagoner said. "That's a big sticking point right there. We gotta be able to finish drives. We're taking way too many threes and not enough sevens."

Frostburg struggled with penalties, committing five for 55 yards in the first half. It included one on a Falcons punt when the Bobcats were called for roughing the snapper. It gave Fairmont a first down.

Frostburg's defense stepped up in the first half. The four drives after Miree's touchdown all resulted in punts. It included two three-and-outs and two drives where Fairmont gained less than 10 yards.

Two weeks ago, the Bobcats opened the second half with a surprise onside kick that they recovered. They tried it again, and recovered it again. It set up Koontz for a 40-yard field goal, however, the Falcons had 12 men on the field. Frostburg chose to accept the penalty which resulted in a first down. The Bobcats drive stalled again and Koontz missed from 31 yards out.

"Stupid coaching mistake on my end," Wagoner said. "Never take points off the board. I just thought our offense had an opportunity after getting the first down."

Seth Fitzgerald caught a 16-yard pass to the Fairmont 30. Once again, the drive stalled and Koontz hit a 41-yard field goal.

Connor Neal started at quarterback for Fairmont. Josh Dale entered after halftime, and Fairmont found some rhythm midway through the third quarter. Luis Gooden caught a deep ball for 36 yards to the Frostburg 38. After reaching the 10 five plays later, Dale's pass was tipped and intercepted by DJ Denson.

On the Falcons' next drive, Donte Cloud caught a 27-yard pass from Dale inside the Frostburg 35. Two plays later, Denson intercepted his second pass.

"He was great, he was all over the field flying around," Wagoner said. "We know he's got that opportunity to do it and he showed up today big time when we needed him."

Fairmont got the ball with less than 11 minutes left in the game. It kept it for over eight minutes and ran 16 plays for 85 yards. A deep pass to Kobe Harris on the second play picked up 39 yards. Six of the plays went for more than 10 yards. The drive ended on a three-yard swing pass from Dale to Harris.

"Their new quarterback came in and got some momentum going," Wagoner said. "It caught us not playing as well as we should've been in those situations."

The Falcons forced a punt on the Bobcats' ensuing drive and got the ball back at their own 40. Dale picked up 18 on a keeper to the Frostburg 42. A few plays later, Dale was sacked and lost the ball. It looked like a fumble; however, it was ruled a completion to an offensive lineman and a 13-yard loss.

Three plays later, Fairmont faced a fourth-and-23 with the game on the line. Dale picked up 13 on a scramble, but a holding penalty sealed the victory for the Bobcats.

For Frostburg, Walker was 16 of 24 for 157 yards. Aaron rushed 15 times for 108 yards. Maxwell had 14 rushes for 45 yards and a touchdown. Milligan led with five catches for 78 yards.

"He had some of the biggest catches of the game," Wagoner said of Milligan. "Wish he had that touchdown late, it was just a hair too long. But he was great, dialed in all week in practice. Had a great week in practice and it showed up in the game."

On defense, Yasir Holmes had nine tackles including 2.5 for loss and a sack. Luke Freeman had six tackles including 3.5 for loss and a sack.

For the Falcons, Dale went 19 of 31 for 177 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Miree rushed 18 times for 59 yards and a score. Naseem Pacheco had eight catches for 72 yards. Cloud caught four passes for 82 yards.

Brocton Blair led Fairmont with 12 tackles including 0.5 for loss.

Both teams are at home on Saturday, Oct. 29. Frostburg entertains Alderson Broaddus at 1 p.m. while the Falcons host Notre Dame College at noon.

"We talked about building momentum going into our last four games," Wagoner said. "The only way to build momentum the last four games, you gotta win the first one."

Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @JKendallCTN.