Published: October 31, 2009 01:41 am      

Fairmont State hosts Concord in home finale

FAIRMONT — No conference championship will be at stake Saturday afternoon at Duvall-Rosier Field when Fairmont State University plays host to Concord University at 1 p.m.

However, don’t be surprised if it seems like the two teams are playing for one.

The Falcons (3-6, 3-3) and Mountain Lions (5-4, 3-3) are currently tied for fifth place in the nine-team West Virginia Conference standings and both squads want this game for different and the same reasons.

Former FSU offensive coordinator Mike Kellar has been just short of brilliant in his initial season as a head coach with Concord. He took over a program which went 0-11 in 2008 and had won just one game in two seasons and has it on the brink of recording its first winning season since 1998.

“I told the team and my staff prior to the season that we weren’t going to put a number on wins and losses this year,” said Kellar. “Our goal was to try to become a better football team each week. Have we accomplished that? I’d say yes.”

Indeed Concord has. The Mountain Lions enter Saturday’s game ranked sixth in the nation in NCAA Division II in total offense (468.4 yards per game), 13th in the country in rushing (221.7) and 22nd in scoring (34.2).

A big reason for Concord’s offensive success this fall has been a trio of sophomores including quarterback Steven Hearons, wide receiver Thomas Mayo and running back Brian Kennedy.

Hearons, who replaced starter Zack Grossi who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the third game, has completed 105-of-182 passes for 1,365 yards and eight touchdowns. He’s been intercepted six times.

Mayo, meanwhile, is the leading receiver in the nation in yards per game. He has 56 receptions for 1,180 yards and 10 TDs. He averages 131.1 yards per game and needs just 35 more receiving yards to break Ryshaune Ward’s single-season school record of 1,214 yards.

Kennedy, on the other hand, is sixth in the country in rushing. He has 1,165 yards and 13 touchdowns on 165 carries. He averages 129.4 yards per game.

“When you look at Concord you see a team which easily right now could be 7-2,” said FSU coach Mike Lopez. “I’m sure they’d like to have both the Shepherd and Glenville games back because those were both close losses for them.

“But for them to have five wins right now at this point is a phenomenal turnaround. That’s a credit to their coaching staff and their situation, but also to the fact that they have some outstanding individual players. Without a doubt Mayo and Kennedy are two of the best in the conference and it’s another big challenge for our defense. Hearons has also done a good job for them. I know he’s not Grossi, but trust me he’s played well for them. We absolutely have to contain them Saturday to give ourselves a chance.”

The Falcons, on the other hand, cannot post a winning season this fall, but they can take another big step toward recording the school’s first five-win season in West Virginia Conference play since 2001.

FSU enters today’s game on a modest two-game winning streak and playing arguably its best football of the season.

“J.J. Mayer playing quarterback for them now gives them a chance,” said Kellar. “He allows them to run their offense the way they feel it needs to be run. He makes a lot of the directional calls at the line of scrimmage to make sure they’re going to run the right play and that they’re not facing eight and nine-man fronts. He’s just a good football player. He understands the game and he now gives them a chance.

“To be honest they have a lot of good football players and a lot of talented skill-position guys. (Doug) Brazill and (Omoniyi) Bakare are two excellent tailbacks, they have a top-notch fullback (Cody Reed) and (Perry) Baker, in my opinion, is as good of a receiver as there is in this league. They’re also very good up front. They struggled early because of inconsistent quarterback play, but now they have that figured out and they’re playing much better. Like I said they’re giving themselves a chance in games.”

Kellar, who is one of Lopez’s best friends, also is impressed with the Falcons’ defense.

“They run the 3-3-5 stack and their kids know it very well,” he said. “They also know exactly what we’re going to try to do on offense. They’re going to know our tendencies and I expect them to have an excellent game plan on defense against us. That’s their M.O. They do it every week no matter who they’re playing, but to be honest they probably know our offense a little better than anyone else’s because its me and we were together there at Fairmont for so long.”

FSU leads the all-time series between the two schools 43-28-2. The Falcons have won the last two meetings between the teams and has held Concord to one touchdown or less in their last four games.

This year, however as noted, Concord is much improved on offense. The Mountain Lions have gone over 500 yards of total offense in five games this fall and have scored 31 or more points on five occasions.

The contest will be the final home game of the season for Fairmont State, which wraps up the year next Saturday with a road trip to Institute to face West Virginia State.