Concord looks to free itself from Frostburg slump today at Callaghan Stadium
· Yahoo Sports
ATHENS — The Concord University football team hasn’t beaten Frostburg State since 2022. Has the time finally arrived for the Mountain Lions to bring this troublesome slump to an end?
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Getting back in the win column is the major objective this weekend for Concord (2-2, 0-2), which takes on the Bobcats today in an MEC clash at Callaghan Stadium, in Athens. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
The Mountain Lions are arguably better than their won-loss record would indicate, coming off a frustrating 43-42 loss to West Liberty. Frostburg is outwardly similar to Concord in the fact that the Bobcats have dropped a pair of games by one possession this season, a 34-26 loss at Shepherd and a 30-24 overtime defeat at West Liberty.
“We talked about it last week, we talk about in our program every week ... and we didn’t finish again,” said Concord University second year head football Coach Cody Edwards.
“We needed to put them away ... and we didn’t,” Edwards said.”I’ve got to do a better job getting our football team ready to go each week ... As we head into Frostburg this week, we’ve got to have a football team that starts fast and is able to sustain that energy throughout the football game. If we can do that, we’ve got a chance.”
Last week the Mountain Lions went over 35 points for the third time in four games.The 147 points that Concord has thus far racked up are the most over four games since the 2014 season.
Frostburg State has the top passing defense in the MEC. Concord has the top passing offense in the league.
Concord quarterback Devin Kargman threw for a career-high 305 yards and three touchdonws in last week’s loss at West Liberty.
With that offensive display Kargman jumped to first in the MEC in passing yards for the season (1,040) and ranking seventh for the season in passing touchdowns with seven.
“The explosiveness of our passing game is an important part of our offense and I think our receiver room is really talented. I think its going to be a heavyweight battle,” Edwards said.
Sophomore wide receiver Dom Collins, a former Princeton High School standout, brought in six receptions for 150 yards and two touchdowns. It was his fourth career multi-touchdown game. Junior wide receiver Cordale Russell added his second 100-yard game of the season with 103 yards and his first touchdown of the year.
While junior running back Greg Burrell is fifth in the MEC in rushing yards (263), the Las Vegas, Nevada has also made an impact in the passing game for the Mountain Lions. At West Liberty, Burrell rushed 15 times for 57 yards while also snaring seven receptions for 66 yards.
As noted, both of Frostburg State’s wins this season have been home field victories. Typically a run-heavy offense, Frostburg State is only averaging 126 yards on the ground. Quarterback Jordan Brooks has thrown for more than 800 yards and six touchdowns.
“Looking back last season, our record was what it was but I felt we were in all of those games. The only game I felt we were out of was Frostburg State. They got after us pretty good in all three phases,” Edwards said.
“I’ve challenged our football team to meet their intensity and meet their force with force. .. I think we’re more equipped to do that this year than we were last year.”
At West Lib, the Concord defense recorded five sacks to extend its MEC lead in sacks to 13 for the season. Senior defensive lineman Nick Mercer collected his third sack of the season to move within 0.5 sack of teammate and graduate defensive lineman Shambre Jackson for the MEC lead.
Sophomore defensive back Christian Henderson, junior defensive lineman Jayden McCurdy, junior defensive lineman Michelot Sine and sophomore defensive lineman Joshua Smith all recorded their first sacks of the year.
Defensively, FSU has only produced 15 negative plays and five turnovers in four games.