CANTON, Ohio - Branden Ore rumbled for 167 yards and a touchdown and quarterback Nate Worek tossed a pair of TD passes as West Liberty rebounded with a 24-10 victory against Walsh on Saturday afternoon at Canton.
Darren Banks made a triumphant return to the Hilltoppers' secondary by intercepting a pair of Cavaliers passes, placing him second on the all-time West Virginia Conference list with 30 career picks.
Worek put West Liberty ahead to stay when he hooked up with Eddie Hills for a 27-yard scoring strike in the third quarter. Ore later added an 8-yard TD scamper for the game's final points.
Article Photos
File Photo by Alex Kozlowski
West Liberty back Branden Ore (28) ran for 167 yards and a touchdown in the Hilltoppers victory against Walsh.
A picture of balance, the Hilltoppers gained 188 yards rushing and 186 passing.
Clinton Blossomgame led the Cavs with 123 rushng yards on 28 carries.
West Liberty hits the road next Saturday for its first WVIAC game, traveling to Athens to take on Concord.
The Hilltoppers next home game is the following week when they entertain Mars Hill at Russek Field.
Otterbein 40, Bethany 7
WESTERVILLE, Ohio Five Bethany College turnovers, including three in the first half that stopped drives inside Otterbein territory, gave momentum to the hosts and the Cardinals went on to a season opening victory against the Bison.
An early miscue led to the first Otterbein score just 30 seconds into the game. Bethany received the opening kickoff, but a fumbled snap on the first play of the game was recovered by the Cardinals at the BC 10. Following a penalty and a running play which lost a yard, Otterbein QB Jack Rafferty flipped a 16-yard scoring pass to Ryan Rowley.
The hosts' lead grew to 13 on their next possession. Using nine plays to go 68 yards, the drive culminated when RB Eric Yates slipped out of the backfield to catch a 4-yard touchdown pass from Rafferty.
The Bison cut the lead to 13-7 when Dan Pegg fired a7-yard screen pass to Randy Rankin in the secound quarter, but it was all Otterbein from there.
West Liberty 24, Walsh 10
West Liberty7 3 7 7 - 24
Walsh3 7 0 0 - 10
First Quarter
We - DiMarco 33 pass from Worek (Hager kick), 11:56
Wa - Buchanan FG 32, 5:35
Second Quarter
Wa - Blossomgame 68 run (Buchanan kick), 12:53
We - Hager FG 43, :11
Third Quarter
We - Hills 27 pass from Worek (Hager kick), 12:32
Fourth Quarter
We - Ore 8 run (Hager kick), :49.
WLSCWalsh
First Downs1710
Rushes-Yards41-18840-136
Passing186116
Comp-Att-Int13-19-07-18-3
Total Yards374252
Penalties9-8811-76
Fumbles-Lost2-00-0
Time of Possession30:2229:38
Individual Statistics
Rushing: West Liberty - Ore 26-167-td, Calhoun 2-12, Hills 7-8, Worek 6-1; Walsh - C.Blossomgame 28-123-td, Viscuso 1-11, Tallman 2-9, Pullen 9-(-7).
Passing: West Liberty - Worek 12-18-173; Rocchio 1-1-13; Walsh - Pullen 7-18-116-3x
Receiving: West Liberty - Hills 3-39, Ore 3-29, Walker 3-23, DiMarco 2-53, Samuels 1-28; Walsh - Mcgill 3-70, Rutan 2-29, Pridemore 1-9, C.Blossomgame 1-8.
Bethany 0 7 0 0 - 7
Otterbein13 0 14 13 - 40
O - Rowley 16 pass from Rafferty (kick fails), 14:30.
O - Yates 4 pass from Rafferty (wanninger kick), 8:53.
B - Rankin 7 pass from Pegg (Krek kick), 12:25.
O - Coy 12 run (Wanninger kick), 11:16.
O - Rowley 5 pass from Rafferty (Wanninger kick), 5:14.
O - Yates 6 run (pass fails), 14:08.
O -McCormick 35 pass from Rafferty (Wanninger kick), 9:26.
BetOtt
First Downs1422
Rushes-Yards28-10245-243
Passing199195
Comp-Att-Int22-41-414-23-1
Total Offense301438
Penalties5-383-15
Fumbles-Lost1-12-1
RUSHING: Bethany - Walker 14-36; McNeil 1-33; Joyce 5-19; Rhodes 5-16; Pegg 2-minus 1; Smith 1-minus 1. Otterbein - Yates 19-123; Coy 8-76; Teeter 4-17; Collins 3-13; Rosner 1-9; Gendron 2-9; Whitmer 1-(-1); Team 1-(-1); Rafferty 6-(-2)
PASSING: Bethany - Pegg 17-290147-3x; Joyce 2-7-31-x; Smith 3-5-21; Otterbein - Rafferty 13-22-183-x; Rosner 1-1-12
RECEIVING: Bethany - Laboy 7-68; McNeil 6-44; Cruse 5-57; Rankin 2-19; Wilson 1-8; Sivak 1-3. Otterbein - Rowley 6-67; Gendron 2-25; McCormick 1-35; Welch 1-22; Detwiler 1-18; Whitmer 1-12; Coy 1-12; Yates 1-4.