WEST LIBERTY defensive lineman Kenyon Felder sacks the quarterback during a game last season. The Hilltoppers play at Alderson-Broaddus Saturday.
WEST LIBERTY — The West Liberty University football team returns to the gridiron on Saturday when the Black and Gold hit the road to Philippi for the first-ever gridiron meeting with Alderson Broaddus.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at AB’s 2,500-seat Multi-Sport Performance Stadium.
Unfortunately for the Hilltoppers, they’ll be running a bit short-handed this week as West Virginia University graduate transfer quarterback Jack Allison won’t be available due to an injury suffered during West Liberty’s season opening loss at Notre Dame on March 13.
Allison had been trying to play through the injury and even participated in a team scrimmage last Saturday after WLU’s scheduled game with Fairmont State was postponed but team doctors and the training staff opted to err on the side of caution in hopes that Allison will be back at full strength in a week or two.
“Jack told us about it after the game but said it didn’t bother him that much,” Waialae said, “but I think the medical staff made a good decision. If this was the last four games of his college career, he’d probably just play through it but the doctor said these things usually only take 3-4 weeks to heal so why push it?”
Redshirt freshman Jamie Diven, who made his collegiate debut in the fourth quarter of the Notre Dame game, will get the start with fellow redshirt freshmen Jordan Wood and Parker Sherry in reserve. Diven completed 2-of-6 passes for 34 yards and had a 13-yard scramble for the Hilltoppers’ longest run of a disappointing day.
“It’s pretty simple,” Waialae said. “You can’t turn the ball over five times against any team and expect to win. When you do it against a great team, it just compounds the problem. Offensively, we need to play with more consistency and try to establish the running game. Defensively, we have to tackle better.
“We had opportunities to make plays that would get us off the field but we didn’t do a good job of getting the ball carrier on the ground. We spent a lot of time the past couple of weeks working on fundamentals. We even did some live tackling, which we never do in-season, just to emphasize the importance.”
West Liberty had been set to host Frostburg State on Saturday night but COVID protocols forced the MEC to move several games around this week in order to create as many safe playing opportunities as possible. The Hilltoppers’ game against Alderson Broaddus wasn’t finalized until Wednesday after several other options had been explored. The Black and Gold is now set to host Frostburg on April 3 at a time to be determined.
Waialae conceded that the uncertainty over the next opponent and the short preparation time resulting from the late schedule changes has been a challenge for the coaches but was quick to point out that all the coaches in the league are working through the same issues and it’s all for a good cause.
“In the grand scheme of things with the way so many people have been impacted by this thing, we’re playing football,” Waialae said. “You take it all in stride and roll with it. Our student-athletes are just excited to have a chance to play a football game. They don’t care who they play or when they play as long as they get to play.”
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