Concord Loses at Liberty, 21-13 - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

The Concord University football team hung tough with Liberty University before losing a one-possession game 21-13 Saturday afternoon.

The loss drops Concord's overall record to 4-4 overall on the season. Liberty improves to 3-4 with the win.

The Concord scoring came from senior defensive back Nate Pollard, who returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown and sophomore fullback Ben Nester, who registered a one-yard touchdown run.

The Concord defense held the high scoring Liberty offense to its third-lowest scoring output of the season. Spearheading the charge was Jake Lilly, who made a career-high 18 tackles. Howard Jordan and Davon Marion also finished with double-digit tackle efforts at 12 and 11 stops, respectively.

Junior defensive back Riyahd Richardson added an interception while senior defensive lineman Josh Miller, senior defensive back Kevin Elliott and sophomore defensive lineman Keith Ferguson all added sacks.

The offense was led by Evin Dusold, who went 10-for-24 for 130 yards. Jorcorey Robins was CU's leading wide receiver with 56 yards.

The opening quarter was a scoreless affair that saw both teams trade possessions. Senior punter Brad Cox did a good job pinning the Liberty offense deep on two occasions. Cox's first punt went for 58 yards and was downed on the Liberty one yard line, while his second punt drove the Flames' offense back to the 21.

Liberty drove into Concord territory at the start of the second quarter, but a 47-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Ervin Moore and picked up by Nate Pollard, who returned the ball 58 yards for a touchdown. A successful extra point try by freshman Andy Ellington gave the Mountain Lions a 7-0 lead with 12:57 to play in the second quarter.

Concord's lead lasted until Liberty went on a 10-play drive that was capped off with a 41-yard touchdown pass that made it a 7-7 game with 7:52 to play in the half.

After a missed Concord field goal attempt Liberty retook possession, but quickly gave the ball back to CU when Richardson made his seventh-career interception and returned it 49 yards down to the Liberty one yard line. Ben Nester quickly followed up the interception and gave the Mountain Lions a 13-7 lead with a one-yard touchdown. Nester has now rushed for four touchdowns over the last four games.

However, the lead was short lived as the Flames ended the half on an eight-play 67-yard drive with a three-yard Sirchauncey Holloway touchdown ending the spurt and sending Liberty into halftime with a 14-13 lead.

The third quarter featured another 10-play Liberty scoring drive that gave the Flames a 21-13 lead when Holloway scored his second touchdown of the game. At the end of three quarters, Concord trailed by just one possession.

The Mountain Lions' best scoring opportunity in fourth quarter came midway through the quarter when CU went on an eight-play 34-yard drive that ended with a missed 48-yard field goal attempt.