West Virginia State senior linebacker Andrew Eggleton has been selected to the Football Gazette All-Region 1st Team.

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       (PRINCETON, W.Va.)---League head coaches and game officials have selected the fall sports WVIAC Sportsmanship Champions.  The second annual awards were captured by Pitt Johnstown's volleyball and women's soccer squads, Davis & Elkins' men's soccer team, and the football squad from West Virginia State.

The award was conceived in 2008 by the league's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.  The ground-breaking program has also received honors from the NCAA Division II Presidents' Council.

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    Senior linebacker Andrew Eggleton has been named the WVIAC Defensive Player of the Year.

   The St. Albans native was also a 1st team All-WVIAC pick for the third straight season and the Yellow Jackets' only representative on eitehr 1st team.

    Junior wide receiver Jermain King, senior outside linebacker Valentine Bon, and junior defensive back Mike Wilburn were 2nd team All-WVIAC selections.

    Senior offensive lineman Mike Jones and freshman running back LeFloyd Phillips received Honorable Mention.

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          Robert Jackson came off the bench to lead a third quarter scoring drive to make the score 27-19 and the Yellow Jackets' defense held off a last minute Fairmont State drive as the Yellow Jackets  (3-7 overall, 2-6 in WVIAC) closed their season with a 27-19 win Saturday.

          Record setting quarterback Kevin O'Brien and nine other WVSU seniors closed out their careers.

         Those include Andrew Eggleton, Valentine Bon, Corey Cole, Mike Jones, Aaric Payne, Brandon Kennedy, Sam Scoggins, Terrence Washington, and William Delgadillo who were all honored in a pre-game ceremony.

         FAirmont scored first but Pierre Chatman ran back an interception 17 yards for a touchdown to make the score 7-6 early in the second period.

          O'Brien was sharp in the first half as he hit 8-of-10 passes for 107 yards. He even caught the first touchdown pass of his college when the Jackets made the old flea-flickker work from the 10-yard line in the second quarter after falling behind again at 13-7.

        Wide receiver Jermain King took a lateral from O'Brien who then rolled to the left side and hauled in King's pass back across the field to give WVSU a 14-13 lead.

        O'Brien reinjured his throwing hand before halftime but Jackson filled in capapbly completing 6-of-10 passes for 40 yards and a touchdown.

          Bon recorded 12 tackles and picked off a pass while Eggleton contributed 10 tackles, Washington made four and Kennedy had one reception as the four-year seniors finished with a 22-19 record.

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     Host West Virginia Wesleyan rolled to 405 total yards of offense while holding the Yellow Jackets to a season low 135 yards in winning 28-0 Saturday afternoon in Buckhannon.

     The Bobcats (2-7, 2-5 in WVIAC) interecepted a WVSU pass on the second play of the game and three plays later they were in the endzone for a 7-0 lead and the Jackets never seemed to fully recover.

      Senior lineback Andrew Eggleton had a big game with 10 solo tackles while assisting on 12 others.

       The Yellow Jackets fall to 2-7 overall and 1-6 in conference.

       They finish the season Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at home against Fairmont Sttae on Senior Day.

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       The WVSU football team made a game of it in the first half as a pair of touchdown tosses from Kevin O'Brien to Jermain King had the Jackets trailing just 24-14 at halftime Saturday.

        But the host Rams (6-3, 5-2 in WVIAC) erupted for 31 points after the break to pull away for the win as they put up 558 yards of total offense on the game including 374 on the ground.

        O'Brien was sharp in his return to action after missing three games with a wrist injury. The senior completed 14-of-19 passes for two touchdowns and 149 yards with no interceptions.

          Patrick Ryan, who started the last three games, was out with an injury so Robert Jackson relieved O'Brien late and hit 6-of-7 pass attempts for 52 yards.

         The Jackets (2-6, 1-5) could manage just 78 yards on the ground though.

     Record-setting senior quarterback Kevin O'Brien returns to action Saturday when the Yellow JAckets travel to Shepherd for a WVIAC football match-up.

      Click here to go to the Shepherd radio broadcast link for the game.

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      Visiting Glenville State scored a touchdown with 5:08 remaining in the first half to break a 14-14 tie and West Virginia State never recovered in falling 35-17.

      A small crowd huddled for warmth as temperatures dipped into the low 30's and both teams turned in a sloppy performance combining for 19 penalties and six turnovers.

      Fabian Payne led the Jackets' running attack with 72 yards on 12 carries while sophomore quarterback Patrick Ryan completed 19-of-39 passes for 201 yards but had four passes intercepted.

       Glenville moves to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the WVIAC while WVSU falls to 2-5 and 1-4.

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    Sophomore quarterback Patrick Ryan threw for a career high 289 yards and three touchdowns but host West Liberty exploded for 24 points in the second quarter and went on to defeat the Yellow Jackets 52-30.

      The Hilltoppers celebrated their homecoming by racking up 547 yards of total offense including 210 on the ground.

      But while Ryan put up big numbers through the air with junior Jermain King catching 10 passes for 146 yards and two scores the WVSU ground game could net just 35 yards on the day.

      The Yellow Jackets (2-4, 1-3 in WVIAC) return to Lakin Field Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest against Glenville State (4-3, 2-2).

      Click here to see recaps of other WVIAC games

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     WVSU senior football player Valentine Bon has been named the WVIAC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance Saturday.

     Bon had 12 tackles, three quarterback hurries, and forced a key fumble as the Yellow Jackets rolled to a 23-17 win over visiting Seton Hill.

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      The Yellow Jackets celebrated Homecoming by defeating Seton Hill 23-17 Saturday afternoon at Lakin Field.

       Though record-setting senior quarterback Kevin O'Brien missed his second straight game due to a wrist injury Patrick Ryan filled in capably in the third start of his career.

        Ryan completed 12-of-18 passes for 193 yards and a touchdown and ran for 54 yards.

        The Griffins (1-5) led 7-0 after one quarter but WVSU quickly rallied to take a 9-7 lead into halftime with Fabian Payne scoring on the ground and Craig Wissler connected on a 41-yard field goal.

         In the third period a Valentine Bon sack forced the ball free and Akeem Nofiu scooped it up in stride and sprinted 42 yards to paydirt for 16-7 lead.

         After a Seton Hill field goal Ryan hit Landon Johnson on a post route for a 54-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to make it 23-10. The visitors managed a score in the final minute but the celebration on the Yellow JAcket sidlein had already begun as WVSU improved to 203 overall and 1-2 in WVIAC play.

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Concord University defense held West Virginia State University to just 208 yards of total offense in getting the 25-14 victory.

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     Charleston defeated West Virginia State University 35-0 Saturday afternoon in a WVIAC game at Lakin Field in Institute.

     The Golden Eagles (3-0) ground up the Jackets on the ground with an 85-yard punt return and drives of 80, 38, 74, and 58 yards as they outgained their hosts in rushing yards 212-36.

      Jacket senior quarterback Kevin O'Biren threw for 160 yards to become the school's all-time leader in passing yards.

      To see Charleston Gazette game story click here.

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      Senior quarterback Kevin O'Brien threw for 231 yards and running back Fabian Payne made his season debut but it was not enough as Benedict (1-2) defeated the Yellow Jackets (1-1) 49-21 in the Palmetto Capital City Classic Saturday afternoon in Columbia, SC.

     O'Brien completed 18-of-28 passes for three touchdowns while Payne carried 14 times for 76 yards after missing the opening week with an ankle sprain.

      The Jackets had 257 yards of offense in the first half which finished with them trailing 28-21 but could not get untracked after the break picking up just 53 total yards. Meanwhile the Tigers added three more scores to put the game out of reach.

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After a successful trip to the Chicago Football Classic last fall the Yellow Jackets (1-0) have been invited to play in the 8th Annual Palmetto Capital City Classic in Columbia, South Carolina this fall.

     The opponent will be host school Benedict College.

      There is a weeklong schedule of events including a golf tournament, Battle of the Bands, a jazz concert, and a step show.

       Game time is 4 p.m. on September 5th -- Saturday of Labor Day weekend.

      The Yellow Jackets will be staying at the Ramada Inn, Columbia Northeast.

       It is located at 7510 Two Notch Road and the phone number is 803-736-3000.

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       West Virginia State University opened the 2009 football season with a 6-0 win over visiting Central State Saturday afternoon in Insititute.

      A crowd of about 791 braved threatening skies at game time and enjoyed a sunny second half as the Yellow Jacket defense dominated the Marauders.

      Senior quarterback Kevin O'Brien threw for 192 yards on 17-of-31 passing which was more than the visitors could muster in total offense where Central State finished with just 134 yards.

      O'Brien connected with Landon Johnson (above, right) from 21-yards out with 5:15 to play in the 1st half to provide the only score of the contest. Craig Wissler's extra point kick was blocked.

     Ryan Smoot intercepted two Central State passes and the Jacket defense turned in a game-saving defensive stand with just under 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

      The Marauders drove from the WV State 32 all the way to the 2-yard line where they had a first and goal. After four straight running playes the Jacket defense had held and the ball turned back over to WVSU.

     Running back Fabian Payne sat out due to a minor injury. Cheron Bines switched from the defensive to the offensive backfield and led the Jackets with 49 yards on 13 carries while Michael Harper-Thompson picked up 30 yards on 15 carries. 

     Jermain King (left) paced the receiving corp with seven catches good for 95 yards.

     The Jackets travel to Columbia, S.C. next week for a 4:00 p.m. meeting with Benedict in the Palmetto Classic.

     West Virginia State wound uo with 284 yards of total offense.

     Web site D2Football.com has selected Yellow Jacket offensive lineman Mike Jones and defensive back Joe Clark as pre-season first team All-WVIAC picks.

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     Opposing WVIAC football coaches just made West Virginia State Coach Earl Monroe's job a little bit easier.

      The coaches tabbed the Yellow Jackets seventh in the nine-team football conference.

      "It makes our first meeting real easy," said an obviously upset Monroe. "I know it doesn't mean much but I just assumed we would get a little more respect than that."

       WVSU is coming off back-to-back 7-3 seasons. The Jackets were 5-3 in conference games and finished fourth each season.

        "We should get respect for what we've done the last two years," Monroe said. "But it is what it is."

        And it should be a great motivational tool for a Jacket squad that returns record-seeting senior quarterback Kevin O'Brien, two-time All-WVIAC defender Andrew Eggleton, and leading receiver Jermain King.

        Monroe praised defending WVIAC champ Glenville State, which blasted the Jackets last year, and Seton Hill, which finished second and then advanced two rounds in the postseason.

         "They earned respect for what they did last year and who they have coming back," Monroe said. "We just deserve the same respect."

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