UNC Pembroke saw its five-game win streak against West Virginia State snapped Thursday night.
Donovan Riddick threw for 281 yards and three touchdowns, while Joel Felder rushed for 152 yards and another score, helping the Yellow Jackets outlast the Braves 37-35 in the Mountain East Conference opener for both schools.
The back-and-forth game saw six lead changes. UNC Pembroke (1-1) jumped ahead 14-3 in the opening period and held a 21-17 edge at the break. A Caleb Pierce 1-yard quarterback plunge for a score put the Braves up 28-27 late in the third.
But that would be the last time UNCP found itself on the positive end of the scoreboard. West Virginia State tacked on a 30-yard Brennen Schmitt field goal in the fourth, then converted on a fourth-down play at the 1-yard line with 3:33 remaining to go up 37-28. Riddick completed his third TD pass, finding Nate Baker all alone in the end zone on the right side.
Credit UNC Pembroke, which won a two-point thriller against Fayetteville State last week, for battling until the end. West Virginia State recovered a fumble on the kickoff, and the game appeared over with the Jackets just needing to run out the clock. But UNCP forced a punt, then drove 85 yards in 1:13 to get within two points.
Pierce completed a 33-yard pass to Trey Dixon on that march, then found Malik Tobias on a 6-yard scoring play. Ty Woods hit his fifth extra point of the night, but the Braves couldn’t pounce on the onside kick to get another chance.
UNC Pembroke had a tough time containing the Yellow Jackets’ offense, which finished with 495 total yards. The Braves were penalized 12 times for 110 yards and committed two turnovers to hurt their cause. West Virginia State held the ball for almost 37 minutes.
LaTrell Jewsome returned an interception 41 yards for UNCP’s first touchdown. Antonio Crim added a 4-yard TD run, and Dixon caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Pierce in the opening half.
UNC Pembroke is now 5-1 all-time against West Virginia State. The Braves won four of those games comfortably and the fifth by one point.
Saige Lee and Sean Hill led the UNC Pembroke defense with 11 tackles each. Both had multiple tackles-for-loss. Crim finished with 90 rushing yards. Dixon brought in four passes for 82 yards. Pierce ended up 12-of-23 for 165 yards and a TD. He was picked off once.
NEXT: UNC Pembroke will have a few extra days to get ready for its next Mountain East contest on Saturday, Sept. 16. They may need it, as the next opponent, Charleston (WV), also boasts a high-powered offense.
The Golden Eagles beat Concord 54-14 on Thursday, rolling up 595 yards of total offense. Quarterback Javonte Howard threw five TD passes. Chavon Wright (158 yards, 1 TD) and Alex Brink (119 yards, 1 TD) both managed 100-yard rushing games.
