WISE - - Senior Victor Mitchell rushed for a career-high 141 yards and three fourth quarter touchdowns while the UVa-Wise defense registered seven sacks and limited West Virginia Wesleyan to 130 yards of total offense in a 35-14 Mountain East Conference victory at Smith Stadium Saturday. The win was the second consecutive for the Cavaliers and marked the program's first victory over the Bobcats since joining the MEC in 2013.

UVa-Wise (3-4, 3-4 MEC) wasted little time getting Mitchell involved in the game. The Hampton, Va. product took a handoff on the second play from scrimmage and rushed for 22 yards to move the ball to the Wesleyan (1-5, 1-4 MEC) 33-yard line. Three players later, freshman quarterback Tanner Bernard hooked up with senior Kaian Duverger on a 5-yard touchdown; Trevor Owens' PAT made the score 7-0 with 11:46 to play in the opening quarter.

Staked to a lead, the Cavaliers' defense was up to the challenge. The Bobcats finished the opening 15 minutes with just 28 yards of offense on 19 plays while failing to convert a third down attempt in five chances.

Dane Damron's team extended the lead to two scores on its opening drive of the second quarter when his offense put together a 10-play, 62-yard drive that culminated with a Von Purvis 6-yard touchdown scamper. The conversion kick left the score 14-0 with 10:38 to play in the half.

Wesleyan would mount its best drive of the game to that point on the following drive as the guests moved the ball 40 yards to the UVa-Wise 30-yard line before seeing the drive stall out thanks to a play in the backfield by senior linebacker Donavan Montague.

Following an exchange of punts, the Bobcats had a second scoring opportunity as the visitors moved the ball to the UVa-Wise 25-yard line and had it first-and-10. From there, the drive would go backwards and again it was Montague who made the big play as the senior from Altavista, Va. sacked quarterback Luke Casey on a third down play that drove Wesleyan out of field goal range, sending the game to intermission.

Wesleyan would get on the board via a special teams touchdown in the third quarter. Return man Jujuan Linzy fielded an Owens' punt at the Cavs' 46-yard line and raced his way into the end zone for his team's first points of the day. Following the extra point, the lead had been cut in half at 14-7 with 13:26 to play in the third quarter.

Despite moving the ball to the Bobcats' 8-yard line, the Cavs would come up empty and the score would remain unchanged moving to the fourth period where the hosts put the game away.

Mitchell would post touchdown runs of five, two and 33 yards in the final 15 minutes allowing UVa-Wise to cruise to victory. Wesleyan sandwiched a 17-yard touchdown pass from Matt Vinson to Sean Dewdney in between Mitchell's fourth quarter heroics to provide the final score.

UVa-Wise posted 497 yards of offense to outgain Wesleyan by 367 yards. Redshirt sophomore Marquis Hamilton finished with a career-high seven pass break ups while senior Dylan Giovine tallied a career-best three sacks to go with a team-high seven tackles.

Bernard finished the game 23-of-30 through the air with 244 yards while Jarome Johnson added 21 passing yards and 35 rushing yards behind center. Duverger led all players with seven catches for 63 yards and a touchdown while Chris Tahxton caught five balls for 46 yards.

With the win, UVa-Wise has won back-to-back games for the first time since winning consecutive games to begin the 2017 season. The Cavaliers will try to win three in a row for the first time since 2016 when the team visits the University of Charleston next Saturday.