WISE - -Despite limiting Glenville State to 222 yards of total offense, UVa-Wise dropped its season opener 17-7 at Carl Smith Stadium Thursday night. The game was delayed 1-hour, 26-minutes by lightning and featured 18 penalties for 179 yards.
Glenville State (1-0, 1-0 MEC) broke a scoreless game with 3:12 to go in the first half when Tre Cutcher hauled in a 27-yard touchdown pass from Jaylen McNair.
Two plays later, the Pioneers pushed their lead to two scores when UVa-Wise (0-1, 0-1 MEC) quarterback Brycen Lee fired a pass backwards only to see it skip off the turf and be recovered and returned for a 14-yard touchdown by D'Andre Brown.
The lightening then sat in and delayed the contest for nearly 90 minutes before play resumed.
On the following possession, UVa-Wise moved the ball to near mid-field before the drive stalled, sending the game to an abbreviated halftime.
The two defenses would trade blows in the third quarter before the Cavaliers dented the scoreboard on the opening play of the fourth quarter. Lee delivered a 55-yard touchdown pass to Kaian Duverger and following a Trevor Owens conversion kick the score was 14-7.
UVa-Wise's defense would provide its offense with plenty of opportunities to tie the game up. After the touchdown, the Cavs forced a three-and-out. On the next offensive possession, UVa-Wise perfectly executed a reverse only to see the play brought back by a chop block.
After punting, the UVa-Wise defense returned to the field and after allowing Glenville State to advance to the Cavs' 29-yard line; the unit stepped up again and held the visitors on a fourth down play to give the offense the ball back.
On the first play from scrimmage, the Cavs turned the ball over; it was the third turnover of the game for UVa-Wise.
Glenville State took over on the UVa-Wise 36-yard line and after moving just five yards in three plays, Head Coach Eric Smith elected to try a 48-yard field goal. Justin Watts was good on the attempt to provide the winning margin of 17-7.
Marcus Tarrer posted a career-high 16 tackles while Chris White added nine in defeat. Duverger hauled in six receptions for 112 yards to go with his 55 yard touchdown reception. Jamorya Cousin ran the ball 14 times for 60 yards in his first collegiate game at tailback. Dez Hopkins recorded an interception on defense for the hosts.
Glenville State was led by middle linebacker Dom Cizauskas who posted a game-high 19 tackles in his first game as a Pioneer. Cizauskas was one of two transfers who had a big night for the guests as former Florida State Seminole Mario Pender led all players with 124 rushing yards on 25 attempts.
UVa-Wise was penalized 11 times for 114 yards in the loss while converting just 5-of-16 third down conversions and failing to make a fourth down attempt in two tries. The Cavs' offense failed to make the red zone in the loss.
The Pioneers posted the win despite an 8-for-20 showing in the passing game while throwing for just 61 yards.
The loss stopped a two-game winning streak for UVa-Wise in season openers; the Cavs will play their first road game of the season next Saturday at West Virginia State, kickoff is slated for 12 p.m.
