Quarterback Patrick O'Brien threw for 318 yards and four touchdowns as North Carolina-Pembroke snapped a two-game losing skid with a 45-21 win over West Virginia State at Grace P. Johnson Stadium in Pembroke, N.C., Saturday.
O'Brien hit on 20 of 25 attempts and it was his second straight 300-plus-yard passing game. Pembroke improved to 5-3 overall and 4-0 at home, while the Yellow Jackets dropped to 5-4.
State started strong with a pair of first-quarter touchdowns, but didn't score again until the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter.
Kelvit Barrett got the Yellow Jackets on the board with a 1-yard TD run just four minutes into the game and the Yellow Jackets took their last lead at 13-7 when Matt Kinnick connected with Joshua Caiquo on a 54-yard TD strike three minutes later.
After that, it was all Pembroke, which scored 35 straight points to take a 42-13 lead with four minutes left in the third quarter.
Kinnick, who finished 27 of 40 for 312 yards, two scores and two picks, hit Akil Washington on a 5-yard TD pass for the Yellow Jackets' final score.
State managed just 87 rushing yards on 34 tries, while Pembroke totaled 168 yards on 35 totes. Dionta Brown paced State with 61 rushing yards, while Rontonio Stanley had 59 yards for the Braves.
The Yellow Jackets' defense was led by Mitchell Rowell's 11 tackles, while Noah Brownlee added nine and Jordan Pierce eight. Stevin Gomez had an interception for State.
Shepherd 44, West Liberty 10: The Rams remained unbeaten at 8-0 with the easy home win. The Rams led 17-3 after one quarter and 31-3 at the break as West Liberty dropped to 4-5.
Jeff Ziemba threw for 289 yards, with TD passes to Dalton Boyd and Billy Brown to pace the Rams' offense. Allen Cross had two rushing scores for Shepherd, and Jabre Lolley had a team-high 119 rushing yards and a score. The Rams piled up 512 total yards.
Daree' Goodwin had the only TD for the Hilltoppers when he pulled in a 24-yard pass from Dakota Conwell in the third quarter. A 28-yard field goal by Christian Morris accounted the only other points for WL, which managed just 191 total yards.
Fairmont State 33, Notre Dame College 24: Leading by just two points in the fourth quarter, the Falcons (5-3) sealed the home win with 1:55 remaining when Cooper Hibbs found Devon Garnett for a 15-yard scoring play. Hibbs finished 25 of 37 for 298 and two scores and also had a 1-yard TD run to pace Fairmont. Brandon Boyd had a 24-yard first quarter TD catch from Hibbs.
Fairmont led 24-17 at the half and extended the lead to 26-17 in the third quarter, before Notre Dame trimmed the lead to 26-24 on a 3-yard run by Malik Grove with 5:18 remaining.
Austin White led Fairmont with 105 rushing yards and a score, while Notre Dame's DJ Greene led all rushers with 162 yards and a pair of scores.
Glenville State 30, Concord 25: The Pioneers (6-5) jumped to a 20 point second quarter lead and then came from behind in the final seconds to pull out the thrilling home win. Dante Roberts' 1-yard run with just 16 seconds remaining capped a 10-play, 85-yard drive and sealed the win. Concord dropped to a disappointing 4-5.
Tevin Drake led Glenville with 161 rushing yards on 28 tries, including a second-quarter TD run. Rahmann Lee also had a rushing score for Glenville. Roberts finished 20 of 36 for 244 yards and a 4-yard TD pass to Dante Absher to open the scoring.
For Concord, Calvinaugh Jones led the way with 130 rushing yards and a 32-yard fourth-quarter TD. Brian Novak also had a rushing score for the Mountain Lions and finished with 204 passing yards on 14 of 24 passing.
Virginia-Wise 24, Urbana 19: The Cavaliers had a comfortable 21-0 lead at the half but had to hold off a second-half Urbana rally to secure its first win of the season. Wise improved to 1-8, while Urbana slipped to 2-7.
Daniel Lewis pace Wise with a pair of first-half TD passes and a 1-yard TD run. Lewis finished with 270 passing yards, while Javonte Latney led Wise with 62 rushing yards. Cedrick Watkins and James Cousins had TD receptions of 5 and 25 yards, respectively.
Urbana scored three second-half touchdowns, with Eric Pelfrey tossing TD passes of 17 and 95 yards to Trevon Saunders, and scoring on a 1-yard quarterback sneak.