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WEST LIBERTY -- The West Liberty football team is finished talking about last season's inability to finish. But it was difficult to totally put those issues to bed as Urbana, down three, was driving late in the fourth quarter of Thursday night's Mountain East Conference opener on Russek Field inside West Family Stadium.
This time, though, the defense didn't let it happen.
Tajuan Green's fourth-down pass from the Blue Knights (0-1 overall, 0-1 MEC) 47 with 1:35 remaining fell to the turf as the Hilltoppers (1-0, 1-0) debuted with a 24-21 victory.
"The big thing is winning a close game and knowing the feeling of what it is to be in that other locker room," Coach Roger Waialae said after WLU won just its second season-opener in the last 10 tries. "The kicking game was strong, we played off each other and we played great team football - the defense fed off the offense and the offense fed off the defense.
"We had big stops when we needed them and big conversions when we needed them. That is probably the most players that have ever played in a game here.''
Leading 10-6 after two quarters, West Liberty took the second-half kickoff and methodically marched down the field. The drive, which covered 14 plays and 75 yards, took 6:36 off the third-quarter clock.
The Hilltoppers converted a third-and-8, two third-and-5s and a third-and-2 on the march, which finished with a beautiful back-shoulder pass from quarterback Brenton Colabella to Quinton Jones that covered the final 17 yards.
"Coach is always saying 'take what they give you,' '' said Colabella, a Steubenville Catholic Central graduate. "They were giving me the flat all the way down the field.
"Our offense made plays. Our line blocked for me well and our receivers got open.''
Urbana countered with an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that took 6:17 off the clock. It culminated when Green stepped into the end zone from 3 yards away to cut the deficit to 17-13.
Not to be outdone, the Hilltoppers went right back to work. Consecutive first-down achieving passes from Colabella to Ian Kelly - the first on a third-and-10, which was the sixth consecutive conversion - that gained 11 and 29 yards, put the ball at the Blue Knights 28. After the third quarter expired, West Liberty got the ball to the 3 on a Colabella to Jeremiah Ortiz 21-yard screen pass. Eventually though, that drive ended when Colabella was strip-sacked from behind, with Duray Hall, who had a game-high 13 tackles - 2.5 for loss - recovering at the 7.
"On the fumble I made a bad call. I got greedy and that was on me," Waialae said. "They ran a zone pressure and schematically we had it blocked.
"They brought the end and dropped the guy the tackle stepped to. He stepped to the end and the back turned up instead of staying on his man.
"But worse than anything, that's my call. I was trying to get a cheap one on second down.''
Urbana moved the ball to its 45 where it faced a third-and-9 situation. Green looked over the middle and fired away, but Terrance Baldwin picked it off and raced 63 yards up the far sideline for a touchdown to make the score 24-13 with 8:52 remaining.
"It made me feel good to make that play. The D-line got pressure and made the quarterback roll out, and I did what our coaches told us to do," Baldwin said. "I played the smash and rolled on top of it.
"We have a good feeling of being on that (losing) side of things, so it feels real good to be on this side of it.''
The Blue Knights weren't done as Green scooted in from the 5 with 5:12 left, capping a nine-play, 76-yard drive that took up 3:28. His 2-point connection with Trey Saunders cut the deficit to three at 24-21.
Saunders, one of the biggest game-breakers in the region, hauled in four catches for 52 yards including a 27-yard score in the first half, but was largely held in check. He did have a 72-yard punt return for a first-quarter touchdown called back due to a block in the back.
"I think this is huge,'' said Colabella, who despite admitting to some nerves, completed 18 of 25 for 196 yards and a pair of scores. "I think we're a different team and we're real close together.
"We feed off one another and we did whatever it took to get the 'W'."
WLU got the scoring started following a Chris Mitchell interception on the game's first drive. The Toppers settled for a 40-yard Christian Morris field goal.
Colabella made it 10-0 when he found Osman Kargbo on a 34-yard touchdown pass with 2:44 left in the first.
Green led Urbana with 265 yards (161 passing) of total offense. Maurice Warren Jr. added 18 carries for 92 yards.
NOTES
True freshman defensive end Trevor Hoosier was injured during what was a breakout first half. Waialae was concerned, but didn't want to guess until the player underwent an MRI. "He's one of the best defensive ends we've recruited here in a long time," the coach said. Lherri Fonttillisse was placed in concussion protocol.