The Golden Bear defense showed up to play in a big way on Halloween; forcing five Faulkner miscues en rout to a 26-14 romp over the visiting Eagles. The victory, which moved Tech to 3-6 on the season, has been a long time coming for the Golden Bears.

WVU Tech began the season with an explosive offense that seemed nearly unstoppable. At the helm was Golden Bear quarterback, Michael Scott who threw for 519 yards and 6 touchdowns in their last victory which came in week 2 of the season earning him MSC and NAIA Offensive Player of the Week Honors. Since that victory, and thanks to a few key injuries, Scott had tossed for 624 yards, 2 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.

The Golden Bears needed to find a way to get back into the win column, and thanks to a total team effort, they did.

The WVU Tech offense continued to show signs of life with Scott tossing for 294 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions on the day. Scott also rushed for 1 touchdown. Running back Jamel Shelton rushed for 102 yards – his best outing since their week 2 win when he rushed for 140 yards against Olivet. Nathan Winterstein led all receivers for the game with 83 yards.

But the story of the day was the Golden Bear defense, stepping up and nullifying the Eagle’s offensive attack. The Tech defense gave up 180 yards in the air and 149 yards on the ground but came up big in the second half, forcing Faulkner into costly turnovers.

The wheels began to fall off for Faulkner when Tech’s defense began to turn up the heat. Michael Peeples forced and recovered a Trey Martin fumble deep in Faulkner territory for the Golden Bears first score of the game. But the pressure didn’t end there, Jordan Bodnar intercepted Martin on 3rd and 15 early in the second quarter, WVU Tech defensive lineman Michael Awute beat his man off the line and had a clean shot at the Faulkner quarterback. The hit forced a Trey Martin fumble, a Faulkner punt and forced the Eagles to put in back up quarterback, Joe Scott in to finish the game.

The Golden Bears welcomed Scott into the game by intercepting him in his first series at quarterback courtesy of Michael Peeples on 1st and 10 to give the Golden Bears the ball back to end the half.

Faulkner would bounce back and score two touchdowns in their next 3 possessions to pull within 6 (14-20) of the Golden Bears.

But it was Tech’s defense would steal the show in the 4th quarter. Michael Awute forced a fumble on the first play of the forth quarter that was recovered by Jonathon Culbertson. The Tech defense would force the Eagles to punt on their second possession of the 4th quarter and Golden Bear Gary Joshway would intercept Scott on their 3rd possession to give the ball back to the Tech offense.

The Joshway interception would lead to a 9 play 44 yard drive by the Tech offense that was capped off by a Michael Scott 1 yard touchdown run to make the score 26-14 with just 2:46 remaining in the game.

WVU Tech’s Jordan Bodnar would intercept the Eagles on their ensuing drive on a 2nd and 10 pass to give the ball back to the Golden Bear offense and temporarily eliminate any comeback threat.

The Golden Bears would be forced to punt with under a minute left in the game, which was enough time for the Tech defense to put the proverbial nail in the coffin. Cecil Level intercepted a Faulkner pass on 4th and 16 to give the WVU Tech offense the ball with 33 ticks left on the clock to secure the Golden Bears 3rd victory of the season.

The win moves WVU Tech to 3-6 (0-4) on the season.

Coach Tinsley and company will look to build on their recent success as they return to Mid-South Eastern Division action on November 7th when they travel to Pikeville College.

Kick off is set for 2:30pm and the game can be listened to on Groovy 94.1