West Virginia Leviathan fall short of division title, look ahead to post season
Jul. 29—FAIRMONT — A division title in the West Virginia Leviathan's first year in existence eluded the minor league football team Saturday afternoon.
West Virginia lost to the Port City Spartans 40-7 at Fairmont State University's Duvall-Rosier Field in the regular season finale where the winner took the Tri-Point Football League Mountain Division title.
"You can't take anything away from the Spartans today," West Virginia Head Coach Christopher Simpson said. "They just played great football, and I don't feel like we were outclassed. It was just one play after another they just hit us the right way. I respect that from them."
Simpson expected the game to be a close match, as Port City and West Virginia entered the game seventh and eighth in the league respectively. Unfortunately, as wide receiver and defensive back Desmond Cunningham said, the Leviathan kept hurting itself.
"I just think we time and time again shot ourselves in the foot," Cunningham said. "I genuinely felt we're a better football team. We just got to represent ourselves better and come to work, come to practice, and when it comes to game time, do your job, discipline and assignment."
Port City scored on its opening drive in under three minutes after kickoff. It scored a two-point conversion after the touchdown to make it 8-0, the score at the end of the first quarter. The Spartans then scored two more touchdowns to make it 20-0 because of two failed two-point attempts.
West Virginia got on the board with 4:23 left in the second quarter when starting quarterback Ryan LaAsmar connected with receiver Austin Storey on a 60-yard pass. The point after the touchdown made it 20-7, but Port City responded with another touchdown with 34 seconds before halftime to make it 26-7.
The second half started with West Virginia's offense marching down the field on an improved rushing attack and reaching the red zone before LaAsmar threw his second interception of the game. Port City turned it into another touchdown with a successful two-point attempt, making the score 34-7 before the end of the third quarter.
Cunningham gave West Virginia some momentum at the end of the third quarter when he picked off an under-thrown pass from Port City, but West Virginia went three-and-out to start the fourth quarter right after.
Port City put up one more touchdown on a 58 yard touchdown pass to make it 40-7 in the final quarter.
"It was obvious [Port City] scouted us extremely well," Simpson said. "They took away what we like to do out of the passing game, and kudos to them, but we've got to get better during those situations."
LaAsmar led the team in passing with 70 yards and a touchdown but also three interceptions. JC Corbit replaced LaAsmar in the third quarter and threw for 30 more yards.
Elijah Helsley led West Virginia with 55 yards rushing on 11 attempts. LaAsmar followed with 20 yards on two rushes, and Seth Davis rounded out the top three with 13 yards on two rushes.
Despite the loss, Simpson applauded the players who stepped up for the team in big ways, like Halsley, Davis, and Fairmont Senior alum Jason Howard.
"Unfortunately, the damage was done in the first half," Simpson said. "It was hard to battle back after that."
West Virginia finished the season 4-4 and qualified for the playoffs. Players like Cunningham still believe in the potential of the team and are ready for the postseason.
"We got to just work on how we're going to deal with pressure, how we're going to deal with adversity," Cunningham said. "But like I said, I think we're a great football team and we're in great shape. Nobody wants to play us in the playoffs."
While the loss means the Leviathan isn't guaranteed a home postseason game, the team is on the bubble and must rely on another team in the division to lose. West Virginia will know within the next day, Simpson said.
Reach Colin C. Rhodes at 304-367-2548
