ATHENS, W.Va. – In the first half, Concord University outscored Notre Dame College, 14-10, and had 66 more yards. The Falcons turned it around in the second half, gaining almost 200 yards on the offensive end while the defense shut out Concord's offense. NDC earned its seventh win of the year with a 24-14 victory.
 
Throughout the first half, the two teams combined for seven drives and all but one featured double-digit plays.
 
Concord's first drive went 51 yards in 11 plays. The Mountain Lions got all the way to NDC's 20-yard line, as quarterback Jack Mangel threw the ball nine times. But, Notre Dame's defense put an end to the drive on fourth down and CU turned it over on downs.
 
NDC's first drive went 64 yards in 17 plays, over nearly eight minutes. The Falcons weren't able to break through for many splash plays, but quarterback Deshawn Evans did find junior Napoleon Harris for 19 yards, on third down, and sophomore Michael Solomon for nine yards, on a fourth down. During the drive, the Falcons converted three third downs and one fourth down. However, the drive came to an end on Concord's 16 and senior Cameron Shirkey made a 33-yard field goal.
 
Responding quickly, the Mountain Lions completed three passes of 10 yards, or more. Mangel completed a pass to Kris Copeland for 37 yards and a touchdown to take a 7-3 lead.
 
Evans completed three passes for a total of 26 yards on NDC's next drive and junior Krys Riley-Richardson ran five times for 19 yards. The drive was extended with a CU pass interference call on a 3rd and 3 and then, on Concord's 11, Evans found junior James Faulkner for the touchdown.
 
Concord got the ball and went right back down the field, as Mangel completed five passes of eight yards, or more. A nine-yard pass to Jordyn Bentley put the home team back in front, 14-10. They had a chance to expand the lead before the half, but Josh Hutley missed a 43-yard field goal.
 
The second half kickoff went to the Falcons, and they took advantage. Junior Idris Lawrence ran the ball on the first two plays of the drive and totaled 18 yards. Three plays later, Evans found Andre Allen Jr., who used his speed to get 26 yards on the play and into the redzone. Sophomore Michael Solomon found some space near the middle of the field and caught a 13-yard touchdown pass, with 11:09 on the third quarter clock.
 
Notre Dame was four-for-four in red zone opportunities.
 
After both teams punted the ball away, Concord's first play of the drive was tipped into the air and intercepted by sophomore Brayden Hall. That led to another touchdown on the offensive side for the Falcons.
 
"When we came out in the second half with a touchdown, and then the interception not long after that, was huge. We played well in the second half," head coach Garrett Mack said.
 
Lawrence started the drive with three rushing attempts for 22 yards. On 3rd and 10, Evans found sophomore Rico Small on the right side of the field. He broke a tackle and ran across the field, nearly beating all the Concord defenders before he was brought down at Concord's two-yard line. Riley-Richardson finished the job by running into the endzone to give NDC a 24-14 advantage, midway through the third quarter.
 
Concord would drive down the field 53 yards, in almost four minutes, before sophomore Christian Taylor forced a fumble of the Mountain Lions' quarterback. NDC would force two fumbles in the fourth quarter. The Mountain Lions had four drive in the fourth quarter, with two of those resulting in punts, one was a turnover on downs and the other ended the game.
 
Junior Zion Hawkins was tied for the team lead with seven tackles, making seven solo stops.
 
"The guys around me were doing their jobs," he said. "That opened up the holes and I was able to do my thing. Also, Coach Chestnut creating a perfect gameplan. I appreciate him."
 
Junior Isaiah Stephens and sophomore Nathan Rosario-Santos also had seven tackles, each. Hall had four tackles to go along with his interception. Taylor had three tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles.
 
"It was a great day," Mack mentioned. "Anytime you take a five-hour trip down here, it's always challenging. Our guys came out in the second half and played some hard-nosed football. We got the run game going and got some stops on defense. Creating takeaways, I think that was the biggest difference between the first and second halves."
 
Next up for Notre Dame is a bye week and then the Falcons will watch the NCAA Regional Rankings to see if they will be in the NCAA Division II Playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. The top seven teams in Super Region 1 earn a tournament bid.