Football | 10/9/2018 12:04:00 PM

By Duane Cochran for FightingFalcons.com

No one needs to remind Fairmont State University's football team. The Falcons completely understand it wasn't so much what unbeaten and 20th-ranked Notre Dame did to them Thursday night as what they did to themselves which ultimately led to their demise and a 24-21 loss in a key Mountain East Conference battle.
 
With the win Notre Dame improved to 6-0 both overall and in the MEC. The victory also gives NDC the inside track to what would be the school's first-ever Mountain East Conference championship in football. Fairmont State, on the other hand, fell to 4-2 overall and to 3-2 in the league. The Falcons are currently tied for fourth in the conference standings with Urbana University (4-2, 3-2).
 
Thursday night the Falcons were penalized 13 times for 98 yards and five of those penalties gave Notre Dame first downs. None, however, was more costly than the controversial pass interference call on Fairmont cornerback Brandon Ruffin on a fourth-and-goal play for NDC from the Fairmont State four-yard line with the Falcons protecting a 21-17 lead in the final two minutes.
 
"That was so frustrating," Fairmont State linebacker Antonio Harris, who had a game-high 12 tackles, said. "We made what we thought was a great goal line stand to win the game when they had first-and-goal from our five and to have that taken away from us was disheartening. Personally, I thought the ball was out of bounds and uncatchable. The official on the play called incomplete, but the flag came late from the back of the end zone. It was just incredibly frustrating."
 
Ruffin, who had equal rights to the football with NDC's intended receiver Andrew Turski, made a play on the ball on the far sideline of the end zone but it was out of the reach of both players and landed harmlessly out of the bounds. The official on the play did indeed signal incomplete, but the back judge threw the flag for pass interference giving Notre Dame new life and a fresh set of downs from the Fairmont State two-yard line. On the next play standout Notre Dame running back Jaleel McLaughlin ran it in from two yards out with 1:33 remaining to give his team the lead and ultimately the victory.
 
Mistakes and poor judgment put Fairmont in that tough situation at the end of the game. With 5:30 remaining and facing a fourth-and-18 from the Fairmont 28, NDC quarterback Chris Brimm attempted a throw to the end zone. The throw was short and could have easily been batted down by Fairmont State junior cornerback Michael Porter. Porter, however, made a poor decision and made a diving interception of the ball giving his team possession at it own one yard line instead of its own 28.
 
After grinding out one first down Fairmont was faced with a third-and-two situation from its own 20 with 2:45 remaining. The Falcons, however, couldn't convert when they needed to as running back Rakeem Darden was thrown for a three-yard loss by Notre Dame's defense forcing a Fairmont punt attempt.
 
The punt attempt, though, never took place. Fairmont State punter Sam Tucker, who averaged 47.8 yards on four punt attempts in the game, dropped the snap, had trouble regaining control of it and was swarmed under by Notre Dame players at his own five-yard line setting the stage for NDC's game-winning series.
 
"This loss was a tough one," Fairmont head coach Jason Woodman said. "It hurts. We had a chance to win it at the end, but we just made too many mistakes. You can't do some of the things we did and expect to win against a good team.
 
"Give Notre Dame credit. They made the plays they needed to, to win and we didn't."
 
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In Fairmont State's two losses this season penalties have proved to be costly. In a 23-17 setback to Charleston two weeks ago the Falcons were flagged 15 times for 119 yards and in the loss to Notre Dame Thursday Fairmont State was penalized 13 times for 98 yards.
 
This season Fairmont State has been penalized well over twice as much as its opponents. The Falcons have been flagged 58 times for 458 yards – an average of 76.3 yards per game. Fairmont's opponents have been penalized just 24 times for 239 yards – an average of just 39.8 yards per game.
 
"We cannot continue to shoot ourselves in the foot with stupid penalties," Woodman said. "That's something we need to get control of. We'll address that this week in practice. It's gut-check time this week for us."
 
Fairmont State is on pace to have 106 penalties for the season. That would be the second-most for the team since Woodman took over as head coach in 2013. Fairmont's 10-2 NCAA Division II playoff team suffered 113 penalties.
 
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Notre Dame true freshman running back Jaleel McLaughlin came into Thursday's game leading the nation in rushing with an average of 213.6 yards per outing. McLaughlin had 1,068 yards on 115 carries and averaged 9.3 yards per carry.
 
Against Fairmont State he finished with 194 yards and two touchdowns on a season-high 41 carries. Fairmont held McLaughlin to a season-low 4.7 yards per carry and his longest run of the game was 19 yards.
 
"All-in-all I thought our defense did a pretty good job on him," Woodman said. "He's good. When you carry the ball as many times as he did you're going to get some yardage, but for the most part I think we accounted for him and didn't let him hurt us with really big runs."
 
McLaughlin continues to lead NCAA Division II in rushing with 1,262 yards and 11 touchdowns on 156 carries. His 1,262 rushing yards this fall is already the fifth most in Mountain East Conference history and it sets a new MEC record for rushing yards by a freshman breaking the old mark of 1,217 set by Shepherd University's Brandon Hlavach in 2016.
 
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Fairmont State sophomore running back Khalik Hamlin ran for 85 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries in the loss to Notre Dame.
 
For the season Hamlin is currently sixth in the nation in NCAA Division II in rushing with 711 yards and five touchdowns on 119 carries.
 
Hamlin is averaging 118.5 yards per game and 6.0 yards per carry.
 
Falcon quarterback Takwan Crews-Naylor has completed 93-of-151 passes for 1,385 yards and 12 touchdowns. He's been intercepted four times.
 
Fairmont's receiving leaders are Shawn Harris, who has 28 catches for 456 yards and two TDs, Javon Hayes, who has 28 receptions for 373 yards and six touchdowns, Alquawn Vickers who has 18 catches for 264 yards and two scores and Aaron Lewis, who has 12 receptions for 230 yards and one touchdown. Lewis' TD catch was a 40-yarder from Crews-Naylor which gave the Falcons a 21-17 lead over Notre Dame Thursday night with 9:03 left in the fourth quarter. It was the junior transfer from New Hampshire's first touchdown reception at Fairmont State.
 
Senior linebackers Jerry Iweh and Antonio Harris continue to lead Fairmont State's defense with 48 and 46 tackles respectively. Senior safety Stephen Turner is third with 38 tackles, junior linebacker Trevon Shorts is fourth with 32 stops and senior defensive tackle Josh Ballard is fifth with 31 tackles.
 
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Fairmont State will face another significant test Saturday, Oct. 13 when it pays its final visit for now to Ram Stadium for a big Mountain East Conference battle with Shepherd University at noon.
 
Shepherd, which is leaving the MEC after this school year to join the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, is currently 4-1 both overall and in the league. The Rams are alone in second place in the MEC standings behind Notre Dame. Shepherd's lone loss this season was a week one, 35-33, setback against Notre Dame on the road.
 
Shepherd leads the all-time series with Fairmont State 36-32-7. The Rams have dominated the series between the two schools in recent years winning nine straight. Fairmont's last win against Shepherd was a 46-42 victory at Ram Stadium back in 2008. That win halted a seven-game winning streak in the series by the Rams.
 
Since the fall of 2000, Shepherd is 15-3 against Fairmont State. All three of Fairmont's wins in the series during that span have come in Shepherdstown.
 
The Rams are led by standout true freshman quarterback Tyson Bagent, who led Martinsburg High School to pair of Class AAA state championships and claimed both the Gatorade Player of the Year and House Award, which goes to the state's top quarterback last fall.
 
Bagent is among the national leaders in NCAA Division II in both passing yards and touchdown passes. He's completed 133-of-204 passes for 1,831 yards and 16 touchdowns. He's also thrown just five interceptions.
 
His favorite target is senior receiver Ryan Feiss, who has 48 catches for 590 yards and five touchdowns. Four different Shepherd receivers have 12 or more receptions this fall and three of those four have five touchdown catches.
 
For the first time since 1986 someone besides Monte Cater is the head coach at Shepherd. Cater, who coached at Shepherd from 1987-2017, compiled a 245-93-1 record at the school (.724). His teams won 17 conference championships and made 13 postseason appearances. He had six teams finish undefeated during the regular season and his 2015 squad played for the NCAA Division II National Championship losing to Northwest Missouri State University.
 
Shepherd is under the direction now of longtime Rams assistant coach Ernie McCook, who was with the program for 18 years prior to taking over in January as head coach. McCook served as both the team's offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in the past.