FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The Fairmont State (5-1, 3-1 Mountain East Conference) football team forced seven turnovers, recorded eight sacks and outgained Concord (0-6, 0-5 MEC) 231-22 yards on the ground en route to a convincing 42-9 win on Thursday (Oct. 5) night at Duvall-Rosier Field.
 
Isaiah Powell-Major made school history after returning a 97-yard interception for a touchdown, which broke a record set in 1984 by Vince Mitchell. Powell-Major added his second interception of the evening in the second quarter and also forced a fumble. The redshirt sophomore from Glen Burnie, Md. made plays all over the field for the Fairmont State defense and racked up a forced fumble, two breakups, a tackle for a loss and four total tackles.
 
"Our coaches put us in the right position to make plays," said Powell-Major. "Our defensive line was applying pressure on the quarterback all night long and we were able to capitalize with some interceptions."
 
The Falcons defense forced Concord into seven turnovers, which included a trio of interceptions, a forced fumble and three turnover on downs. Sam Fairley picked up his first interception as a Falcon in the second quarter while Eltayeb Bushra forced a fumble that was recovered by Matt Pack. Fairmont State applied pressure on the Mountain Lions all night long, setting a season-high eight sacks.
 
Offensively, the Falcons established the run game and gashed the Mountain Lions defense for 231 rushing yards. LeJay Hatcher led all rushers with 110 yards on 11 carries. Hatcher averaged an impressive 10.0 yards/carry. Donovan Washington rushed for a pair of touchdowns, while Leonard Farrow and Michael Floria both produced rushing touchdowns. Floria completed six passes for 89 yards and a score on a six-yard pitch-and-catch to wideout Kobe Harris.
 
The Falcons got right to work and assembled a 10-play, 70-yard scoring drive that concluded with a Washington five-yard touchdown rush. Concord threatened to score and managed to organize a drive that included three plays in the red zone. On 3^rd and 8 Powell-Major jumped a CU pass and sprinted 97-yards for the longest interception return in school history to put the Falcons up 14-0. Concord regrouped and cut the Falcons' lead to seven with a Jack Mangel 47-yard touchdown pass to Jake Roberts. On the following drive, Floria completed a pass to Harris for 37-yards to set the Falcons up in Concord territory. A Hatcher 33-yard rush gave the Falcons 1^st and goal. The drive ended with a Fairmont State touchdown when Floria found Harris for a six-yard score to push the Falcons' lead to 14 points at the end of the first quarter.
 
Concord faced a 4^th & 1 in their first drive of the second quarter. The Fairmont State defense stood tall and stifled the Mountain Lions to force a turnover on downs. The Falcons forced another CU turnover when Powell-Major intercepted his second pass of the night that ended a Concord scoring opportunity. Fairley picked off the third pass of the half for Fairmont State with under five minutes to go in the second quarter. Washington rumbled into the end zone for a two-yard rush and extended the Fairmont State lead to 28-7 before the end of the first half.
 
The Fairmont State defense forced their fifth turnover of the game when Bushra ripped the football out of the ball carrier's arms and Pack recovered the fumble to flip possession to the Falcons. Floria found a hole on the left side of the field and tip-toed the sideline and into the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown scramble and padded the Falcons' lead to 35-7. In the fourth quarter, CU scored first with a safety by Kevin Howard and added two points to the Mountain Lions' total. Donovan O'Malley forced a Concord turnover on downs with a 14-yard sack. The Falcons utilized the favorable field position and Farrow broke open a 36-yard rush for a score to push the FSU lead to 42-9. Josh Alt, Nemo Roberts and Kylyn Macklin added sacks down the stretch for the Falcons and Fairmont State completed the wire-to-wire win over the Mountain Lions.
 
The Falcons increase their winning streak to three games and will prepare for a road test at UNC Pembroke next Saturday (Oct. 14). Kickoff from North Carolina is set for noon.