Gil Pound/The Union-Recorder

Huntington, W.V. — Missed opportunities and turnovers marred the GMC Bulldogs’ (9-2) to defeat the unbeaten Lackawanna Falcons (10-0) in their neutral site meeting held at Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards Stadium on Sunday.

The loss knocks the Dogs down five spots to no. 15 in the NJCAA rankings and is the first such outcome since the team’s season opener against Navarro. The Falcons gained a spot to no. 7 in the poll with the victory.

“It ended up really being a tale of two halves,” said GMC head coach Bert Williams. “We played generally pretty well in the first half offensively. We moved the ball well and put a good number of points on the board; we had 28 at the half.”

The Dogs jumped out to a 7-0 lead halfway through the first quarter as quarterback Cam Rosendahl found top target Isaac Zico for a 28-yard score to put GMC ahead. Both the signal caller and team-leading wide receiver put together a couple of strong performances as Rosendahl went 18-27 for 350 yards and three touchdowns. Zico accounted for well over half of the passing output as he caught nine balls for 216 yards and two scores in the loss. A shoulder injury would force Rosendahl out of the game late in the third quarter.

GMC carried a 28-21 lead heading into the break, but that lead could have been larger as a pair of costly fumbles gave the Falcons short fields with which to work. The two turnovers led to 14 points for Lackawanna, allowing them to only be within seven points at the half.

“It kind of felt like without those mistakes we could have had a little bit more substantive lead, but generally we were feeling pretty good,” Williams said. “Coming out in the second half, we continued to move the ball offensively but we missed two scoring opportunities right off the bat in the third.”

An inability to finish drives coupled with more turnovers allowed to the higher-ranked Falcons to take complete control in the second half and put 26 points on the board to the Dogs’ zero.

“Our defense just simply did a poor job of executing, which they had been doing a pretty good job of in the first half,” said the head coach. “[The defense] allowed Lackawanna to score on the first three possessions on 80-, 68-, and an 82-yard drive, something I don’t think we’ve done all year. Poor execution on the blitz calls, fitting our gaps, and being where we’re supposed to be as well as some missed tackling let them score three straight times which kind of flipped the game around a little bit.”

Williams added that the offense was still able to move the ball once Garrel Quainton took over at quarterback, but had a hard time finishing drives with points.

“We didn’t put points up, and we didn’t keep them from getting points so it really goes both ways,” Williams said.

The GMC football team is awaiting information regarding a possible postseason bowl bid, which would be a good ending to another very successful season for the Bulldogs.