Next Game:
Fairmont State University
9/19/2026 | 1 PM
Sep. 19 (Sat) / 1 PM
Fairmont State University
Wheeling, W. Va. – On Saturday evening, the Wheeling University Football team (1-2, 0-0) were up against storms both on the field and with mother nature. The game would be delayed on three different occasions by lightning as the Cardinals welcomed in Lake Erie College in their final non-conference game of the 2026 season. Wheeling would strike first, but it wasn’t enough as the Cardinals fell 23-7, dropping to 1-2 on the season ahead of next week’s conference opener.
The start of the game was delayed 45 minutes due to storms in the area and, when the teams took the field, Wheeling would be the ones to get the ball first. Solo Love put the Cardinals in good field position at their own 35, and Landon Lutz and the offense moved the ball down field. Lutz and Love would connect on a 12 yard strike to avoid a three-and-out early in the drive, and three plays later, the Cardinals were set up with first and 10 on the Storm 23-yard line. Lutz would drop back and floated a pass to the corner of the endzone, where Jordan Kaiser was waiting to make the grab and give the Cardinals the early lead. Conor Fitzpatrick would come on and send the ball through the uprights as Wheeling jumped out to an early 7-0 lead. It was the first first-half score of the season for the Cardinals, but Lake Erie was able to put together a response of their own on their first drive.
Lake Erie would get the ball at their own 40-yard line and, like Wheeling, was able to move the ball down the field early. They would drive down to the Wheeling eight-yard line, before Storm quarterback Hunter Newell would find Tyleik Maxwell in the endzone to tie the game at 7-7. The two drives combined would take just over 12 minutes off the clock and as the quarter came to an end, the score sat tied at 7-7. As the teams started the second quarter, another lightning strike would send the game into its first in-game lightning delay. Both teams would head back to the locker room for the required 30 minutes, and when they came back out, Lake Erie would get momentum on their side. After the defense forced a Cardinal three-and-out, the Lake Erie offense would drive 73 yards, before kicker Josh Valero came in for the field goal attempt. He would split the uprights from 45-yards out and Lake Erie was staked to a 10-7 lead.
With two in-game lightning delays in the first half, the teams agreed to a five-minute halftime, and Lake Erie would add on to start the third quarter. Curtis Thomas would take the half’s opening kick-off back 100 yards and a missed extra point would bring the score to 16-7. The Cardinals would be held to a three-and-out on their opening drive, and Lake Erie would get on the board for the second time in the quarter as Hakeem Quran plunged in from one yard out for the score. It made it a 23-7 lead and the Cardinal offense would have trouble getting things going, not crossing the 50-yard line until the final play of the third quarter on a Lake Erie Unsportsmanlike Conduct Penalty, and the score would remain 23-7 in favor of Lake Erie as the game reached its final 15 minutes. Wheeling started the four quarter with the ball on the Lake Erie 21-yard line, and would call on Fitzpatrick to attempt the 37-yard field goal.
Unfortunately, the kick would sail wide right and the Cardinals defense would have to come up with a big stop. They would do their part, holding Lake Erie off the board in the final quarter, and not allowing them past the 50 on two of their three drives in the quarter. The Cardinals would have two more pushes for the endzone, getting down inside the Lake Erie 40-yard line on both drives. On their first drive of the quarter, the Cardinals would get down to the Storm 35-yard line, before a fumble would go to Lake Erie. Their biggest push came on their final drive, when they moved the ball down to the Lake Erie 10-yard line, with a 19-yard pass from Lutz to Manny Ortega-Garcia being the big blow on the drive. However, the game would end on a Storm interception at the five-yard line, as the Cardinals fell 23-7.
Leading the effort for the Cardinals was Landon Lutz, who finished 26-42, throwing for 213 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. It was the third straight game that Lutz eclipsed the 200-yard passing mark, as he continues to grow on his program record for passing yards. His top target was Colin Oberdick, who pulled in seven catches for 60 yards, while Jordan Kaiser had the lone receiving touchdown with one catch for 23-yards. Ayden McKinstry led the ground game carrying the ball five times for 23 yards, while Lutz carried the ball 14 times for 18 yards. On the defensive side, Jalen Higginbotham had a big day in the middle, finishing with 15.0 tackles, seven solo and eight assisted, putting him just three tackles shy of the single game record.
The Wheeling University Football team returns to action on Saturday, September 19, when they host Fairmont State with kick-off at 1 PM.