As the clock ticked to zero with West Virginia State's football team clinging to a three-point lead over Glenville State, the Pioneers offense staged one final push. Yard by yard, it clawed closer to the Yellow Jackets' red zone.
In the face of that last volley, State's defenders said their chests never got tight. Instead, they repeated the same phrase, again and again.
"Whatever it takes," linebacker Dennis Gardeck said.
What it took was the last of State's five fourth-down stops to end the Pioneers' rally and win 24-21 on Saturday at Lakin Field. That victory allowed the Yellow Jackets (5-3, 5-3 Mountain East Conference) to move into third place in the league standings.
The Pioneers (5-3, 4-3) converted two fourth downs earlier in that final drive to keep it alive. Running back Tevin Drake burst for 12 yards on fourth-and-1 at Glenville's 48, then quarterback Sean Steele scrambled for 6 yards on fourth-and-5 from the State 35, diving toward the stick for the necessary yards.
But State kept Glenville from that last, most crucial fourth-down conversion. On fourth-and-4 from the State 23, Wesley Sackey-Rush stepped in to break up a Steele throw to Ralph Gordon and allow the Yellow Jackets to kneel out the clock with 23 seconds left.
Glenville entered the game scoring 42.4 points per game, and State held the Pioneers to less than half that. They also were averaging 502 yards and the Yellow Jackets held them to 378.
"I think it's a coming-together point for that defense," State coach Jon Anderson said. "They've had some things - last week's field position and letting [Shepherd] score some points against them - they've had some things that, statistically, haven't allowed them to look good. But they are.
"If you look at them on film, they're coming together. We're seeing them continue to improve as the season goes on."
Both the Yellow Jackets and Pioneers played Saturday's game without some key offensive weapons. WVSU was without running back Tyrone Barber (leg injury), who leads State with nine rushing touchdowns, and receiver Quinton Gray (concussion), who averages 118 receiving yards per game. Glenville was without running back Rahmann Lee (ankle), who rushed for an MEC-record 412 yards against West Virginia Wesleyan earlier this season.
Still, both offenses had their bright spots. State zipped out to leads of 14-0 and 21-7 on the back of a strong first half by quarterback Matt Kinnick. He threw for 130 yards and touchdowns to Joseph Morris and Tyrell Henderson on 11-of-17 passing in the first two quarters.
"We just pride ourselves in coming out ready to play every day," Kinnick said. "We knew we had to come out firing. We knew if we let what happened at [Virginia-Wise, falling behind 28-0] happen again, we knew when we played Glenville we couldn't let 28 points get on the board."
The Pioneers then started to come back, cutting State's lead to 21-14 with 4:32 left in the second on Steele's 19-yard touchdown to Quin Thornton, then tying the game with a 5-yard Drake touchdown run with 10:33 left in the third. The Yellow Jackets suffered some self-inflicted wounds in the process - two lost fumbles and an interception and 112 yards in penalties.
But Glenville's mistakes - a lost fumble, two interceptions and 95 yards in penalties - kept the Pioneers from taking a lead.
"The biggest thing was trying to confuse the quarterback on where to throw the football," State defensive coordinator Nick Benedetto said. "Our players did a great job of disguising things and stemming around, and where there was a big play to be made, they made it."
State's winning points came on a 36-yard Anthony Herrera field goal with 5:25 left in the third.
Kinnick finished the game with 188 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 18-of-30 passing, while Gardeck finished with 13 tackles and two sacks and linebacker Jesse Umeh and Mitch Rowell each intercepted a pass.
Steele finished with 253 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions on 25-of-47 passing, Dante Absher caught nine passes for 98 yards and Drake ran for 133 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries.
State's signature win, the biggest since Anderson's arrival in 2012, came in part from a change in attitude, Umeh said. It has evolved from a hope to win to an expectation to win.
"It's a confidence in each one of our teammates and in the coaches and trusting the scheme," he said. "The scheme has always been good. Now we have the players and the confidence and ability to trust it and do what we need to do."