WEST LIBERTY’S Sam Cirksena (50) tackles an Alderson-Broaddus ballcarrier during Thursday night’s game at West Family Stadium.

WEST LIBERTY — West Liberty cornerback Shon Stephens sent a very clear message to every quarterback that will face the Hilltoppers the remainder of the season — do not throw at his side of the field.

Alderson-Broaddus learned that lesson the hard way Thursday night at West Family Stadium as Stephens picked off four passes in a 30-17 WLU win, including two in the endzone and another that went for a pick-six. Include his two picks from week one — one of which was another pick-six — and Stephens is up to six interceptions and two defensive touchdowns in just eight quarters of play.

“The impact that he’s made two games in a row, unfortunately for him, they’re just going to throw away from him because he reads (routes) so well,” WLU coach Roger Waialae said.

West Liberty starts the season with a 2-0 record for the first time since 2007.

With Stephens and the defense doing an admirable job of keeping the Battlers (0-2) off the scoreboard, backup quarterback Rudy Garcia led three straight touchdown drives to start the second half that put the Hilltoppers over the top.

“I thought we hung together as a team and played off each other,” Waialae said. “Obviously, offensively we don’t want to turn the ball over that much, but defensively we want the turnovers. My feeling after the game was that we had each others’ backs…It’s a great team win.”

AB led 10-3 at halftime thanks to a field goal by Linsly product Joao Lima and a touchdown run by O’Marion Taylor.

WLU starting quarterback Jamie Diven went down with a knee injury late in the second quarter and came out of halftime on crutches, leaving Garcia to try and engineer the comeback attempt.

The junior wasted no time doing just that after the break, leading three impressive touchdown drives to reclaim the lead.

“We just executed,” Waialae said. “We didn’t run anything different than we had in the first half. Sometimes guys try to do too much and we just needed to stay in the flow of the game, stay in the flow of the offense and make our plays. That’s what we were able to do starting in the third quarter.”

Garcia first hit St. Clairsville grad Craig Bober on a wheel route for a 38-yard touchdown pass, then evaded basically the entire AB defense on the next drive during a 24-yard scoring run and finally completed a four-yard fade to RayQuin Glover in the back of the endzone that put WLU ahead 23-10.

“We had a rough first half so they had a lot of momentum,” Garcia said. “They were running a lot of man coverage. I feel we have really good receivers so if they go man against us, I feel like we can win.

“We just got into a rhythm in that third quarter.”

The game was far from over, however.

The Battlers scored on a 26-yard pass with 3:21 remaining in the game to pull within one score, 23-17. WLU running back Quincey Wimbish fumbled away the ball on the following possession, setting AB up at WLU’s 25-yard line with the chance to pull ahead with a touchdown and an extra point.

On the first play of the drive, AB took a shot to the endzone, where Stephens was in one-on-one coverage with a receiver. Stephens was able to box out the intended target and snag the leaping interception, his third of the game at that time.

“I’m on the wide side of the field so I’m expecting it thrown my way,” Stephens explained. “I was reading it and I knew it was coming to me so I just bailed out and waited for him to throw it.”

WLU then went three-and-out and punted the ball back to the Battlers with over a minute to play. That’s when Stephens collected his fourth pick of the night, jumping on an out-route and running 48 yards to the endzone for the 30-17 final score.

“I was reading (the route) all game and I was eventually going to break on that,” Stephens said. “I broke on it with perfect timing, it hit off (the receiver) and I was able to grab it. It was just perfect timing honestly.”

Part of Stephens’ success picking off passes comes from how aggressive he is at jumping routes. There is, of course, the risk that could backfire and lead to a big play for the offense, but Waialae said the team is willing to live with that risk, especially when it has already paid off so much this season.

“He watches film, he reads routes, he understands the game,” Waialae said. “Sometimes he’ll blow coverages in practice because he’s so aggressive and reads things so well.

“I’m sure he understands the consequences of, if you’re going to play that risky, you’re going to get caught. But we’ll take it as a team. It’s no different than offensively turning over the ball, it’s just another play in the game we have to overcome.”

Garcia finished 11-of-15 passing for 122 yards and two touchdowns. His rushing touchdown meant he was responsible for all three of WLU’s offensive scores.

“I always come in acting like I’m the starter and I prepare like I’m the starter,” Garcia said. “When the opportunity presents itself, I’ll be ready.

“I had a good week of practice and I just knew that when my opportunity was there I had to take advantage of it.”

Diven had thrown for 110 yards prior to his injury. Wimbish ran for 89 yards to lead the team in rushing. T.J. Griffin, Jerome Harris, Titus Goldson and Bober all finished with over 40 receiving yards in the Hilltoppers’ balanced air attack.

Edwin Linares-Rivera rolled up three sacks on defense while J’Aire Pritchett and Jason Mitchell also picked off passes, giving the Hilltoppers six total interceptions in the game.

West Liberty will look to continue its perfect start to the season with a trip to South Euclid, Ohio to take on powerful Notre Dame College next Saturday.