SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – Nationally-ranked Shepherd scored on its first two possessions and an injury-riddled West Liberty team couldn’t recover as the unbeaten and No. 6-ranked Rams cruised to a 44-10 victory on Saturday afternoon at Ram Stadium.
Shepherd (8-0, 8-0) rushed for a season-high 223 yards and added 289 more through the air while holding the Hilltoppers (4-5, 4-4) to a season-low 191 yards of total offense in an extremely physical contest that saw several players from both sides helped or carted off the field due to injury.
The Rams needed less than two minutes to put the game’s first points on the board as the hosts took the opening kickoff and sprinted 59 yards in just four plays. TB Allen Cross darted into the end zone from 4 yards out with 13:10 still showing on the first quarter clock.
West Liberty picked up a couple of first downs and a 56-yard punt off the foot of Christian Morris pinned the Rams inside their own 5-yard-line.
Shepherd QB Jeff Ziemba orchestrated another quick touchdown march, capping the 6-play, 96-yard drive with a 40-yard TD pass to Dalton Boyd for a 14-0 Ram lead midway through the first quarter.
The Hilltoppers answered with a 28-yard field goal by Morris but Ryan Earls countered with a 33-yard Shepherd field goal and the hosts opened the second quarter with an 11-yard TD pass from Ziemba to All-MEC wideout Billy Brown for a 24-3 lead.
The Rams put the game out of reach just before intermission when they blocked a West Liberty punt and recovered it at the WLU 10, setting up a 9-yard scoring run by Ziemba to send the hosts into the locker room with a 31-3 lead.
The Hilltoppers opened the second half with their best drive of the day, a 75-yard, 6-play surge that ended with QB Dakota Conwell finding WR Daree Goodwin down the left sideline for a 24-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 31-10.
However West Liberty could not find the end zone again and Shepherd tacked on two more rushing touchdowns to end the scoring.
Conwell completed 14-of-27 passes for 126 yards and a TD but was picked off three times. He also led the WLU rushing attack with 27 yards on 13 carries. Jeremiah Ortiz added 26 rushing yards on 9 attempts. Goodwin had 5 catches for 46 yards to pace the receiving corps while LB Garrett Vulcano led the defense with 8 tackles and 2 tackles-for-loss
The Rams’ Ziemba completed 17-of-25 passes for 289 yards and 2 TDs with one interception. Brown led all receivers with 145 yards on 8 catches while TB Jabre Lolley posted his first 100-yard rushing game of the season with 18 carries for 119 yards.
The Hilltoppers have a short week to recover as they host Glenville State on Thursday night in the final home game of the season. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at West Family Stadium.
