Shepherd University Athletics

EIGHTH-RANKED SHEPHERD CAPS 11-0 REGULAR SEASON WITH 51-10 WIN OVER STATE

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W. Va. -- Shepherd University put an exclamation point on a perfect 11-0 regular season with a 51-10 win over West Virginia State in WVIAC football action at Ram Stadium on Saturday. The Rams, WVIAC champions for the second straight season, complete the regular season undefeated for the first time since the 1955 team finished at 8-0-0.

The Rams opened the scoring at the 13:55 mark of the first quarter when redshirt-freshman Craig Tremel (Lilly, PA/Penn Cambria HS) scored on a 13-yard run to give the Rams a 7-0 lead.

Shepherd extended its lead to 10-0 when junior kicker/punter Ricky Schmitt (Virginia Beach, VA/Salem HS) connected on a 37-yard field goal with 10:06 left in the first quarter.

West Virginia State cut the lead to 10-3 when Adam Blasquez nailed a 29-yard field goal with 3:10 remaining in th first quarter.

Junior quarterback Dan Chlebowski (Greencastle, PA/Greencastle-Antrim HS), who completed 13-of-16 passes for 131 yards, teamed with Tremel on a nine-yard scoring pass with 13:10 left in the second quarter to up the Rams lead to 17-3.

The Yellow Jackets answered back minutes later on a seven-yard run by quarterback Kevin Ward to close the gap to 17-10.

Sophomore running back Dervon Wallace (Lusby, Md/Calvert HS/WV State), who rushed 19 times for a 108 yards, scored on a 32-yard scamper with 6:56 left in the second quarter to extend the Ram lead to 24-10.

Redshirt-freshman running back C.J. King (Columbia, MD/Oakland Mills HS) scored on a six-yard run with just over a minute to play in the half to give the Rams a 30-10 halftime advantage. A bad snap prevented the Rams from attempting the extra point.

The Rams added three second half touchdowns to put the game away.

Wallace scored on a three-yard run, King added a nine-yard scoring run, and junior linebacker Dante McKoy (Stafford, VA/North Stafford HS) recovered a State fumble in the end zone that was forced by senior linebacker Jeremy Bailey (Culpeper, VA/Culpeper HS).

Kevin Ward connected on 15-of-23 passes for 165 yards for the Yellow Jackets. Kenny Davis had five catches for 102 yards to lead the State receivers.

Junior linebacker Todd Edmondson (Finksburg, MD/ Westminster HS) led the Rams defense with nine tackles and a forced fumble. Derek Stotts had 12 tackles to lead the Yellow Jackets.

Shepherd moves to 11-0 on the year, 8-0 in WVIAC action, while West Virginia State falls to 2-9, 2-6. The Rams await word on Sunday of their status for the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

Notes: Shepherd extended its winning streak to 18 games dating back to last season. Shepherd's 11 wins in a season are the most in school history and the 11 consecutive wins are also a new single season mark. Dervon Wallace tied the WVIAC single season scoring record of 150 points set by Concord's Chris Hairston in 1992. Ram head coach Monte Cater became the first coach in WVIAC history to earn nine conference titles.

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