The Shepherd University Rams got back on the winning track, knocking off rival Glenville State 37-14.
The Rams are now 4-0 at home on the season while outscoring opponents 200-21 and have now won 14 straight homecoming games at Shepherd.
“I was really happy with the game,” said Head Coach Monte Cater, “we played with a lot of enthusiasm and met the challenge.” Coach Cater also remarked that with the time off, the team got back to fundamentals and that they played with great effort.
The Pioneers scored on their opening possession but were unable to produce anything after that against Shepherd’s defense. Senior outside linebacker De’Ontre Johnson and redshirt-freshman outside linebacker James Gupton both recorded interceptions returned for touchdowns and multiple Rams constantly found ways to get into the backfield, breaking up pass attempts behind the line of scrimmage and stopping the run.
“My assignment was to drop to the middle of the field,” said Johnson after the game, “the read came at the last minute and I picked it off.”
Glenville State running back Rahmann Lee, who rushed for 148 yards against Shepherd last year, was contained to 65 yards on the ground in this year’s matchup. A big reason for that was the game planning going into the week. “We knew we’d have to stop him and we did well,” said Coach Cater.
On the offensive side of the ball, sophomore quarterback Jeff Ziemba threw for 197 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. The interception was his first on the season. Both of the passing touchdowns went to sophomore wide receiver Billy Brown, who ended the game with four receptions and 92 yards.
Brown’s second touchdown might have been the play of the game. Brown caught the pass and was hit by a tackler; however, Brown landed on top of him, so he never touched the ground. He got back up and sprinted for the end zone, capping off the 68-yard touchdown.
“The play was an X twist,” said Brown following the game, “it just happened so fast.” Brown credited two key blocks down the field that helped him get to the end zone and said that he would not have gotten there if it weren’t for them.
Junior running back Allen Cross recorded the Rams’ other touchdown in the game. It came on a 12-yard on the first drive of the second half. Cross ended the game with 67 yards on 13 attempts.
Despite the loss to Notre Dame, the team is still in contention to make the playoffs, but they must win out in order to make it. Next week, the Rams will travel to West Virginia State University to face the 2-7 Yellow jackets.
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