BY MATTHEW CRAWFORD
(THE PICKET) — There are 168 division two college football teams in the country, the first seed Shepherd Rams and second seed Slippery Rock are two of the remaining eight teams, and will face off Saturday at noon in Shepherdstown.
Both teams come into Saturday’s game after narrowly winning in the second round of the playoffs.
“We are ready to play but we know that with every win the pressure gets bigger so we need to step up out game even more,” said defensive tackle James King
The Rams beat Indiana University of Pennsylvania 17-13 on a late touchdown pass from Jeff Ziemba to Billy Brown. With the offense struggling in the game, having a season low 264 yards of total offense, the defense played a huge role keeping the score close enough for a late game comeback.
“Our guys played great and really stepped up to the challenge, said defensive coordinator Josh Kline.
Slippery Rock comes in after a shootout 42-39 victory over Assumption in round two, and a one sided 34-9 victory over East Stroudsburg in round one. Slippery Rock is averaging an amazing 506 yards of offense in their two previous playoff games. The defense, however, is having trouble stopping opposing offenses giving up a average 450 yards in their two previous playoff games.
The Rams look to spark their offense, keep up their defensive consistency and earn a trip to the division two college football Final Four.