The Rams’ C.J. Davis took the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the game giving Shepherd a 7-0 lead before the other team’s offense touched the field.
Rams offense takes the field early after a kick return touchdown.
“Our players are always ready to play, which I think was shown on the opening kickoff,” head coach Monte Cater said.
The Eagles answered on their first drive of the game when Jeremy Johnson hit Joey Augustin from 24 yards out. The Eagles missed the two-point conversion leaving them behind 7 to 6.
The Rams marched 73 yards on their first drive of the game capping it off with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Ziemba to Tony Squirewell, giving Shepherd the lead 14 to 7. The Eagles’ Brett Benes added a field goal to end the first half with a score of 14 to 9 in favor of the Rams.
Shepherd once again opened the quarter scoring first and quickly, at the 14:27 mark in the second quarter. Ziemba found Lue Sokoya in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown giving the Rams a 21-9 lead. A 40-yard field goal by Ryan Earles the next drive gave Shepherd a 24-9 lead.
The Eagles lone score of the second quarter came at the 7:49 mark when Johnson rushed one in from 22 yards out. Ziemba and Squirewell hooked up for the second time in the half 2 minutes before halftime sending both teams to the locker room with the Rams up 31-15.
The third quarter saw only one score, which came at the 7-minute mark when Ziemba hit Billy Brown for a 40-yard touchdown giving Shepherd the lead 38-15 going into the final quarter of play.
Billy Brown, #81, goes for the touchdown bringing the score to 38-15, Rams.
The Eagles struck first in the fourth quarter when Mason Olszewski punched one in from four yards out to make the score 38 to 22. Allen Cross’s four yard touchdown was the nail in the final score for the Rams at the 7:30 mark in the fourth quarter stretching the Rams’ lead 45 to 22. The Eagles added a late field goal, but it was too little too late as the rams improved to 2-0 on the season
“The Rams Defense played a big role in the game intercepting four passes on the day. It was a great day for our secondary and they seemed to cause a turnover every time we needed one,” Cater said after the game.
Rams quarterback Ziemba finished the day with 219 yards and four touchdowns, his favorite target for the second strait week was Billy Brown who finished with another 100-plus yard day receiving.
Allen Cross and Jabre Lolley led the Rams in rushing recording 138 of the Rams 157 rushing yards on the day.