WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – No. 12-ranked Shepherd rode a dominating defense and a ball-control offense to a 38-13 victory against West Liberty Saturday afternoon in a mutual season opener at West Family Stadium.
The defending Mountain East Conference champions converted 10-of-11 third downs and held the ball for nearly 23 minutes in the first half alone in building a 24-0 lead at intermission. The Hilltoppers battled the visitors on nearly even terms the rest of the way but couldn’t cut into the double-digit margin.
“We were in position to make some big plays early on,” West Liberty head coach Roger Waialae said, “but we didn’t make them. Guys that normally don’t miss tackles missed some today and Shepherd just kept making plays and moving the sticks. We couldn’t get our defense off the field in the first half and there were too many times on offense where we just weren’t on the same page and missed opportunities to extend drives or make big plays.”
The Rams opened the scoring with 7-play, 53-yard drive capped by a 23-yard TD pass from Jeff Ziemba to Tony Squirewell but Hilltopper QB Dakota Conwell hit TE Daree Goodwin down the middle for a 65-yard gain on the very next snap. That set up a first down at the Shepherd 12 but the Rams’ C.J. Davis picked off Conwell’s third-down pass in the end zone to end the threat.
Shepherd followed with a 17-play drive that chewed nearly 9 minutes off the clock before settling for a 31-yard Ryan Earls field goal. West Liberty went 3-and-out but Davis – a first-team All-American – muffed a 50-yard punt by WLU’s Griffin Yocum and D’Andre Muhammad recovered for the hosts at the Ram 28.
The Hilltoppers couldn’t move the sticks, however, and Shepherd mounted another 8-minute march with Jabre Lolley dancing into the end zone for a 17-0 lead with 4:51 left in the half. The Rams made it 24-0 just before intermission when another Davis interception set up an 8-yard TD toss from Ziemba to William McKenzie.
After giving up 14 first downs and 280 yards of total offense in the first half, the West Liberty defense stiffened after intermission but a 55-yard punt return by Davis set up an 8-yard TD run by Lolley midway through the third quarter that pushed the margin to 31-0.
Waialae replaced Conwell with junior Dylan LaGarde midway through the third quarter and brought in redshirt freshman Dan Leonard to run the offense for the fourth quarter.
“I just thought the quarterbacks were starting to look at the pass rush instead of looking downfield,” Waialae said. “I didn’t want them to get in that habit. We need to get everybody on the same page and we have to execute better but it wasn’t all bad. We did some good things today, as well.”
Leonard hit a 40-yard pass to senior WR Brandon Schroeder early in the fourth quarter and a roughing the passer penalty moved the ball all the way to the Shepherd 11. The drive stalled, however, and Zach Musilli’s 32-yard field goal attempt twisted wide right.
The Hilltoppers got another chance when SS Andrew Faraimo stripped the ball out of Lolley’s hands on the very next snap, setting the West Liberty offense up with a first down at the Ram 23. Leonard kept this drive alive with a 14-yard pass to TB Jeremiah Ortiz on third-and-3 from the 16. Two plays later, WR Dylan Potts leaped high in the end zone to pull down a well-thrown fade route for WLU’s first points of the season.
Shepherd tacked on a late touchdown with a 3-yard run by Malik Harleston but Anton McCallum – a Shepherd transfer – gave the Hilltopper fans one final thrill when he returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown.
“Give Shepherd credit,” Waialae said. “Coach (Monte) Cater has a really good team and they played very well today but we’re a much better football team than what it says on the scoreboard. We have playmakers on offense and it’s my job to get them the ball in space where they can make things happen.”
West Liberty finished the day with 29 rushing yards on 21 attempts while the three signalcallers completed 13-of-30 passes for 143 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Potts had a game-high 6 catches for 7 net yards and a TD while Goodwin finished with two catches for 74 yards.
The Rams ran for 219 yards on 49 carries while Ziemba completed 17-of-25 passes for 204 yards and two TDs. Allen Cross led all rushers with 87 yards on 15 carries while Billy Brown had 81 receiving yards on three catches.
West Liberty travels to Glenville State next Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
