No. 3 Shepherd Outlasts Hilltoppers

Football | 10/29/2016 6:06:00 PM

Box Score WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Unbeaten and No. 3-ranked Shepherd needed a twisting, turning 19-yard touchdown run from Brandon Hlavach with just 1:29 remaining Saturday to seal a 38-27 comeback victory against upset-minded West Liberty at West Family Stadium.
In a see-saw affair that saw the lead change hands on six different occasions, Coach Roger Waialae's Hilltoppers (3-6, 3-5) had pulled within striking distance, 31-27, with 7:53 left to play when QB Dakota Conwell capped a 75-yard, 17-play scoring march with a 4-yard touchdown strike to WR Dan Monteroso.
The WLU defense forced the Rams (8-0, 8-0) to punt and Conwell led another drive into Shepherd territory only to turn the ball over on downs with 4:44 remaining.
Shepherd head coach Monte Cater rolled the dice on 4th-and-7 from the West Liberty 36 with 3:11 to go and senior QB Jeff Ziemba made it pay off with a 25-yard pass to WR Ryan Feiss for a first down at the 11. The Hilltopper defense pushed the Rams back to the 19 only to see Hlavach bounce off two would-be tacklers on 3rd-and-18 and sprint into the end zone for the game-clinching score.
"I really feel for my guys," Waialae said. "They played their butts off against the No. 3 team in the country and had to walk away with nothing to show for it. The bottom line is we didn't win the game but I'm proud of the way we battled and fought for 60 minutes against a really good football team that has a chance to win a national championship."
Conwell completed 26-of-53 passes for 226 yards and a pair of touchdowns with no interceptions while leading a Hilltopper offense that put together several extended drives against the top defense in the MEC. West Liberty converted 9-of-22 third down snaps and was 4-for-6 on fourth down conversions while running off a staggering 94 offensive snaps. The Hilltoppers held the ball for 9 or more plays on six of their 11 possessions.
"Dakota was just unbelievable," Waialae said. "As banged up as he is physically, he just has the ability to put the team on his shoulders, make plays and extend possessions. He was calling most of the plays down the stretch and really did a great job of spreading the ball around and keeping us two-dimensional with the run and the pass."
Shepherd drew first blood with a 22-yard TD pass from Ziemba to All-American WR Billy Brown on the game's opening possession but WLU answered with a 35-yard Christian Morris field goal and a 27-yard TD pass from Conwell to Monteroso after Hilltopper DE Zach Barnes came up with his fifth fumble recovery of the season – tops in the nation.
Ziemba put the Rams back on top, 14-10, with a 3-yard TD run to cap an 8-play, 76-yard scoring drive at 3:11 of the first quarter but defense dominated the second quarter.
The teams traded punts for most of the period before West Liberty mounted a late surge with TB Jeremiah Ortiz muscling his way into the end zone from 6 yards out for a 16-14 lead just 59 seconds before the half. Helped by a penalty on the kickoff, Shepherd got a 39-yard field goal from Zach Wise as time expired for a 17-16 halftime lead.
The Hilltoppers went back on top, 19-17, midway through the third quarter with a 21-yard field goal by Morris but the Rams answered with a 4-yard scoring toss to Brown in the final minute of the period for a 24-19 lead. A 41-yard pass from Ziemba to C.J. Davis flipped the field in the opening minute of the fourth quarter and Ziemba squeezed in from a yard out to make it 31-19 with 12:46 to go.
West Liberty struck back with its longest possession of the game, keeping the 17-play drive alive with three third-down conversions and a pair of fourth-down conversions – including the 4-yard TD pass from Conwell to Monteroso – only to see Hlavach's late TD run end the upset bid.
Conwell spread the ball around among nine receivers to rack up his 226 passing yards while adding 55 rushing yards on 15 carries as the Hilltoppers finished with 345 yards of total offense and 25 first downs – the most allowed by Shepherd all season. Monteroso was WLU's leading receiver with 68 yards and two touchdowns on 7 catches while Osman Kargbo added 5 catches for 43 yards.
Ziemba completed 20-of-31 passes for 303 yards and two TDs while running for two more scores. Brown led all receivers with 8 catches for 108 yards and two TDs while Davis had 96 receiving yards on two catches.
West Liberty goes back on the road this week with a Thursday night game at Glenville State.

No. 3 Shepherd 38
West Liberty 27
Shepherd 14 3 7 14 – 38
West Liberty 10 6 3 8 – 27
First Quarter
Shep: Brown 22 pass from Ziemba (Wise kick), 13:43
WLU: FG Morris 35, 8:29
WLU: Monteroso 27 pass from Conwell (Morris kick), 7:26
Shep: Ziemba 3 run (Wise kick), 3:11
Second Quarter
WLU: Ortiz 6 run (kick failed), :59
Shep: FG Wise 39, :00
Third Quarter
WLU: FG Morris 21, 5:34
Shep: Brown 4 pass from Ziemba (Wise kick), :23
Fourth Quarter
Shep: Ziemba 1 run (Wise kick), 12:46
WLU: Monteroso 4 pass from Conwell (Monteroso pass from Conwell), 7:53
Shep: Hlavach 19 run (Wise kick), 1:29
Game Statistics
RUSHING: Shepherd 31-65, Hlavach 17-76; Feiss 2-7; Glover 4-6; Davis 2-(-2); Team 2-(-4); Ziemba 4-(-18). West Liberty 39-119; Conwell 15-55; Gamble 10-31; Ortiz 7-25; Peterson 5-12; Kelly 2-(-4)
PASSING: Shepherd 21-32-331-2td-0x (Ziemba 20-31-303-2td-0x; Feiss 1-1-28-0-0). West Liberty 26-55-226-2td-0x, (Conwell 26-53-226-2td-0x; Peterson 0-1-0-0-0; Kelly 0-1-0-0-0.
RECEIVING: Shepherd 21-331, Brown 8-108; Feiss 6-59; Davis 2-96; Glover 2-21; Foreman 2-19; Ziemba 1-28. West Liberty 26-226; Monteroso 7-68; Kargbo 5-43; Kelly 4-36; Jones 3-21; Gamble 2-24; Kapron 1-20; Mayo 1-10; Hardesty 1-9; Ortiz 1-1; Conwell 1-(-6).
First downs: Shepherd 20, West Liberty 25
Fumbles: Shepherd 1-1, West Liberty 1-1
Penalties: Shepherd 12-152, West Liberty 8-77
Time of Possession: Shepherd 28:30, West Liberty 31:30

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Players Mentioned

#50 Zach Barnes: DL; 6' 2"; Senior

#11 Dakota Conwell: QB; 6' 1"; Senior

#8 Osman Kargbo: WR; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#14 Christian Morris: K/P; 6' 1"; Sophomore

#21 Jeremiah Ortiz: RB; 5' 9"; Junior

#9 Dan Monteroso: WR; 6' 3"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#50 Zach Barnes
: 6' 2"; Senior
: DL

#11 Dakota Conwell
: 6' 1"; Senior
: QB

#8 Osman Kargbo
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: WR

#14 Christian Morris
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: K/P

#21 Jeremiah Ortiz
: 5' 9"; Junior
: RB

#9 Dan Monteroso
: 6' 3"; Senior
: WR

West Liberty University Athletics

Scoreboard

No. 3 Shepherd Outlasts Hilltoppers

Players Mentioned

#50 Zach Barnes

#11 Dakota Conwell

#8 Osman Kargbo

#14 Christian Morris

#21 Jeremiah Ortiz

#9 Dan Monteroso

Players Mentioned

#50 Zach Barnes

#11 Dakota Conwell

#8 Osman Kargbo

#14 Christian Morris

#21 Jeremiah Ortiz

#9 Dan Monteroso