Football | 10/7/2017 3:43:00 PM

Box Score

    SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – Unbeaten and No. 3-ranked Shepherd lived up to its billing here Saturday afternoon, pulling away in the second half to a 51-14 victory against West Liberty on Homecoming at Ram Stadium.
    Coach Roger Waialae's Hilltoppers (2-4, 2-4) traded punches with the nationally-ranked Rams (5-0, 5-0) for much of the first half but couldn't sustain any momentum after intermission as the hosts turned up the defensive heat.
    Shepherd took the opening kickoff and marched 62 yards on seven plays with QB Connor Jessop's 9-yard strike to WR Wanya Allen putting the hosts on top, 7-0, at 11:45 of the opening quarter.
    West Liberty answered with an impressive drive of its own, rolling 78 yards in seven plays to come up with the equalizer. Junior QB Brenton Colabella hit senior WR Teddy Mayo on a perfectly-thrown 12-yard slant route to knot the score at 7-7 with 8:54 on the first quarter clock.
    The Rams – who came into the afternoon ranked among the nation's offensive leaders at better than 50 points a game – made a bid to put the game on ice before halftime with three unanswered touchdowns.
    Senior TB Jabre Lolley closed out the first quarter with a 10-yard TD run with Jessop throwing two more touchdown passes in the second quarter for a 28-7 Shepherd lead with less than three minutes left in the opening half.
    The Hilltoppers weren't finished yet as junior QB Lukas O'Connor came off the bench to run a well-executed 2-minute offense. O'Connor's 9-yard scoring strike to freshman WR Isaiah Robinson with just 55 ticks left in the half closed the gap to 28-14 and gave the visitors some momentum heading into the locker room.
    The Shepherd defense had other ideas, however, coming up with two turnovers and a 3-and-out on WLU's first three possessions of the third quarter. Jessop and the Ram offense capitalized with a pair of touchdowns to take a 42-14 lead into the fourth quarter and the game was gone.
    Jessop, a transfer from Virginia Tech, had another huge game for the hosts. The senior standout completed 23-of-30 passes for 329 yards and 4 TDs with no interceptions. Lolley and fellow tailback Patrick Griffin ran for a combined 183 yards on 26 carries as Shepherd racked up 561 yards of total offense on the afternoon.
    Ortiz ran for 82 yards on 21 carries and added 41 more yards on a pair of pass receptions to pace the Hilltoppers, who were held under 100 yards of total offense in the second half. Three WLU quarterbacks combined to complete 13-of-23 passes for 169 yards with 2 TDs and 2 interceptions. Mayo caught 2 passes for 42 yards while Osman Kargbo had a team-high 4 grabs for 39 yards.
    Junior punter Christian Morris provided a special teams highlight in the first half when he tied a 40-year-old school record with a 79-yard punt. Kevin Wilson had a 79-yard punt in a 17-6 loss to Shepherd on Oct. 15, 1977 at Russek Field.
    West Liberty returns home to host Glenville State in the Hilltoppers' annual Homecoming Game on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at West Family Stadium.
    West Liberty                           7    7     0  0 – 14
Shepherd                              14  14  14  9 – 51      SU: Allen 9 pass from Jessop (Wise kick), 11:45
     WLU: Mayo 12 pass from Colabella (Morris kick), 8:54
     SU: Lolley 10 run (Wise kick), 1:19      SU: Cornish 11 pass from Jessop (Wise kick), 7:52
     SU: Williams 12 pass from Jessop (Wise kick), 2:53
     WLU: Robinson 9 pass from O'Connor (Morris kick), :55      SU: Lolley 1 run (Wise kick), 7:41
     SU: Cornish 4 pass from Jessop (Wise kick), 3:40      SU: Safety, int. grounding in end zone
     SU: Griffin 19 run (Wise kick), 13:10
A: 4,719      RUSHING: West Liberty 29-72; Ortiz 21-82; Gamble 3-4; Kalama 1-2; Milligan 1-2; Dorsett 1-0; Colabella 2-(-18). Shepherd 42-233; Lolley 18-96; Griffin 8-87; Hammer 5-24; Jessop 6-14; Rinehart 2-13; Cornish 1-0; Glover 2-(-1).
     PASSING: West Liberty 13-23-169-2td-2x (O'Connor 5-11-75-1td-2x, Colabella 6-6-60-1td-0x, Kalama 2-6-34-0td-0x). Shepherd 24-33-328-4td-1x (Jessop 23-30-329-4td-0x, Hammer 1-2-(-1)-0td-1x, Lolley 0-1-0-0-0).
     RECEIVING: West Liberty 13-169; Mayo 2-42; Ortiz 2-41; Kargbo 4-39; Robinson 2-23; Sutton 1-20; Hardesty 1-3; Kelly 1-1. Shepherd 24-328; Cornish 8-98; Allen 4-84; Reiss 4-71; Williams 2-23; Lolley 2-19; Griffin 1-16; Norris 1-10; Smith 1-8; Glover 1-(-1).
     First downs: West Liberty 11, Shepherd 28
     Fumbles: West Liberty 0-0, Shepherd 1-1
     Penalties: West Liberty 6-58, Shepherd 7-65
     Time of Possession: West Liberty 25:28, Shepherd 34:32