WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University football team held the high-powered Shepherd offense in check for much of the day here Saturday only to come out on the short end of a 26-14 score in Mountain East Conference action at West Family Stadium.
    The Rams (4-1, 4-1) came into the weekend averaging more than 40 points a game as the nation's No. 1-ranked passing team but were held to just 253 passing yards and 397 yards of total offense – both season-lows – by Coach Roger Waialae's Hilltoppers (2-4, 2-4).
    "I'm really proud of the way our defense played today," Waialae said. "Shepherd is a really good football team with guys who make plays all over the field. They have just been dominating people offensively all season but I don't think our guys were dominated today."
    It was a defensive struggle for much of the day with neither team denting the scoreboard until the 5:20 mark of the second quarter when Ram QB Tyson Bagent lobbed a 16-yard TD pass to All-America WR Ryan Feiss.
    West Liberty blocked the PAT, however, and freshman WR Quamaezius Mosby scampered in from 11 yards out on a reverse to cap a 7-play, 70-yard drive. Owen Rozanc's PAT gave the hosts a 7-6 lead with 2:23 on the second quarter clock.
    That turned out to be just enough time for Shepherd to drive 79 yards in 7 plays for the go-ahead score, which came on a 5-yard pass from Bagent to WR Wanya Allen just 22 seconds before the half. A bad snap foiled the 2-point conversion try and the Rams took a 12-7 lead to the locker room.
    Shepherd appeared on the verge of breaking the game open when Bagent opened the second half with a 17-yard scoring toss to Allen, pushing the margin to 19-7 but the WLU defense dug in.
    After the WLU defense forced a 3-and-out on Shepherd's next possession, senior QB Brenton Colabella led the offense on a well-executed 76-yard, 8-play scoring drive. Senior TB Charles Westbrook bulled into the end zone from a yard out and the Hilltoppers trailed just 19-14 with 5:04 left in the third quarter.
    "I thought we finally put the pieces together and took care of business defensively today," senior LB Cliff Clark said. "It seemed like we'd have a good half or three quarters in the first few games but we were much more consistent today and were able to set our offense up with good field position several times. "
    The Rams failed to move the sticks on four straight possessions heading into the fourth quarter and that's when the WLU offense began to find some traction.
    A 26-yard pass to Darien Mitchell and a 21-yard strike to Shane Phillips gave the Black and Gold a first down at the Shepherd 25 with just over 10 minutes to play. The Rams dodged a bullet when DB Ponce DeLeon picked off a Colabella pass at the 15 to end the threat.
    Shepherd drove to the West Liberty 18 only to see freshman DT Francesco Borsellino leap high to bat down Bagent's fourth-down pass and get the ball back for the Hilltoppers.
    With time becoming a factor, the WLU offense picked up a couple more first downs to cross into Shepherd territory but a pass bounced off a receiver's hands and DeLeon was in the right spot at the right time once again. The Ram DB sprinted into the end zone but the play was called back on a personal foul which resulted in a West Liberty offensive lineman being taken off the field on a stretcher.
    "It's tough to stay focused when you see one of your teammates, one of your brothers, have to come off the field like that," Clark said. "You really have to pull closer together as a team."
    Shepherd was able to put the game out of reach with a 23-yard TD pass from Bagent to Greg Leonard, capping a 5-play, 65-yard drive with just 3:02 to play.
    Colabella completed 17-of-29 passes for 173 yards with Mike McLean catching 5 balls for 61 yards. Westbrook was the team's leading rusher with 48 yards on 15 carries.
    Bagent completed 18-of-31 passes for 253 yards and 4 TDs with one interception. Allen led all receivers with 127 yards and 2 scores on 5 catches while Zyan Sturdivant ran for 73 yards on 16 carries.
    Clark led the West Liberty defense with a career-high 18 tackles – including 15 solo stops – along with a quarterback sack. Junior DB Logan Deri added 11 tackles, an interception and a pass break-up.
    The Hilltoppers hit the road on Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Glenville State.
    Shepherd                                  0  12  7  7 – 26
West Liberty                             0    7  7  0 – 14      SU: Feiss 16 pass from Bagent (kick blocked), 5:20
     WLU: Mosby 11 run (Rozanc kick), 2:23
     SU: Allen 5 pass from Bagent (pass failed), :22      SU: Allen 17 pass from Bagent (August-Scriven kick), 11:40
     WLU: Westbrook 1 run (Rozanc kick), 5:04      SU: Leonard 23 pass from Bagent (August-Scriven kick), 3:02
A: 2,122      RUSHING: Shepherd 40-144, Sturdivant 16-73; Squire 6-50; Glover 5-22; James 4-11; TEAM 3-(-6); Tyson Bagent 6-(-6). West Liberty 31-77, Westbrook 15-48; Mosby 4-23; Frisby 6-22; Colabella 6-(-16)
     PASSING: Shepherd 18-31-253-4td-1x (all by Bagent). West Liberty 18-32-195-0td-2x (all by Colabella).
     RECEIVING: Shepherd 18-253, Allen 5-127; Feiss 5-40; Cornish 4-50; Leonard 3-24; Squire 1-12. West Liberty 18-195, McLean 5-61; Durbin 4-23; S.Phillips 2-30; Mitchell 2-30; Mosby 2-28; Westbrook 2-15; N.Phillips 1-8.
     First downs: Shepherd 18, West Liberty 17
     Fumbles: Fumbles: Shepherd 0-0, West Liberty 0--0
     Penalties: Shepherd 8-89, West Liberty 5-40
     Time of Possession: Shepherd 32:39, West Liberty 27:21