Box Score WISE - - #12 Shepherd University held UVa-Wise to -35 rushing yards and produced two interception return touchdowns along with a safety en route to a 42-17 Mountain East Conference victory at Carl Smith Stadium on Saturday.

Following a stalled drive by the Shepherd (6-0, 5-0 MEC) offense, the visitors pinned UVa-Wise (0-6, 0-4 MEC) inside its own five-yard line.  The Cavaliers were unable to move the ball and lined up to punt the ball from its own end zone.  The punt never occurred as the snap sailed out of the back of the end zone to give the Rams a 2-0 lead. 

Shepherd would take the free-kick and move the ball 36 yards on seven plays to set up Ryan Earls for a 24-yard field goal to extend the advantage to 5-0.  The score would remain 5-0 until 14:42 to play in the second quarter when Shepherd's Corey Washington intercepted a pass and raced 45 yards for the second defensive score of the game.  Earls would add the point after to make the score 12-0. 

The Rams continued to make big plays to get on the scoreboard as C.J. Davis returned a punt 80 yards for a score, Earls again added the extra point, giving Shepherd a three-score lead.  UVa-Wise got on the board with a big play of its own with 1:41 to go in the half when Vernon Payne intercepted a pass and scampered 37 yards for a touchdown.  Paul Melshen made the extra point to cut the lead to 19-7.

Shepherd would add a field goal withtwo seconds to go in the first half as Earls connected on a 35-yard attempt to make the score 22-7 heading to intermission. 

Earls would make his third field goal of the day on the Rams' first possession of the second half, a 36-yarder to give his club a 25-7 lead.  From there, UVa-Wise would score 10 consecutive point as Melshen booted a 33-yard field goal and a six-yard touchdown pass from Cullen LaVoi to James Long and subsequent point after by Melshen.

With its lead cut to eight, Shepherd would score the game's final 21 points as Allen Cross reached the end zone on a 21-yard run.  Earls' extra point gave Shepherd a 32-17 lead with 45 seconds to play in the third quarter.  The Rams put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter as Earls' fourth field goal of the day and a 25-yard interception return by Phillip Rhoden along with a made extra point gave Shepherd the final winning margin of 42-17.

Long finished the game with seven catches for 140 yards and touchdown.  In addition, he added 40 passing yards and 135 kickoff return yards.  Terrence Younger added eight grabs for 82 yards for UVa-Wise and T'ontray Billups finished with seven solo tackles en route to 11 total stops in the loss.

On the ground, Cross led all players with 137 rushing yards on 22 carries for Shepherd. 

The Cavs will return to play next Saturday when the team visits Glenville State College.  Kickoff is set for 1 pm and the action can be heard on 93.5 WAXM or online at www.uvawisecavs.com