SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - - UVa-Wise's final football game in the Mountain East Conference will be the program's most memorable. The Cavaliers scored a pair of third quarter touchdowns and rode a superb defensive performance to knock off perennial power Shepherd 21-16 at Ram Stadium Saturday.
UVa-Wise (4-6, 4-6 MEC) struggled mightily playing against the wind which was gusting at speeds upwards of 30 miles per hour throughout the game. In the third quarter, Dane Damron's team flipped the script with a pair of touchdowns.
Shepherd (7-3, 7-3 MEC) kicked off to begin the second half holding a 7-0 lead, it would quickly evaporate.
The Cavs started the drive with three consecutive completions to Chris Thaxton before Tanner Bernard hooked up with Alonzo Brown on a 35-yard touchdown connection. Trevor Owens booted the point after kick to tie the game with 13:03 to play in the third quarter.
The Rams quickly answered as Hayden August-Scriven capped an 8-play, 52-yard drive with a 32-yard field goal.
After an Owens punt, Shepherd had a chance to extend its lead to two scores as it took over at its own 40-yard line. The good field position went to waste as Josh Saunders jumped a route an intercepted Tyson Bagent's pass.
A reverse to Brown would go for 12 yards on the opening play of UVa-Wise's drive and following a personal foul, the visitors penetrated the red zone. Four plays later, senior Victor Mitchell scampered in for a 5-yard touchdown, Owens' conversion kick made it 14-10.
As it has done all season, the UVa-Wise defense flexed its muscle for the remainder of the game. Shepherd's following drive ended when Rondre Knowles-Tener registered one of his team's five sacks on a third down play.
The next drive was also short lived as senior Donavan Montague made a spectacular interception as he dived forward to pick a Bagent pass off just before it hit the turf on the drive's opening play.
The score would remain unchanged until 10:43 to play in the game when the wind played havoc on an Owens punt. The punt would be knocked down by the wind and hit a Shepherd player before ricocheting towards the goal line. A scramble for the ball would occur with Da'Jon Bellfield winning a battle for the ball in the end zone as the lead moved to 21-10.
Shepherd would not go down without a fight as the hosts put together a 15-play, 75-yard drive that was finished off by a 2-yard touchdown run by Bagent. A two-point conversion try would go for naught, leaving the score 21-16 with under three minutes to play.
The Rams elected not to onside kick as the Cavs took over needing a first down to seal the win. UVa-Wise would be unable to get the first down but Owens' punt and good coverage forced Shepherd to take over inside its own 5-yard line with under two minutes to play and without a timeout.
Shepherd would be unable to advance further than its own 33-yard line as UVa-Wise's defense forced a turnover on downs to claim the victory.
K'Jon Coley made what turned out to be a big play late in the first half for the Cavs. With Shepherd leading 7-0, the Rams had moved the ball to the UVa-Wise 10-yard line only to have Bagent fumble and Coley pick it up thwarting the scoring chance.
The fumble recovery was part of a day that saw the Cavs pick off two passes and recover a muffed punt in addition to Coley's play.
Buster Henderson led the defense with a game-high 11 tackles while Knowles-Tenner posted two sacks. Overall, the unit posted 11 stops behind the line of scrimmage while holding Shepherd to 282 yards of total offense.
Shepherd managed just 37 rushing yards on 34 attempts while averaging just 5.3 yards per pass attempt and converting just 2-of-12 third down conversion attempts.
Thaxton finished with eight catches for 65 yards while Brown added five catches for 51 yards.
The game capped a six-year run in the MEC for UVa-Wise who will play in the South Atlantic Conference next fall.
