SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – The Shepherd University football team got 75% of its homecoming objective completed.
It was the last 25% that did the Rams in.
Shepherd took a 21-17 lead into the fourth quarter, but Bloomsburg scored the only 10 points in the last 15 minutes to pull out a 27-21 victory in a PSAC East matchup to ruin the celebration at Ram Stadium on Saturday.
The Rams (5-2, 2-2) scored the only points of the third quarter to erase a 17-14 halftime deficit, but the Huskies grabbed a 3-yard touchdown run by quarterback Zayd Etheridge with 13:42 remaining to take the lead before sealing it with Peter Kashynski’s 37-yard field goal with 4:48 remaining.
Shepherd had two more chances to regain the lead, but couldn’t move the ball past midfield.
Bloomsburg (5-2, 2-1) took an early 7-0 lead when Cole Turner picked off a pass and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown with 10:00 remaining in the first quarter.
The Rams countered with quarterback Michael Hardyway finding receiver Carrington Nickens-Yzer on a 50-yard scoring strike just 50 seconds later. Max Barba hit his first of three extra points to tie the game at 7-7.
Shepherd took the lead on a 6-yard run by Ian Mauldin on the first play of the second quarter to take a 14-7 lead.
The Huskies wrestled back the halftime lead with Kashynski connecting on a 40-yard field goal at the 8:38 mark, before Eli Zimmerman scored on 3-yard run with 42 seconds left to give Bloomsburg a 17-14 advantage at the break.
The Rams regained the lead one last time when Reggie Snowden scooped up a blocked field goal by defensive back Tyrin Chinn-Thompson and took it 85 yards for a touchdown for a 21-17 lead with 4:46 remaining in the third quarter.
From there, Bloomsburg took control.
Hardyway completed 16 of 25 passes for 175 yards, while Etheridge connected on 9 of 14 passes for 90 yards for the Huskies.
Shepherd had 214 yards of total offense while Bloomsburg totaled 291 yards.
Linebacker Malachi Barnes and Chinn-Thompson led Shepherd’s defense with 12 tackles each.
