SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - For the first 30 minutes, Millersville gave the Shepherd Rams all they could handle on their Homecoming Saturday. But the nation's No. 1 offense and the Harlon Hill Trophy winning quarterback Tyson Bagent could only be held in check for so long, and the Rams pulled away by scoring 34 unanswered points in the second half for a 55-17 win. 

For the second week in a row, the now 7-0 Rams threw and rushed for over 250 yards, out-gaining the Marauders 532-224. Much of that difference came in the second half when Shepherd held a 258-18 advantage in yards and closed by scoring touchdowns on four of its final five offensive possessions. The Rams also scored two defensive touchdowns with a fumble recovery return in the second quarter and a pick-six in the third. 

"We couldn't get anything going offensively and couldn't get a stop defensively in the second half," said Millersville head coach J.C. Morgan. "It snowballed and got away from us. Against a team like that, you can't let it go that direction. The way I look at it is that we want our young men to play their best and their hardest no matter who is on the other side. It wasn't a matter of us playing hard. We played hard. We just missed some opportunities to score and keeps drives alive. The quarterback made plays outside the pocket, and against a guy like that, you can't let that happen. They found some creases for big plays in the running game as the game went on."

Bagent entered the game with 18 touchdown passes to two interceptions and he finished 23-of-36 for 275 yards. Yet the Marauders picked him off twice and also recovered a fumble. Millersville has intercepted Bagent five times in the last two meetings. He has thrown just seven interceptions in his 16 other regular season games the last two seasons. 

Footman went 12-for-24 for 144 yards through the air, and while he had been so effective with designed runs and QB scrambles in the previous two weeks, Shepherd bottled him inside the pocket and limited him to six runs for -12 yards. Morris rushed for 59 yards on 13 carries but the inability to sustain drives limited his chances, and after falling behind in the fourth quarter, the Marauders were forced away from the run. 

It was just the opposite for Shepherd late. Brown entered the game averaging a NCAA-best 10.3 yards per carry, and while the Marauders held him in check for three quarters, he finally broke free in the fourth with a 76 yards TD run. Outside of that one run, Brown totaled a meager 57 yards on 17 carries. 

"As the game went on, I'm not sure we had our fundamentals with our tackles, but that's been (Brown) all year," said Morgan. "Two-three yards here and there, and then he'll bust a big play. The guys were focused on containing him and did a good job. I knew we would play well, but he's the type of back that if you give him a little crease he will take it along way."

After falling behind 14-0, the Marauders got back into the game with some big plays of their own. Millersville rallied with 17 points in the second quarter, getting a couple of explosive pass plays from Robert Footman Jr., to Hakim Melvin. A 30-yard toss to a the Shepherd 10 led to a Christian Makanoeich field goal, and later, a 36-yard strike to Melvin set up a touchdown catch and run for Jaheim Morris. 

On the ensuing kickoff, the Marauders created some chaos, which led to an unconventional score. A skidding kickoff from Eli Workinger was misplayed by returner Ronnie Brown. Erik Mann, who had picked off Bagent earlier in the game, separated the ball from Brown. Steve Sweeney caught the fumble in stride and raced 12 yards for a touchdown. That made it 21-17 at the half. 

"We felt good at the half because we knocked it down to a one-score game," said Morgan. "The defense made some key stops to end drives in our territory. We found a way to score and created the special teams touchdown.

Sweeney started the second half with another big play, intercepting Bagent deep in Millersville territory, but the Marauders hit a brick wall from there. A three-and-out was followed by a pick-six, a three-and-out and three-straight turnovers on downs. Millersville finished with just 18 total yards on 23 snaps in the second half. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Melvin recorded a season-high 72 yards on five catches. 
• Morris scored his sixth touchdown in the last five games. It was his third receiving touchdown of the season. 
• Makanoeich is now 4-for-5 on field goal tries this season. 
• Isaiah Onuschak led Millersville's defense with seven tackles. The Marauders did not record a sack, but did generate pick off two passes, giving them seven INTs in the last four games. 

MORE FROM COACH J.C. MORGAN
•  On the team's play against a top-ranked team: "We the easy thing would be to look back and say, 'well it's Shepherd.' But we are holding ourselves to a high standard as well. We are disappointed with the outcome today, but I know these guys, love them, and I know they will come back next week and get after it."

UP NEXT
• Millersville plays its next two games at home. The Marauders host Shippensburg for the annual Homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 22.