WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. -- Fifth-ranked Shepherd University held off West Liberty, 34-32, in WVIAC football action at Russek Field on Saturday afternoon. The victory clinches the WVIAC title for the Rams.

West Liberty took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter when Jay Gullion connected with Jarrett Ponder on a 40-yard scoring strike with 6:14 left in the first quarter.

Shepherd tied the game at 7-7 with 2:13 left in the first quarter when senior quarterback Dan Chlebowski (Greencastle, PA/Greencastle-Antrim) lofted a five-yard scoring pass to sophomore wide receiver Craig Tremel (Lilly, PA/Penn Cambria).

Shepherd took a 14-7 lead with 13:23 left in the second quarter when Chlebowski teamed with junior wide receiver Mark Springirth (Germantown, MD/Watkins Mill) on a 25-yard scoring pass.

Chlebowski teamed with Tremel on a 30-yard scoring play with 4:38 left in the second quarter to up the Ram lead to 21-7.

West Liberty cut the lead to 21-13 at the half when scored with 46 seconds left in the half on a 17-yard pass from Gullion to Johnny Bonar. Billy Hager's extra point attempt was no good.

Shepherd increased its lead to 24-13 with 4:24 left in the third quarter on a 41-yard field goal by senior kicker Ricky Schmitt (Virginia Beach, VA/Salem). 

Eddie Hills scored for West Liberty on a three-yard run with 13:28 left in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 24-19. 

Gullion was sacked by sophomore linebacker Louis Corum (Manassas, VA/Westfield) on a two-point conversion attempt.

Junior running back Dervon Wallace (Lusby, MD/Calvert/WV State), who rushed for 90 yards on 15 carries, scored on a four-yard run to cap a 12-play, 65-yard drive and increase the Rams lead to 31-19 with 7:52 left in the game.

Gullion connected with Almonzo Banks on a 43-yard scoring play to cut the Ram lead to 31-26 with 6:01 left in the fourth quarter.

Schmitt nailed a 30-yard field goal with 3:51 remaining to give the Rams a 34-26 lead.

Gullion teamed with Renard Stevens on a three-yard scoring pass for West Liberty with 55 seconds left in regulation to cut the lead to 34-32. 

Senior All-American free safety Dan Peters (Cresson, PA/Penn Cambria), junior defensive back Jerome Quinata (Woodbridge, VA/C.D. Hylton), and sophomore defensive end Michael Spiegelberg (Silver Spring, MD/ Springbrook) teamed to force Stevens out of bounds shy of the goal line on the two-point attempt to seal the win.