BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – Senior All-American candidate Dervon Wallace (Lusby, MD/ Calvert) rushed 42 times for a school-record 304 yards and three touchdowns to lead 17th-ranked Shepherd University to a 36-28 win over West Virginia Wesleyan in WVIAC football action at Cebe Ross Field on Saturday.
Shepherd took a 7-0 lead with 14:52 left in the second quarter when junior quarterback Tyler Lazear (Bethesda, MD/Walt Whitman) faked a handoff to Wallace and rambled 22 yards for a score.
The Rams extended their lead to 14-0 with 14:01 left in the second quarter when junior linebacker Walt Gouveia (Ashburn, VA/ Broad Run) picked off a pass that was tipped by sophomore defensive end T.J. Taylor (Frederick, MD/Frederick) and raced 32 yards for a touchdown.
Wallace scored on an eight-yard run with 4:13 left in the second quarter to give the Rams a 21-0 lead.
The Bobcats cut the Ram lead to 21-6 when Harry Lorusso teamed with Brandon Rogers on a 25-yard scoring pass. Senior outside linebacker Joey Hooks (Montgomery Village, MD/Watkins Mill) blocked the extra point attempt by Derek Moore.
Greg Duncan scored on a four-yard touchdown run with 7:31 left in the third quarter for the Bobcats to make it a 21-13 contest.
Shepherd increased its lead to 29-13 with 12:53 left in the fourth quarter on a six-yard scamper by Wallace. Wallace scored on a two-point rushing play as the Rams took advantage of a roughing-the-snapper penalty.
Wesleyan answered back as Brandon Burton raced 29 yard up the middle for a score with 11:00 remaining. Lorusso connected with William Schiefelbein for the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 29-21.
Wallace scored his third touchdown of the day on six-yard with just over four minutes remaining in the game to make it a 36-21 Ram lead.
The Bobcats answered right back as Lorusso teamed with Alex Puente on a 79-yard scoring strike to cut the lead to 36-28 with 3:45 left in the contest.
Shepherd ran out the clock to clinch the win. The drive was fueled by 98 rushing yards from Wallace, including a 62-yard run on the last play of the game.
Lazear completed 9-of-18 passes for 100 yards for the Rams. Lorusso was 9-of-23 for 170 yards for the Bobcats.
Duncan rushed 18 times for 145 yards to lead the Wesleyan ground game.
Gouveia led the Rams with nine tackles. Junior corner back Taros Harris (Cheaspeake Beach, MD/Calvert) and Hooks each added six stops.
George Lewis had a game-high 11 tackles for the Bobcats.
Shepherd improves to 7-1 overall, 5-1 in WVIAC play, while West Virginia Wesleyan drops to 3-5, 1-4. The Rams return to action next Saturday when they host West Liberty for a 1:00 p.m. contest.
Box Score
Notes: Wallace also set a new Shepherd single-game record for all-purpose yards with 390, eclipsing the old mark of 325 set by Damian Beane in 1996 against Fairmont State. Wallace's big day allowed him to become the all-time leading scorer in WVIAC football history with 386 points.
