Box Score SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va.  – Junior quarterback Jeff Ziemba (Newark, Del./St. Mark's) completed 17-of-25 passes for 289 yards and a pair of touchdowns and rushed for another to lead Shepherd University to a 44-10 win over West Liberty in MEC football action at Ram Stadium on Saturday.
 
Shepherd improves to 8-0, 8-0 in conference play, while West Liberty falls to 4-5, 4-4
 
Shepherd took a 7-0 lead when senior running back Allen Cross (Elkridge, Md./Long Reach) scored on a three-yard run with 13:10 left in the first quarter.
 
The Rams increased their lead to 14-0 when junior quarterback Ziemba fired a 40-yard scoring strike to senior wide receiver Dalton Boyd (Winchester, Va./Sherando /William & Mary) with 7:26 left in the first quarter.
 
West Liberty cut the lead to 14-3 when Christian Morris connected on a 28-yard field goal with 4:21 left in the first quarter.
 
Senior kicker Ryan Earls (Stevensville, Md./Kent Island) connected on a 33-yard field goal  with 2:32 left in the first quarter to give the Rams a 17-3 advantage.
 
Ziemba fired an 11-yard scoring strike to junior wide receiver Billy Brown (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) with 9:03 left in the second quarter to up the Shepherd advantage to 24-3.
 
The Rams took a 31-3 lead into the break as Ziemba scored on a nine-yard run with 1:26 left in the half.
 
The Hilltoppers cut the lead to 31-10 when Dakota Conwell connected on a 24-yard scoring pass to Daree Goodwin with 12:50 left in the third quarter.
 
Shepherd took a 37-10 advantage when Cross scored his second touchdown of the day on a two-yard run with 7:58 left in the third quarter.        
 
Junior running back Jabre Lolley (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark's) scored on a three-yard run with 7:58 left in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring
 
Conwell completed 14-of-27 passes for 126 yards for the Hilltoppers.
 
Junior wide receiver Billy Brown (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) paced the Rams with eight receptions for 145 yards. Daree Goodwin had four receptions for 46 yards for West Liberty.
 
Lolley had 18 carries for a game-high 119 yards to lead the Shepherd ground game. Cross added 15 carries for 73 yards. Conwell rushed 13 times for 27 yards for the Hilltoppers.
 
Shepherd gained 512 yards of total offense while limiting West Liberty to 191 totals yards with 65 yards coming on the ground.
 
Sophomore linebacker James Gupton (Waldorf, Md./North Point) led the Shepherd defense with  six tackles (all solo). Junior linebacker Octavius Thomas (Myrtle Beach, S.C./Myrtle Beach) added five stops (four solo) with two tackles-for-loss and a sack. Garrett Vulcano had a game-high eight tackles (seven solos) for the Hilltoppers.
 
The Rams return to action on Thursday when they travel to Fairmont State for a 7 p.m. game.