INSTITUTE, W.Va. – Junior quarterback Connor Jessop (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) completed 22-of-28 passes for a school record 480 yards and five touchdowns and added a pair of rushing scores to lead Shepherd University (6-0, 6-0 MEC) to a 70-24 win over West Virginia State (1-6, 1-6 MEC) in MEC football action at West Virginia State on Saturday.

The Rams took a 7-0 lead when Jessop teamed with senior wide receiver CJ Davis (Hagerstown, Md./South Hagerstown) on a 43-yard scoring strike with 12:21 left in the first quarter. Junior kicker Zach Wise (Berkeley Springs, W.Va./Berkeley Springs) added the extra point.

Dionta Brown returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for the Yellow Jackets to tie the game.

Shepherd took a 14-7 lead when Jessop collaborated with senior wide receiver Billy Brown (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) on a 44-yard score with 10:53 left in the first quarter.

The Rams increased their lead to 21-7 when Jessop tossed a 16-yard scoring pass to senior tight end Lue Sokoya (Columbia, Md./Long Reach) with 6:14 left in the first quarter.

Matt Kinnick fired a 12-yard scoring pass to Quinton Gray for the Yellow Jackets with 1:50 left in the first quarter to cut the lead to 21-14.

Jessop raced 49 yards for a score with 14:22 left in the second quarter to up the lead.

Jessop threw a short pass to Davis and he raced 81 yards for a score with 9:33 left in the second quarter.

 Anthony Herrera drilled a 29-yard field goal with 4:46 left in the half to make it 35-17.

Redshirt-freshman running back Deonte Glover (Inwood, W.Va./Musselman) ran five yards for a score with 2:34 left in the half.

Jessop and Brown teamed on an 11-yard scoring pass with 17 seconds left in the half to give Shepherd a 49-17 lead at the break.

Jessop scored on a one-yard plunge with 10:50 left in the third quarter to make it 55-17.

Freshman running back Patrick Griffin (Seaford, Del/Sussex Tech) scored on a one-yard dive with 3:53 left in the third quarter.

Sophomore quarter Nic Hammer (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) scored on a three-yard run with 11:41 left in the fourth quarter.

Kinnick scored on a six-yard run with 7:44 remaining for State to make in 70-24 and complete the scoring.

Freshman running back Brandon Hlavach (Baltimore, Md./Eastern Tech) led the ground attack with five carries for 100 yards. Brown had 20 carries for 18 yards to lead the Yellow Jackets.

Davis led the Shepherd receivers with nine catches for 251 yards.  Brown added seven receptions for 120 yards. Tyrell Henderson had a pair of catches for 46 yards to pace the Yellow Jackets.

Shepherd amassed a school-record 804 yards of total offense, while West Virginia State totaled 189.

Junior inside linebacker James Gupton (Waldorf, Md./North Point) recorded a game-high 12 tackles with three solo stops and two tackles-for-loss to lead the Shepherd defense. Dennis Gardeck recorded a team-high 10 tackles (one solo) to pace State.

The Rams return to action on Saturday when they host Concord at noon at Rams Stadium for Homecoming.

Notes: Shepherd's 70 points also set a single-game mark … the 498 total passing yards established a single-game mark … Brown now has 11 touchdown receptions on the season to break the record of 10 he shared with several others ... Zach Wise went 10-for-10 in extra points to set a new single-game record ... Jessop also established single-game marks for most touchdowns responsible for (7) and most total offense (545) ... The Rams have now won 36 straight games against West Virginia State.