Box Score WISE, Va. – Senior quarterback Connor Jessop (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run/Virginia Tech) completed 25-of-45 passes for 386 yards and four touchdowns and senior running back Jabre Lolley (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark's) rushed 13 times for 99 yards and three touchdowns to lead Shepherd University (10-0, 10-0 MEC) to a 63-35 win over UVa-Wise (5-6, 4-6 MEC) in MEC football action at UVa-Wise on Saturday.
Shepherd took a 7-0 lead when Jessop scored on a five-yard run with 4:58 left in the first quarter. Senior kicker Zach Wise (Berkeley Springs, W.Va./Berkeley Springs) added the extra point.
The Rams increased their lead to 14-0 when senior running back Jabre Lolley (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark's) scored on a five-yard run out of the Wildcat formation with 13:32 left in the second quarter.
Jessop teamed with junior wide receiver Wanya Allen (Sterling, Va./Potomac Falls) on a 15-yard scoring strike with 11:29 left in the second quarter to give Shepherd a 21-0 advantage.
UVa-Wise got a two-yard scoring plunge from Javonte Latney with 10:01 left in the quarter to cut the lead to 21-7.
Jessop fired a 16-yard scoring toss to freshman wide receiver Duron Norris (Purcellville, Va./Loudoun Valley) with 6:42 left in the half to give Shepherd a 28-7 lead.
Jessop teamed with junior wide receiver Ryan Feiss (Forest Hill, Md./North Harford) on a 28-yard scoring pass with 24 seconds as Shepherd took a 35-7 win into the break.
Josh Saunders of UVa-Wise returned a kickoff 100 yards for a score to open the second half to cut the lead to 35-14.
Jessop fired a 33- yard scoring pass to Allen with 12:55 left in the third quarter to up the Shepherd lead to 42-14.
Jake Sturgill tossed a 12-yard scoring pass to Kaian Duverger with 4:49 left in the third quarter as the Cavaliers took advantage of a Shepherd turnover.
Sturgill and Duverger teamed on a six-yard scoring pass with 2:54 left in the third quarter to cut the lead to 42-28. The Cavaliers recovered an onside kick to help set up the score.
Lolley scored on a two-yard run with 13:10 left in the fourth quarter.
Devontae Jordan scored on a two-yard run for UVa-Wise with 6:18 left to cut the lead to 49-35.
Lolley went 44 yards for a score with 6:06 left in the game for his third touchdown of the game.
Freshman linebacker Chrys Lane (Baltimore, Md./Dundalk) had a 26-yard interception return for a score with 5:58 left in the game to complete the scoring
Sturgill completed 14-of-33 passes for 144 yards for the Cavaliers.
Feiss led the Rams with 12 receptions for 171 yards. Allen added eight catches for 118 yards. Duverger had five catches for 61 yards to lead the Cavaliers.
Shepherd gained 567 yards of total offense, while UVa-Wise had 252.
Junior defensive back DeJuan Neal (Shady Side, Md./Southern) led the Shepherd defense with eight tackles (six solos). Senior defensive end Myles Humphrey (Upper Marlboro, Md./Dr. Henry A. Wise) added seven stops (two solos) with a pair of sacks. Kwadwo Diawuo had a game-high 11 tackles (five solos) for UVa-Wise.
Shepherd awaits word on seeding for the NCAA II Playoffs. The pairings will be announced on Sunday at 5 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Notes: Feiss went over 100 yards receiving for the seventh time this season ... Jessop passed for 300 yards or more for the sixth time this season and went over 4,000 passing yards for his career and 3,000 yards on the season … Jessop (38 touchdown passes this year) broke the MEC single-season touchdown pass record held by Ray Russ of Notre Dame (36 in 2014) … Zach Wise broke the Shepherd single-season mark for extra points with his 9-of-9 effort today to have 66 on the year (old mark was 61 by Eric Dobratz in 2010 and 61 by Wise in 2016) … Shepherd recorded its seventh undefeated regular season (1955, 2005, 2006, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017) … Shepherd is now 48-2 all-time in MEC play.
