SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. --- A defensive battle between Clarion and Shepherd was ultimately decided by turnovers and big plays, as the Rams beat the Golden Eagles 27-9 at Ram Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Eagles trailed by just five points with 1:05 remaining, but a pair of big defensive plays by the Rams down the stretch extended the lead and sealed Clarion's fate.
 
The final score did not indicate the level of competitiveness between the two teams, as both defense came ready and willing to work on Saturday. The Rams' defense limited Clarion to 283 yards of offense, while the Golden Eagles permitted 370 yards to Shepherd. Few of those yards came easy to Shepherd, though, as Clarion punched out two fumbles in the first half and held the Rams to 15 first downs, just one more than the Golden Eagles recorded during the game.
 
Clarion trailed 14-9 in the fourth quarter after orchestrating an impressive touchdown drive early in the period. Taking the ball on their own 24-yard line after forcing a three-and-out, Anthony Guercio established a connection with Trevon Tate, completing three passes to the dynamic receiver for a total of 54 yards. The second of those converted a 3^rd-and-1 from the Clarion 33-yard line, with Guercio driving the ball 27 yards down the field to Tate in enemy territory. He hit Tate again for an 18-yard gain and then took off on a 12-yard run, and Guercio then completed a screen pass to Michael Akinleye that got the team down to the one-yard line. On 1^st-and-Goal from the one-yard line, Guercio pushed his way over right guard for a touchdown, but the two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful.
 
The Rams chewed up a significant chunk of clock on their ensuing drive, but the Golden Eagle defense got big stop with two minutes remaining when Shane Kemper dropped Malakai Brown to force a punt. The Golden Eagles were pinned in their own end, though, and Guercio was picked off on a pass attempt by Miles Greer on fourth down, with the latter returning the pick to the end zone for a score. Now trailing 20-9, Clarion went down the field and put themselves in scoring position again, this time after a 36-yard run by Guercio. The Ram defense again short-circuited the drive, this time with Cole Scott returning an interception 79 yards for a score.
 
Earlier in the game, it was Golden Eagles defensive plays that were frustrating the Rams' offense. Clarion halted back-to-back drives from Shepherd in the first half, keeping the game a one-score contest going into halftime. The Golden Eagles' only points of the first half came on the back end of a nine-play, 64-yard scoring drive that cut the lead to 7-3, with Adam Scarpino booting it through the uprights from 35 yards out. Clarion had a prime chance to tack on when Connor Lyczek stripped Jordan Barnett on the first play of the series. Clarion failed to gather any traction, though, and had to punt after an early penalty put them behind schedule. Kemper did the damage on the next drive, punching the ball loose from Malakai Brown on the first play of the drive to give the Golden Eagles possession at the Shepherd 28-yard line. Penalties once again bit Clarion, and Scarpino's long field goal attempt went wide left.
 
The Golden Eagles punched back despite the miscues, with Jake Tarburton sacking Lek Powell on the next drive to force a punt. The defense forced a turnover on downs on the Rams' final drive of the half, setting the halftime deficit at 7-3 in favor of Shepherd.
 
Guercio finished 20-of-42 with 222 passing yards and two interceptions, though he did connect on a 53-yard attempt to Ray Jackson. He was hounded by the Shepherd defense, taking six sacks. The quarterback finished with 39 net yards rushing and one score. Tate came up just shy of his fourth straight 100-yard receiving game, catching nine passes for 94 yards. Freshman Luke Shaffer had a strong day, finishing with 11 tackles and 1.0 TFL, while Tarburton had a pair of sacks. Ryan Stahl provided defensive splash as well with three tackles, 2.0 TFL and one sack.
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