CLEVELAND, Miss. -Trevar Deed rushed 20 times for 104 yards and L.J. Castile snared two touchdown passes as Delta State slipped past Shepherd 29-17 in an NCAA Division II football national semifinal.

 

The Rams opened the scoring with a methodical 15-play, 77-yard drive that was capped by Nate Hoyte's four-yard rush. SU converted a pair of third downs and a fourth down as they burned nine minutes off the clock on the game's opening possession.

 

Delta State responded with a long march of their own as Bill Franks found paydirt on a 12-yard carry.  The 11-play, 60-yard excursion allowed the Statesmen to knot the game at 7-7 with 1:21 left in the first quarter.

 

DSU took their first lead midway through the second quarter as they took advantage of a short field following a snap that went over Ram punter Troy McNeill's head.  Micah Davis hooked up with Castile on a 29-yard scoring pass to end a 46-yard, four-play drive and the Statesmen owned a 14-7 advantage.

 

Shepherd used a turnover to create their own short field and the Rams cashed in to forge a 14-14 tie.  Dom Jones made his ninth touchdown catch of the season as he caught Kevin Clancy's throw from 10 yards away.  

 

The Rams drove deep into Delta State territory and were poised to take the lead late in the half.  However, Nate Hoyte was stuffed on 4th and 3 from the DSU 28 to give the Statesmen possession.  Davis then guided DSU into field goal position and Matt Snyder booted a 33-yard kick on the half's final play for a 17-14 lead.

 

Shepherd recorded interceptions on Delta State's first two possessions of the second half, but the Rams could not put points on the board following the picks by Keon Robinson or A.J. Parrish.  

 

SU punted after the first turnover and then Ricky Dobratz missed a 46-yard field goal try following a 39-minute weather delay that turned Parker Field's grass surface into a quagmire.

 

Delta State wasted little time notching the first two-score lead of the afternoon.  Davis hit a wide-open Carlton Ollie streaking down the middle of the field for a 64-yard touchdown.  Snyder's point after was blocked by Howard Jones to leave the DSU lead at 23-14.

 

The Rams got back within 23-17 late in the third quarter on a Dobratz 32-yard field goal with 40 seconds remaining in the period.  Scot Riddell's 18-yard reception in heavy traffic was the key play in the drive.

 

SU forced a punt and received the ball midway through the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead, but those hopes were dashed when Clancy was picked off by Garrett Williams at the DSU 48-yard line.  

 

Williams returned the interception to the Ram 32-yard line to set up the game-clinching score as Davis and Castile connected on third-and-goal for their second touchdown of the afternoon.  The six-yard effort lifted the DSU lead to 29-17 with only 2:36 to play after Snyder's point after was again blocked.

 

Clancy connected on 24 of 44 passes for 212 yards and was picked off twice.  Robert Byrd caught a game-high eight passes for 66 yards.  Nate Hoyte led SU on the ground with 53 yards on 10 carries.

 

Castile led Delta State with five receptions for 64 yards, while Davis completed 14 of 22 passes for 193 yards and three scores.  He also was intercepted three times.

 

Ram head coach Monte Cater, the WVIAC's all-time winningest coach with 173 victories, offered praise for the victors.  "I want to congratulate Delta State.  They have a great ballclub.  They did a good job today and made a few more plays than we did.  I thought we had some opportunities that we let get away from us.  We did a good job with the takeaways, but didn't take advantage of them.  In the second half, our offense wasn't as consistent as we need to be to beat a team like Delta State."

 

Shepherd concludes their season at 12-2, which is the most victories in a single-season for a WVIAC squad.  Today's contest marked the first appearance of a West Virginia Conference member in a Division II football semifinal.  11-3 Delta State will battle Northwest Missouri State or Minnesota-Duluth in next week's title game.