LH football falls to No. 25 Shepherd in PSAC East play
LOCK HAVEN, PA – The Bald Eagles’ defensive unit put up an all-around impressive performance and a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Chandler Baker (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia (Buffalo)) highlighted the game, but in the end, the Lock Haven football team’s upset-bid came up short at home versus No. 25 Shepherd, 27-10, in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division action Saturday afternoon.
With the loss, the Bald Eagles move back to .500 on the season at 3-3 overall. Lock Haven is now 1-2 in PSAC East play. Shepherd, an NCAA Division II national semifinalist last season, improved to 5-1 overall (2-1 PSAC East).
Defensive standout Cody Romano (Newton, N.J./Blair Academy (Penn State)) was all over field, finishing with a game-high 13 tackles. Ten of those 13 stops were solo tackles.
The Bald Eagles recorded five sacks which helped keep them in the game in the second half.
Jyair Thomas (Owings Mills, Md./Boys Latin (Monmouth)) finished with six solo tackles, as he and Romano were two of many who stood out with notable defensive outings.
Starting quarterback Danny Sanchez (Bronx, N.Y./Lehman (Stony Brook)) threw for 117 yards and running back Chris Collier (Lawrence, N.Y./Lawrence (Wagner College)) rushed for 62 yards on 15 carries as the two tried to spark the offense.
The aforementioned Baker – who electrified the crowd with a kickoff return TD – also hauled in five catches for 62 yards. Chris Hicks (Stafford, Va./North Stafford) made five catches for 50 yards.
The Bald Eagles opened the game with an impressive drive that saw them dart 59 yards down the field in 11 plays. A 32-yard field goal from Brett Zachman (Leesburg, Fla./Eustis (Dordt)) put Lock Haven up 3-0 just minutes into the game.
With one-minute left in the first quarter, Shepherd tied the game at 3-3 on a 25-yard field goal. The nationally ranked Rams led 17-3 at halftime behind two second-quarter touchdowns.
Early in the second half, Jeremiah Taylor hauled in a four-yard pass from Seth Morgan and Shepherd led 24-3.
It took little time for Lock Haven to respond as Baker took the ensuing kick 98 yards for the score. The exciting play ignited the home crowd and kept The Haven in the game as the Bald Eagles trailed 24-10 with 11:53 to play in the third quarter.
A back-and-forth fourth quarter, which was highlighted by the Bald Eagle’s tremendous defense saw Shepherd seal the victory with another James Bozek field goal midway through the period.
The Bald Eagles will make the short trip east next weekend (Saturday, Oct. 14) to take on Bloomsburg in Week-7 PSAC East action. The game at Bloomsburg is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start.
