Concord Downed By Shepherd, 20-6 - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

The Concord University football team dropped a 20-6 decision to Shepherd University Saturday afternoon at Ram Stadium in Shepherdstown, W. Va.

Concord falls to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with the loss. Shepherd improves to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in the WVIAC.

Randall Hawkins set career highs in both catches and yards receiving. Hawkins pulled in 16 passes for 178 yards and one touchdown. Hawkins is the first Mountain Lion to have at least 15 receptions in a game since Thomas Mayo in 2009. Teammate Ansel Ponder also had a great day, totaling 135 receiving yards on nine receptions including a spectacular one-handed grab in the first half.

Quarterback Albert Rose was 30-for-50 on the day for 376 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions. The Mountain Lions' rushing attack was paced by Ben Nester, who had 19 yards on six attempts.

Davon Marion made a team-high 10 tackles to pace the defense. Silas Agyemang matched his career- high with three tackles for a loss. Kevin Elliott made six stops and had one interception. Howard Jordan added one sack.

After trading possessions to start the game, the Concord offense found itself with the ball at midfield to begin its second drive. A short run followed by a sack forced the Mountain Lions into third and 13 when Rose hit Hawkins on what ended up being a 57-yard strike for the game's first touchdown, giving Concord a 6-0 lead midway through the first quarter. The touchdown, Hawkins' first of the season, was Concord's second-longest play of the year.

On the ensuing series, Shepherd drove the ball down to the Concord 10-yard line to set up a first and goal situation. However, defensive tackle Will Greathouse broke through the Shepherd line to register a tackle in the backfield to help eventually stall the Rams' drive. Shepherd settled for a field goal to make it a 6-3 game early in the second quarter.

Shepherd took a 10-6 lead over Concord when Allen Cross capped off Shepherd's second straight drive of at least 10 plays with a three-yard touchdown run at the 6:17 mark in the second quarter. The points would be the last of the half. In the first half alone, Hawkins had seven catches for 114 yards.

Concord's passing attack was on full display to start the second half as Rose connected with Ponder and Hawkins on multiple occasions, but had to settle for field goal attempts on two of its first three possessions in the second half. The first attempt, a 37-yard try, was missed and the second was blocked by Shepherd. The Rams returned the blocked kick for a touchdown to take a 17-6 lead with a minute to play in the third quarter.

Shepherd added another field goal and held Concord scoreless in the fourth quarter to hold onto the 20-6 victory.

Concord returns home to host Glenville State Oct. 6 at Callaghan Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.