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SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – The unseeded Slippery Rock University football team saw its season come to an end Saturday with a hard-fought 37-27 loss on the road at No. 2 seed and defending regional champion Shepherd University from Ram Stadium in Shepherdstown.
 
The Rock close the year with a 10-3 overall record to mark their seventh 10-win season in program history. SRU was making its fourth straight trip to the NCAA Playoffs and has now reached at least the second round in three of the last four years. Slippery Rock was one of only three unseeded teams to get through the opening round of this year's playoffs.
 
Shepherd improves to 12-1 and advances to the regional final to face No. 1 seed Indiana (Pa.) in a rematch of the PSAC title game. The Rams, led by the most prolific quarterback in Division II history, will be looking for their second straight regional title.
 
"We have to give Shepherd credit," said SRU head coach Shawn Lutz. "They have a heck of a team and probably have the two best offensive players in the country in Bagent and Brown, but I give our guys a lot of credit as well. No one thought we could come down here and win and we put up a heck of a fight and had a real chance to win that game. I'm proud of the way our guys battled all year. To have a 10-win season and make a fourth straight playoff appearance is a tremendous accomplishment these guys should be proud of. We've proven ourselves to be one of the most stable and strongest programs in Division II and that's nothing to be ashamed of."
 
Slippery Rock was never out of the game Saturday and threatened on offense all the way until the final minute, trading punches with an offense led by Tyson Bagent, the reigning Harlon Hill Trophy winner and the all-time NCAA Division II leader in passing yards and touchdowns.
 
Bagent, who made his 51st career start Saturday, put the game away after scrambling out of pressure on a third and goal situation from the 17-yard line and finding EJ Morgan for a touchdown that made it 37-27 with 1:43 to play.
 
Slippery Rock stormed down the field inside the 10-yard line on the next possession, but a pass from Noah Grover was tipped and intercepted at the back of the end zone to seal the game. The interception, which was initially ruled out of bounds, was the second SRU turnover in the red zone after The Rock also fumbled inside the 20-yard line in the first quarter. Those two turnovers in scoring situations proved to be the difference in a game that was nearly evenly-matched.
 
The Rock and the Rams both averaged more than seven yards per play on offense with SRU averaging 7.3 yards on 63 plays and Shepherd averaging 7.9 yards on 75 plays.
 
Bagent's last TD pass of the game came after Grover plunged in for a one-yard QB keeper that made the score 30-27 in favor of Shepherd with 7:13 to play. The Rock defense could not get off the field on the ensuing Shepherd drive, which included a conversion on fourth and eight when Bagent avoided pressure and found his target.
 
Shepherd went to the ground in the second half after throwing it 27 times in the first half and used a methodical offense to move the chains and keep the ball away from SRU. The Rams broke a 20-20 halftime tie with a long drive in the third quarter and managed to keep SRU to just two possessions in the third period.
 
The teams traded punches in a wildly entertaining opening half. Shepherd scored first with a 21-yard TD pass from Bagent to Ronnie Brown, but SRU answered on its next series with 46-yard TD pass from Grover to Kyle Sheets, who returned to action for the first time in three weeks.
 
Brown rushed in from 43 yards out on the next series to make it 14-7, but Slippery Rock answered again with a one-yard TD run from Isaiah Edwards with 13:15 to play in the half. The Rock missed the PAT as the kick was blocked.
 
Shepherd extended the lead to 17-13 with a 27-yard field goal with 9:32 to play in the half and Slippery Rock answered to take its first lead when Grover hit Cohen Russell for a 29-yard TD that put The Rock out front 20-17 with 1:06 to play in the second. That TD came after SRU ran a fake punt with Michael Henwood taking a handoff and rushing for 43 yards.
 
Shepherd leveled the game at 20-20 with a short field goal on the final play of the half after marching down the field in one minute, sending it to break all square.
 
The ground game from the Rams proved to be the biggest difference in breaking the game open in the second half as Shepherd finished the game with 222 rushing yards, which included 146 yards on the ground in the second half. Brown ran for 205 yards on 20 carries. Prior to Saturday, SRU had not allowed any single running back to reach 100 yards in a game this year, but Brown averaged 10.3 yards per carry to go along with two catches for 52 yards on his way to accounting for 257 yards of offense.
 
Shepherd posted a 594-460 advantage in total offense after running 12 more plays than SRU and holding the ball for five more minutes. The Rams threw for 372 yards and ran for 222 yards. Slippery Rock threw for 317 yards and ran for 143 yards.
 
Grover was exceptional in his final game at SRU, completing 23-of-33 passes for 317 yards with two touchdowns and one rushing score. He finished the game with a passer rating of 164.3, which was 18 points higher than Bagent's 146.3.
 
Russell caught a career-high 10 passes for 123 yards and one touchdown to lead the SRU receivers. Jawon Hall added three receptions for 85 yards and Sheets caught three passes for 59 yards and one touchdown.
 
Chris D'Or returned from injury to lead the ground game with 79 yards on 13 carries for 6.1 yards per touch.

Jalen Dangerfield led the SRU defense with nine solo tackles and one forced fumble. Brandon Tuck-Hayden added seven stops while seven different players had one pass breakup. The Rock defense was limited to no tackles for loss and no sacks for the first time all season.
 
Bagent completed 28-of-45 passes for 372 yards with two touchdowns to lead Shepherd. He fumbled twice in the game, but was able to recover both of his own fumbles. Nine different players caught passes, led by Rodney Dorsey with five catches for 75 yards.  
 
Slippery Rock will now turn its focus to the offseason. The Rock were one of just 12 teams in Division II to be ranked in every national poll from the preseason through the end of the regular season this fall. SRU returns nearly its entire offense in 2023, with the only players not expected back being Grover and tight end Max Maciejewski, who missed Saturday's game with an injury. The biggest question marks for SRU entering 2023 will be on the defensive side, where a number of key players will graduate.
 
GAME NOTES: Slippery Rock finished the year 10-3 for its seventh 10-win season in program history … The Rock were in the playoffs for the fourth straight year, which is the third longest active streak in Division II … SRU has reached at least the second round of the playoffs in three of the last four seasons … SRU now owns a 4-3 advantage all-time against Shepherd … Saturday's game marked the fourth time the teams have met in the playoffs and they are both 2-2 now in playoff games with the home team winning every time … Shawn Lutz closes his sixth season (seventh year) with a 58-17 overall record as head coach, the most wins by any coach in the PSAC since he took over … SRU played its 53rd game of the last four seasons Saturday, the most among all programs in Super Region One … Noah Grover lost his fourth game as the SRU starting QB and all four of those losses were on the road at ranked teams … Grover leaves SRU ranked 4th all-time in completions (373) and touchdowns (45) and sixth all-time in passing yards (4,882), despite starting just 16 games … Grover will leave SRU with the highest completion percentage ever by a QB with more than 10 starts … DJ Opsatnik's three PATs give him 103 on his career and move him up to No. 6 all-time at SRU.
 



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