Travis Ferraro had three of Sherando’s five pass interceptions the Warriors stole from the Jefferson offense.

Five turnovers and not enough defense to prevent the Warriors from getting nearly 400 yards of total offense were easily seen reasons why the Cougars fell from the ranks of the unbeaten when Sherando left Shenandoah Junction with a 35-7 win that kept it undefeated with a 5-0 record.

Ferraro stole Jefferson’s first pass of the weather-perfect evening, and he didn’t complete his night of thievery until he had returned his third interception about 101 yards for Sherando’s fourth touchdown.

If not for missing an open receiver in Jefferson’s end zone on the first half’s last play, Sherando would have taken more than a 14-0 lead to its locker room at intermission.

As it was, the Warriors had already grabbed four interceptions and limited the Cougars to just three first downs and two long pass completions caught by Christian Johnson in a dominating first half.

Of Jefferson’s meager 155 yards of first-half total offense, Johnson’s three receptions accounted for 99 of those yards.

Early in the second half, Dylan Rivers caught a 48-yard touchdown throw from Patrick Minteer that boosted the lead to 22-0.

Ferraro’s third interception and subsequent return along the sideline in front of his cheering bench had the Warriors running smoothly along in front by a 28-0 count.

Mitchell Shiley completed Sherando’s scoring with his 23-yard run on a night when D.J. Myers did the bulk of the Warriors’ work (getting 175 rushing yards on 37 carries) but didn’t score.

Jefferson had five first downs in suffering its first loss after wins over Millbrook, Musselman and Hedgesville.

Even a fake punt on the first play of the fourth quarter had failed the Cougars, who will attempt to begin another bout of winning when they play winless Handley (Virginia) this week in Shenandoah Junction before seeing heavyweights Martinsburg and South Hagerstown on the road later in October.

Five pass interceptions are nearly impossible to overcome unless a team is in a shootout like that seen in college football’s Big 12 Conference . . . but Jefferson’s seven points don’t constitute shootout numbers.