Fisher

And through those same years, football teams have won more games with unsung offensive linemen who protect their quarterbacks, stay healthy and provide enough space for the backs to gain yardage than other reasons their side is doing well.

That doesn’t change. If the offensive line is a cohesive one and maintains its stay-on-the-field health, any team might do well in the win-loss columns.

While Shepherd has scored over 40 points a game and has its skilled players dotting all-conference and even All-American teams, it has been its offensive line that rarely falters or gets out-played.

Last year, the Rams quietly did more of the same low-key winning — beating everybody except Kutztown (in the regular season) and Ferris State in the national semifinals.

Stilley

There were seniors and even graduate students that provided steady — even if unseen or mostly unnoticed — offensive line play in a season that was completed with a 13-2 overall record and three wins in the NCAA Division II national playoffs.

All that winning in 2021 has gained the attention of the football world. Even though it was downed deep in the playoffs by Ferris State University, the Rams have been seen as the second-best team in the country in one pre-season poll.

To even come close to that prediction, the Rams will need the near error-free play of interior linemen Joey Fisher and Adam Stilley, both starters from a year ago.

Fisher garnered the most post-season laurels. He started all 15 games. He finished all 15 games. And he was effective enough that he was awarded second-team All-American honors and second-team All-Super Region One recognition. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference had Fisher on its first-team All-Conference team.

Fisher is one of the tallest lineman ever to play at Shepherd. At 6-foot-5, he played at about 290 pounds last season. He has gone on past 300 pounds this season, giving the Rams a pillar of talent at right tackle. Stilley transferred to Shepherd from WVU and was in his first season as a NCAA Division II stalwart when he suffered an injury in the ninth game and then missed games toward the close of the season.

He is returning to his center position this fall and gives the Rams both an experienced hand and can almost be like a coach on the field.

Standing 6-foot-1 and listed at 290 pounds, Stilley has not only been a standout player but has been a more-than-capable student, earning McMurran Scholar status in the classroom and entering graduate school for the 2022-2023 school term.

Stilley played at all-conquering Martinsburg High School, during one of its runs to multiple state championships. Fisher played in nearby Washington County (Maryland) for Clear Spring High School.

Shepherd has been given praise and deserved respect for what it has recently accomplished on the field. If it continues to defeat opponent after opponent, it will be partially because of the performances of both Fisher and Stilley as much as any player it has returning this season.

Offensive linemen can be worth a football fortune. And Fisher and Stilley are Shepherd’s gold-gilded fortune.