Brown

It was the fourth quarter of the PSAC crossover game against Edinboro.

Given the time to scan the Fighting Scot defense for a second- and even third-choice receiver, Morgan punctured the defense for 413 yards (most of that going to Cameron Dorner whose 10 receptions brought in 201 yards) as Shepherd put away the Fighting Scots, 35-28, to bring into focus this week’s game at California.

Shepherd players were being injured at an alarming rate. And an abundance of reserves were dotting the field on both offense and defense. Meanwhile, upstart Edinboro was giving its two passers time enough to get crucial receptions and its rushing offense was making Shepherd tacklers miss more often than not.

Edinboro never ceded any sacks to the Ram defense. With the outcome still very much in doubt and the score knotted at 21-21, Morgan and his offense countered an Edinboro score and subsequent two-point conversion by converting a third-and-11 problem into a first down on a completion to Jeremiah Taylor enroute to a tie-breaking TD that successfully culminated a 69-yard drive.

Dorner

Ahead again at 28-21, Morgan and company would travel a TD-producing 87 yards with long-gainers to Dorner and Malakai Brown, who had already given the Rams a 100-yard kickoff return score in the first half.

Near-perfect pass protection allowed Morgan to spy Barry Hill in the back of the Edinboro end zone from 15 yards away . . . and the Rams had the breathing room two-touchdown lead they would need.

A second 30-plus yards run through the arm tackle attempts of several Rams gave Brian Trobel another score and the Fighting Scots were celebrating again, behind by just seven points.

The time on the game clock was becoming important, when the Rams set up again on their own six, following a punt that was allowed to roll and roll.

Shepherd’s still-precarious lead was only 35-28.

Morgan

A Morgan pump fake and completion to the ever-present Dorner got the Rams out to their 39. An Edinboro blitz failed and Nazhir Russell ran to Fighting Scot 48.

Kordell Batten caught a short, underneath pass that he took to the 33.

When Morgan scrambled away from trouble, he misjudged the first down marker (which was lying on the ground), sliding about seven yards shy of a first down.

No matter. Morgan threw again to Batten at the four.

Instead of going for a cosmetic score, Morgan took a knee on consecutive snaps to run out the clock.

Taylor

Morgan had thrown for 413 yards on his 24 completions. Shepherd had a hard-pressed 2-0 record, with California waiting this week in western Pennsylvania. The Vulcans opened their season last weekend when they scored 24 unanswered points in the turn-around fourth quarter to beat visiting Kutztown, 31-20.

This will be another crossover conference game, where the Rams will look for healthy players and much better tackling against the best team they have seen this year.

Batten