Shepherd University Coach Monte Cater is inducted into the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 2023. Courtesy photo

SHEPHERDSTOWN — The unbeaten Rams of Coach Monte Cater were readying to fly to Kansas City for an appearance in the national championship game. They had stopped a two-point conversion attempt by Grand Valley State University in the waning moments of a breathe-hard, 34-32, win staged at Ram Stadium in the numbing cold against Grand Valley State (Michigan).

It was Cater’s 29th team at Shepherd University. And it was the best. In Kansas City, the Rams would face equally unbeaten Northwest Missouri State University, a fixture on the national scene.

Shepherd once could claim a double-figures lead against Grand Valley State, but in the creeping darkness at the very end, two points was enough to push the Rams to their highest point in the school’s football history.

Quarterback Connor Jessop had bounced off the bench to replace all-conference Jeff Ziemba, who had been injured. Jessop, a long and whip-armed passer who had transferred from Virginia Tech, would complete 15-of-20 passes for 173 yards. Allen Cross would run 16 times for 157 yards and premier wide receiver Billy Brown would catch nine passes for 132 yards, as the once-formidable 34-19 lead finally held sway.

The all-everything punt return and kickoff return man C.J. Davis, who would also receive honors for his skilled work in the Ram defensive secondary, had nine tackles and five pass breakups on the gray and shiver-producing afternoon.

The Rams had marched through the Mountain East Conference with high-scoring home wins over Charleston, Notre Dame, West Virginia State, West Liberty and Urbana. Shepherd averaged nearly 47 points a game in taming those five conference schools. On the road, the Rams stopped West Virginia Wesleyan, Virginia-Wise, Glenville, Concord and Fairmont and never scored fewer than 35 points in doing so.

When the coveted NCAA Division II playoffs came, the Rams had earned an opening round home game against Indiana of Pennsylvania and edged the Crimson Hawks, 17-13. Then came another PSAC team — Slippery Rock — and Shepherd won again, 28-16. Next came the national semifinals, where highly acclaimed Grand Valley State visited from just outside of Detroit.

Individual player honors and recognition poured into the office of sports information director Chip Ransom.

Named to the conference’s first team were Ziemba, Jon Hammer, Lavonte Hights and Billy Brown from the offense and defensive standouts or specialists James Gupton, Myles Humphrey, C.J. Davis, Tre Sullivan, place kicker Ryan Earls and Shaneil Jenkins. Ziemba was the MEC’s Offensive Player of the Year and Jenkins was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Shepherd dominated the league’s all-conference second team with players Octavius Thomas, Adam Coles, Keon Robinson, Isaiah Ross, Jacob Kingston, Zach Buffkin, Jamie Deason, Allen Cross and Jabre Lolley.

Receiver Brown had 83 receptions for 1,397 yards, even before making his nine catches in the loss to Northwest Missouri State. He set the school’s single season record for both number of receptions and receiving yardage. Specialist Earls booted 18 field goals on the season.

The once-unbeaten season came to an abrupt end against Northwest Missouri State. But it had been Shepherd’s all-time high water mark and after 10 years any and all of that team’s seniors or final-year players are now eligible to be voted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.