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SHEPHERDSTOWN -- Calling Lock Haven's game versus the Shepherd Rams a wild one is an understatement. After going down 31-3 at the half, a second-half scoring surge, and a couple of lucky bounces led Lock Haven (2-3) to outscore the Rams (4-1) 35-14 in the second half and nearly pull off a miraculous comeback in a 45-38 loss.
1. Lock Haven played a disastrous first half
The Bald Eagles looked like a team coming off three straight close games on Saturday, as they seemed fatigued and completely overwhelmed early in the game. This is now the second game in a row they came out the gates sluggish. But unlike last week’s game against Millersville, the second half surge wasn’t enough to make up for it. Both the offense and the defense looked helpless early, completely overwhelmed by the speed of the Rams.
Lock Haven coach Dan Mulrooney talked pregame about his desire to start fast against a Shepherd team who had struggled in the first 30 minutes in just about every game so far. Needless to say, going into the locker room down 31-3 was not exactly the fast start Mulrooney was looking for.
"We got punched in the mouth in the first half," Mulrooney said. "We were ready to play, that's what I don't understand. Sometimes football has a way of humbling you and it just doesn't go your way."
2. Lock Haven's offense is at its best when it's throwing the ball
Last year the Bald Eagles ground game was what powered their offense, due in large part to having a future NFL running back in their backfield. But this year, excluding their Week 1 game against Glenville State, the run game has been stuck in the mud.
Again on Saturday Lock Haven had a two-man committee of KJ Howard and Damir Green, and again neither could get much of anything going.
The Bald Eagles rushed for 35 total yards, their third out of the last four games, failing to rush for over 100 yards. Lock Haven's second half comeback was fueled mostly by the passing game as Jackson Ostrowsky threw for 470 yards, which is fourth all-time in Bald Eagle history, and the most a PSAC quarterback has thrown in a single game since 2022.
The faltering run game is also really beginning to hurt the Bald Eagles on offense, as it constantly sets them facing second-and-long, or third-and-long, culminating to many three-and-outs.
"We couldn't get first downs in the first half," Mulrooney said when talking about his offense's early struggles. "It was like three-and-out, three-and-out, they [Shepherd] won first down and it’s three-and-out. Our plan was just if we get first downs our offense can start working, we know how electric our passing game is."
3. Putting seven or eight guys in the box every play may be the only way Lock Haven can stop the run
While Lock Haven seems incapable of running the ball effectively so far, their opponents have no such issue. In their first four PSAC games, the Bald Eagles have failed to hold an opponent under 150 yards rushing, with the last two games ending with their opponents well over 200 yards on the ground.
The Rams racked up 183 yards rushing in the first half alone, and ended the game nine yards short of 300 yards. A mix of lackluster push from the D-line, to a second unit seemingly surrendering five or six yards after contact has led to nothing short of a complete mess.
Lock Haven began throwing seven, eight or even nine players up near the line of scrimmage, giving them the advantage that they desperately needed. The risk of doing that, however, is it leaves an opportunity for opponents to cash in on the deep ball. When you have two All-PSAC safeties, and a corner group led by veteran Darryl Pollard, you can let opponents go one-on-one with the opposing receivers and be perfectly fine.
That strategy may be the only way Lock Haven has any hope of stopping the run based on how they have played so far.
4. Do not take your foot off the gas versus this team, ever
Looking at a halftime score of 31-3, you could see a good number of Rams fans begin to hit the country roads to take them home, assuming a blow out was on the way. Even I was preparing for Shepherd to run it up, and oh boy how wrong I and everyone else was.
The second half started pretty normal. Shepherd controlled the clock, stopped Lock Haven's offense and with just a little under six minutes left in the third, you could begin to see some of the Rams backups enter the game. With about 20 total minutes of game time left, there was seemingly no hope for Lock Haven, and that is when the madness began.
The Bald Eagles went on to outscore the Rams an astounding 35-14 in the second half, due in large part to their passing attack gaining momentum. Ostrowsky fired a 45-yard pass down field to Corahn Alleyne to open up the floodgates, before throwing three more in the second half. T'iar Young, Quon Williams and KJ Howard were the other Bald Eagles to catch touchdowns, and all of a sudden Lock Haven pulled the game within seven points, trailing 38-31. Despite not being able to finish the comeback, Lock Haven not giving in says a lot about what kind of team this is.
"Lets keep going, let’s keep fighting." Mulrooney said when asked about what was going through his mind in the second half. "I told the team that you want to have those moments where you could shock someone, or you can make them look in awe when you defeat them. That’s the whole reason you coach, that’s the whole reason you play, and we were close to that shock and awe, to shutting up the whole crowd. We didn’t back down from anything. No matter what is thrown in your face, just keep competing, and our kids did that."
5. One possession games continue to not go the Bald Eagles way
Lock Haven is 3-5 in one possession games dating back to last year, with three wins coming via a last-second hail mary, and two wins versus an underwhelming Millersville squad. And in those five losses, they have a turnover differential of minus-4. In one possession games turnovers are usually the difference, and that was the case Saturday with Ostrowsky being picked off twice for the second consecutive week.
While the Rams did not score on either of those turnovers, that is still two possessions lost, if one of those ends up in points instead, who knows what happens. Lock Haven got lucky their two INTs did not result in a loss, they would not get so lucky versus Shepherd. If Lock Haven wants to knock off one of the PSAC's top teams and get that statement win they have so desperately been chasing, they need to not only not make as many mistakes, but also force their opponents to make some. Lock Haven has only generated one pick against a PSAC school, meanwhile they have thrown five.
Lock Haven has a golden chance to shock the PSAC world, as next week they are on the road again, this time traveling to Kutztown to take on the Top-10 ranked Golden Bears. Lock Haven nearly beat Kutztown last year in a game that ended 7-3.