INDIANA, Pa. – Shepherd quarterback Tyson Bagent put the proverbial dagger into the Crimson Hawks' hearts with a 23-yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds to play lifting the Rams to a 31-27 win over IUP in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Division II Championship at Miller Stadium Saturday afternoon.
 
The touchdown capped an 8-play, 84-yard drive in the final 90 seconds, ending IUP's season with a 10-2 overall record. Shepherd advances to play regional top-seed Slippery Rock in next week's second round.
 
The Crimson Hawks had taken a 27-24 lead with 1:40 to play on a 1-yard plunge by running back Justice Evans. The touchdown wrapped up a 16-play, 75-yard drive that lasted 7:52 for the Crimson Hawks, who converted three third downs and a fourth down on the drive.
 
The biggest plays came near the end of the drive as receiver Duane Brown converted a 4th-and-1 on a Wildcat run at the Shepherd 32 before catching a 31-yard pass to put IUP inside the 1-yard line. The next play Evans went in for the score.
 
Shepherd's go-ahead touchdown drive was the fourth of more than 75 yards on the day. The Rams also scored touchdowns after drives of 99, 98 and 75 yards, and converted a field goal after a 68-yard drive.
 
Shepherd (10-2) took a 21-7 lead early in the third quarter after a 52-yard touchdown pass by Bagent. The Crimson Hawks answered at the end of the quarter with an 82-yard scoring drive as Brown ran it in from two yards out from the Wildcat.
 
The IUP defense clamped down to force a 3-and-out and the offense used a 10-play drive ending in a 3-yard scoring toss from Quinton Maxwell to receiver JoJo Gause to narrow the gap. Unfortunately, the snap on the point after was low and the kick wasn't converted and Shepherd held onto a 21-20 lead.
 
The Rams kicked their field goal to take a 24-20 lead with 9:34 left before IUP embarked on its longest scoring drive of the season.
 
Both teams combined for 976 yards, including 701 through the air, and 51 first downs. Maxwell finished 28-of-39 for 312 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also ran for 16 yards on a 4th-and-1 in the fourth quarter.
 
He spread the wealth to six different receivers, including Gause who had seven catches for 77 yards and a touchdown. Evans also had seven catches for 60 yards while receiver Dom McNeil had six grabs for 73, Brown had five for 66, running back Malik Anderson had two for 34 and tight end had a 2-yard touchdown reception.
 
Samir Bullock, one of the best running backs in program history, ended his career with a game-high 137 rushing yards on 20 carries.
 
Defensively, linebacker Damon Lloyd had a team-best 11 tackles. Corner Nazir Streater had nine stops, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery and his running mate JR Stevens added six tackles, a tackle-for-loss, and a pass breakup.
 
The Crimson Hawks, who led the PSAC in sacks, couldn't get one on Bagent Saturday. Shepherd only gave up eight sacks during the regular season.
 
Notes
IUP entered the postseason ranked No. 18 in the AFCA Coaches poll and No. 16 in the D2Football.com Media poll … The IUP seniors helped the Crimson Hawks go 41-8 over the last four seasons with three NCAA playoff appearances and three 10-win seasons … Maxwell broke the school's all-time single season passing yards record and finished the year with 3,129 … He also broke the touchdowns responsible for record with 38, passing for 34 and rushing for four … Both records were owned by Andrew Krewatch (3,100; 37) … Lloyd ended his career with 384 total tackles, the sixth best in IUP history … Brown's 19 total touchdowns this year are tied for the third most in program history … IUP was making its 19th all-time NCAA playoff appearance, the fourth most in Division II history.
 
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