SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – A playoff game that pinned two former Mountain East Conference rivals against each other with a chance of advancing to the regional finals had the ingredients of an instant classic battle. Saturday's contest between Notre Dame College and Shepherd University did not disappoint. In the Second Round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs, both teams scored a touchdown with less than 30 seconds remaining, and Shepherd snuck by with the 38-34 win.

Two talented offenses went head-to-head and they each scored on their first drive. The Falcons received the opening kickoff and went 75 yards down the field in 11 plays. Jalen Boyd started the game at running back as both Tyris Dickerson and Idris Lawrence were unavailable due to injury. Boyd ran the ball five times for 25 yards on the first drive.

"It's always next man up," said head coach Mickey Mental. "Jalen Boyd is a junior who has waited his turn behind two really good running backs who, unfortunately, got hurt. He answered the bell."

On first and goal at the Shepherd six-yard line, quarterback Chris Brimm was taken down for a one-yard loss and his helmet came off, and by rule, had to sit out one play. The Falcons went creative on their next play, as the ball was handed off to Boyd, running to the right. Devanaire Conliffe ran from the right side of the field to the left and took a handoff from Boyd. The Falcons' receiver ran 12 yards for his first rushing score of the season.

The Rams took possession and went 74 yards down the field in 12 plays to tie the contest at seven. SU quarterback Tyson Bagent completed his first three passes. On Shepherd's first rushing attempt of the game, Ty Hebron ran for one yard before Guam Lee forced a fumble. That was Lee's fifth forced fumble of the season, a new NDC single-season record, and eighth of his career, an NDC career record.

However, the ball popped up into the air and Greg Leonard recovered for the Rams. He ran 11 yards up the field and that put the Rams beyond midfield. Bagent would complete all seven of his passes on the drive before Hebron finished the drive with a two-yard touchdown run.

The first three drives took 6:34, 6:14 and 6:36 off the clock, respectively. After those drives, only one possession the rest of the way went over four and-a-half minutes.

Following a missed NDC field goal, SU took advantage as Bagent put the team on his back, throwing the ball 11 times and completing seven of them. He also ran eight yards for a first down. Jonathan Moss caught a six-yard TD pass to go ahead 14-7.

The Rams forced an NDC punt and their offense went down the field 53 yards in just over four minutes to pull ahead 21-7.

That's when the momentum swung back to the side of the Falcons. With about one minute to go before halftime, NDC started their possession. Knowing that Shepherd would receive the opening kickoff of the second half, they worked quickly. Brimm found Patterson for a 12-yard completion and then threw to Conliffe who drew a 15-yard defensive pass interference penalty. Brimm, who went 4-for-4 on the drive, would find Reece Perkins open with three consecutive passes. The first was 20 yards, the second was 28 and then Perkins caught a five-yard pass for six points.

That NDC momentum carried over to the second half. Bagent's second pass of Shepherd's opening drive was tipped by the intended receiver and intercepted by Bryce Sheppert. Sheppert intercepted two passes this season, and Saturday's pick was his first since Sept. 25. He has 10 in his career, which breaks the Notre Dame career record.

"The coaches preached tips and overthrows. I was trying to run to the ball and it just kind of fell into my lap," Sheppert said, who also led the team with 10 tackles in the contest.

The Falcons went to the air on their first play of the third quarter and Brimm hit Patterson in the endzone for 40 yards to knot the game up at 21. With the passing touchdown, Brimm reached 88 for his career and became the all-time leader in Mountain East Conference history.

"We knew we had to score [at the end of the second quarter] to stay in the game," said head coach Mickey Mental. "Having that momentum swing at the end and then Bryce [Sheppert] making a game-changing play there, to give us more momentum out of halftime kind of vaulted us as the game went on."

"It was fun to go out there and play a college playoff game. It was only my second college playoff game," Patterson mentioned, who finished the contest with 113 receiving yards, just two under his season-high. "Coach Mental said that we were going to throw the ball and challenge them downfield and I felt like we did a good job of that."

Shepherd could not move the ball on their next possession and punted for the first time all game. Conliffe returned his second punt of the season 52 yards to the Shepherd 26-yard line. The Falcons' drive stalled, but Tanner Harding came on to kick a 36-yard field goal, giving NDC their first lead since the first quarter (24-21).

The teams would trade field goals, as Hayden August-Scriven connected on a 32-yard field goal later in the third to tie the contest at 24. Notre Dame would go down the field 78 yards in nearly seven and-a-half minutes, but on fourth and goal, Notre Dame sent Harding back out to get the points. His kick went through the uprights, giving Notre Dame a 27-24 advantage with 14:52 to go in the game.

Shepherd receivers dropped a few passes on their next drive, but Bagent connected on three for a total of 49 yards. That set up a two-yard touchdown run by Hebron to put SU on top 31-27 with 12:50 remaining.

Neither team found the endzone for the next 12 minutes. Shepherd's defense was able to intercept two passes, but the Rams also had to punt the ball twice.

Following a Shepherd punt, Notre Dame started their drive with 2:29 on the clock. Brimm bounced back and became the hero of the drive, completing five passes and three of them were of 15 yards, or more. Possibly the most important NDC completion of the contest came on 4th and 5 at Shepherd's 21-yard line. Brimm sent a line drive to Conliffe, with a defender next to the Falcons' receiver and another defender running over to make a play of the ball. Instead, Conliffe grabbed the ball and muscled it away for the first down. Brimm then found Jeremy Hamilton, who dove to make the catch on the goal line, with 28 seconds remaining.

Shepherd returned the next kickoff 19 yards and started their final drive near midfield, with 20 seconds remaining. Bagent stepped forward, away from pressure for a 32-yard completion and on the second play of the drive, he rolled to the right and found Josh Gontarek, who jumped and made a diving catch. That gave Shepherd the 38-34 lead with one second on the clock.

The Falcons finished the contest with 497 yards to Shepherd's 429. NDC went 5-for-6 in the red zone and finish the season scoring on 52 of their 57 trips to the red zone.

"Definitely deserving of praise is our senior class," Mental said. "To go 49-8 over four and-a-half years is really special. Their leadership, toughness and brotherhood, I am forever grateful for that."

Notre Dame played 18 games in the calendar year of 2021, winning 16 of those contests and two MEC Championships.

"That's special. To answer the bell that many times in a year is big time. It's the hallmark of a good program. Now we just have to learn from this and become stronger and stay as tight as possible," Mental mentioned.