BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University football team attempted to play spoiler on Saturday afternoon as it gave the visiting Rams of Shepherd University everything it could handle before eventually falling in the final minutes, 42-35, at Danny Hale Field at Redman Stadium. With the loss, the Huskies will, unfortunately, see their consecutive winning season streak end at 20 as they dropped to 4-6 overall and 3-4 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division with one regular-season game remaining. The Rams, meanwhile, kept their NCAA postseason hopes alive as they improved to 8-2 overall and 6-1 in divisional play.

Redshirt junior Nyfease West (Philadelphia, Pa./North Penn) gave the Huskies a 35-28 advantage on his second touchdown of the day with 12:28 left in regulation before the Rams scored the final 14 points to escape with the seven-point win. After Bloomsburg took the lead, Shepherd answered just 1:13 later when Tyson Bagent hooked up with Devin Phelps on a 46-yard touchdown pass with 11:15 remaining. However, the Huskies kept a one-point lead when junior Alex Findura (Stockbridge, Ga./Woodland) blocked the extra point attempt from Rams' kicker Hayden August-Scriven. But, after Bloomsburg went three-and-out on its ensuing possession, the visitors recaptured the lead when Deonte Glover found paydirt from three yards out - his fifth rushing score of the game - with 5:31 left in regulation as the Rams took a 40-35 lead. Shepherd went for two and converted when Bagent found Dylan Brewer in the back of the endzone to extend the margin to 42-35.

Bloomsburg and Shepherd exchanged scoreless possessions and, after a short punt, the Huskies found themselves with excellent field position with 2:10 left down by seven. Starting at the Shepherd 45, Bloomsburg opened the drive with an incomplete pass and a 10-yard sack of redshirt freshman quarterback Logan Leiby (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove Area) to set up a third-and-20 from the Bloomsburg 45. Leiby, however, found senior Michael Allen (Oley, Pa./Fleetwood) for a 20-yard gain to give the Huskies new life at the Shepherd 35. The Huskies added another first down on the drive after a defensive pass interference penalty, which set up first-and-ten from the 15. Following a Huskies' timeout, Leiby attempted to find Allen near the goal line, but Donnell Howard stepped in front of the senior wideout and picked off the pass to end the Bloomsburg attempt at an upset.

The Huskies finished with 298 yards of total offense, with 207 of those coming through the air. Leiby finished 16-of-29 for 187 yards with three touchdowns and two picks while redshirt senior Duffy Gilhool (Upper Chichester, Pa./Chichester) completed one pass for 20 yards in the first quarter as the Huskies used a little trickery early. Allen had another sensational afternoon as he finished with eight catches for 132 yards and two scores. Allen now has 810 receiving yards on the year - a career-high and the 14th-highest single-season total in program history. West added three catches for 29 yards and one score and led the Huskies on the ground with 54 yards and another touchdown on 11 carries. Redshirt sophomore Khalil Nelson (Philadelphia, Pa./Mastery Charter Thomas) had 44 yards rushing on 13 carries.

But, Glover's career afternoon for the Rams proved to be just enough. The senior running back finished with 135 yards rushing and five touchdowns on 19 carries. Bagent, the PSAC's leader in passing yardage entering the day, finished 30-of-39 for 336 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Dylan Brewer caught a game-high 13 passes for 134 yards while Phelps added seven receptions for 130 yards and the lone touchdown through the air. Shepherd, which came in as the PSAC leader in total offense, had 476 yards on the afternoon.

Shepherd opened quickly as Glover had touchdown runs of 44 and eight yards in the opening quarter to give the Rams a 14-0 lead after the first stanza.

But, the Huskies did not back down and put together a 21-point second quarter as the teams went to their respective locker rooms at halftime all knotted at 21-21. Allen started the scoring as he hauled in a six-yard touchdown pass from Leiby with 13:28 left in the first half to cut the Shepherd lead to 14-7. The Rams stormed right back as they got a four-yard run from Glover to cap off a nine-play, 75-yard drive to retake a two-touchdown advantage. Three minutes later, Bloomsburg cut the lead to seven when Leiby hooked up with West on a 21-yard pitch-and-catch for a touchdown, which culminated a seven-play drive. Then, with just 47 seconds left in the opening half, Leiby called his own number for a 12-yard touchdown run as Bloomsburg drew even with Shepherd following sophomore Cameron Shollenberger's (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove Area) extra point.

Bloomsburg took its first lead of the game when Leiby, again, found Allen for a six-yard touchdown to end an eight-play, 65-yard drive. Shollenberger's point-after gave the Huskies a 28-21 lead with 9:48 left in the third quarter. But, Glover notched his fourth rushing touchdown of the day - this time on a three-yard burst into the endzone - to bring the Rams even at 28-28 with 34 seconds left in the third and to set the stage for the final 15 minutes of action.

Defensively, the Huskies had four players tied with a team-high eight tackles on the afternoon - redshirt sophomore Logan Yohn (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown), redshirt sophomore Chris Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West), junior Aaron Trumino (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley), and senior Alex Annan (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg). Redshirt sophomore Cameron Young (Elysburg, Pa./Southern Columbia) had his third interception of the season. Junior Alex Findura (Stockbridge, Ga./Woodland) stuffed the box score with three tackles, one-and-a-half tackles for a loss, one fumble recovery, one pass breakup, and the blocked extra point early in the fourth quarter. Junior Khalif Hopkins-Bey (Philadelphia, Pa./Springfield Township) and redshirt sophomore Sir Michael Larsen (Philadelphia, Pa./Monsignor Bonner) each had one sack. For the Rams, Chrys Lane and Ponce Deleon had ten tackles apiece while Kyle Smith had three sacks - two of which came on the Huskies' potential game-tying drive.

Because Slippery Rock will play for the PSAC Championship next Saturday, the Huskies will now entertain Edinboro University in the 2019 season finale at Danny Hale Field at Redman Stadium. Kickoff is slated for noon with senior football student-athletes, cheerleaders, and band members being honored pre-game. Bloomsburg and Edinboro met earlier this season in northwest Pennsylvania with an Allen punt return for a touchdown proving to be the difference in a 24-21 win over the Fighting Scots.