Saturday afternoon marks a historic day for Shepherd University and its football team. The Shepherd Rams will face off against Northwest Missouri State in the NCAA Division II National Championship.
This is the first time in the school’s history Shepherd University is competing for a national football championship. The team headed out from Shepherdstown for Kansas City, Kansas on Wednesday, and many fans, the band, cheerleaders, and Shepherd faculty followed early Friday morning.
Jessi Smith is a nursing student at Shepherd. She says the championship game has been on everybody’s mind.
“It just seems like everybody has bonded, and like, you know trying to get together to go to Kansas City and it’s just in the community, it’s been huge. Everybody comes in and they’re like, are you going to the game? And it’s just super exciting,” she said.
Governor Tomblin made a friendly wager on the game with Missouri Governor Jay Nixon. Following a Rams victory, Nixon will send Tomblin award-winning Missouri barbecue, and if the Bearcats win, Tomblin will send Nixon apples from the Eastern Panhandle.
The Shepherd Rams face off against the Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats at 4:00 p.m. Saturday, December 19, at Sporting Park in Kansas City.
Click here for information on ways to watch the game.