EMORY, Va. – The Shenandoah University football team saw its comeback fall just short in a 52-50 ODAC loss at Emory and Henry Saturday afternoon.

Shenandoah (3-4, 1-3 ODAC) trailed 38-14 early in the third quarter but had a chance to tie it following a Hayden Bauserman-to-Justin Ayres 20-yard TD pass with eight seconds remaining.

Bauserman's ensuing 2-point conversion pass attempt to Jake Wallace fell incomplete, allowing E&H (3-3, 2-2) to escape with the win.

IN DEPTH

Following the failed PAT, SU successfully executed an onside-kick and gained possession of the ball on its own 41 with six seconds left. Unfortunately for the Hornets faithful, Bauserman's hail mary pass was picked off by Jesse Santiago to end the comeback attempt.

The touchdown pass to Ayres, one of five that Bauserman had on the day, capped a comeback in which Shenandoah nearly erased a 24-point lead held by the Wasps with 10:04 remaining in the third quarter.

SU scored on six of its next 10 possessions, scoring five touchdowns and kicking one field goal while forcing two E&H fumbles and three punts in that same span.

Unfortunately, Shenandoah also missed a PAT kick and had a bad punt snap that resulted in the Wasps taking over on the Hornets 13 late in the fourth quarter that led to the Wasps game-clinching drive.

Sam Wagner had that TD for the hosts, rumbling in from the 13 to make it 52-37 with 7:53 remaining.

Bauserman, who finished with 406 yards passing on 36 completions in 66 attempts, drove the Hornets 62 yards in nine plays to cut the deficit to 52-44 with 3:15 left.

Shenandoah got a three-and-out on defense, setting the offense up to try and tie the game with a TD and a two-point conversion. Bauserman's TD pass to Ayers ended a 10-play, 80-yard drive that took 2:02.

In addition to bad punt snap and failed PAT, SU fumbled on its opening offensive play of the contest, threw two interceptions and was flagged 10 times for 106 penalty yards.

QUOTABLE

"We did not execute well enough to win," head coach Scott Yoder said. "I am proud of the effort for the comeback but too many mistakes doomed us today." 

UP NEXT

Shenandoah travels to Bridgewater next Saturday for a 2 p.m. ODAC contest.

GAME NOTES

• The 50 points is the most points scored in a loss in program history
• Emory and Henry snapped a two-game losing streak to SU with the win
• E&H leads the all-time series 5-2
• Hayden Bauserman is now five TD passes from the ODAC record of 124 held by Guilford's Josh Vogelbach
• SU had two players with more than 100 yards receiving for the first time all season
• The 66 attempts by Bauserman is a new program record
• Ethan Bigbee had 14 receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown. The 14 receptions ties a school record originally set by Michael Ashwell '18 and matched by Jake Wallace earlier this season

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