SHEPHERDSTOWN, West. Va. – A final two-point conversion pass attempt was tipped at the line of scrimmage and the ball tumbled to the ground for a sad ending.

Shepherd 34, Grand Valley 32 was the final in a hard-hitting Division II national semifinal that was played at an exhausting pace Saturday.

Shepherd, unbeaten, showed why. The Rams left it all on the field just as the Lakers did. Only they made a few less mistakes.

Allowing three long runs that led to scores; throwing three interceptions; missing a field goal and having one blocked; suffering some injuries to playmaking wide receivers; playing from behind against a strong Shepherd defense; and losing a matchup with a big, fast wide receiver didn't add up for the Lakers.

"No (Jamie) Potts, no (Matt) Williams, no (Nick) Dodson and it was probably too far to run at that time in the game, so we were scrambling," Grand Valley coach Matt Williams said of the last-chance two-point try that the Lakers were forced to attempt with its three most productive wide receivers sidelined by injuries that either happened or worsened in the game.,

"It was a cumulative effect that came to fruition on that two-point play," Mitchell said. "We made an incredible effort to get to that point from down two scores, but we made too many mistakes that put us in a tough position against a very good Shepherd team."

The Rams lost their starting quarterback early in the game to injury on a sack, but back-up Connor Jessup came on and completed 15-of-20 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns, including nine passes to big wide receiver Billy Brown, who finished with 132 yards and two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, the Shepherd defense that Mitchell had warned his team about all week played physical and just tough enough to help its team earn the spot in next week's national championship game in Kansas City.

"It's frustrating," Mitchell said. "But that's a good team, too good of a team to make the kind of mistakes we made in the red zone. We had plenty of opportunities in the red zone, but we didn't take advantage of enough of them."

The Lakers went 9-2 in the regular season, but then avenged the two losses in a dramatic playoff run with wins over Ashland and Ferris and knocked off the defending national champs in Colorado State-Pueblo, too.

It was a brilliant run finally halted in the pan handle of West Virginia, 600 miles from home. The Lakers fashioned the run with road wins, which made it all the more impressive.  They just came up two points short in Shepherd in the semifinals.

"Kudos to Shepherd," Mitchell said. "They are tough."

Senior Matt Judon, who set the Division II record for single season sacks with 21 during the game, was clearly disappointed.

"I will miss it," he said. "I enjoyed every step of the journey though."

Bart Williams, the sophomore quarterback who went over 4,000 yards passing for the season during the game, the most ever in a single year by a Laker quarterback, lamented three interceptions and the loss.

"I feel bad for the seniors, and really just not thinking about the future right now," he said.

Judon represents the ability and class of the 10 departing seniors. The NFL likely beckons him. Williams represents the promise of the future Grand Valley teams that make playoff runs.

"We really wanted to take that one more step for the seniors," Williams said. "I'm sure it is good to have that experience, but it just hurts right now."

It hurt, but on the heels of a 6-5 season a year ago, it was an outstanding accomplishment for this team and the Grand Valley program.

And get this: Of the 22 starters Saturday, 17 should return next year.