Football Closes 2026 Season With Defeat To Shenandoah
Shapiro dominates, scores first in-conference touchdown of season despite result
from Bryce Johnson, Director of Athletic Communications
WINCHESTER, Va. – The Guilford College football team (1-9, 0-7 ODAC) concluded their season taking a 42-7 defeat to Shenandoah University (6-4, 4-3 ODAC) in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action at Glo-Fiber Field on Saturday afternoon.
SU outgained the Quakers 451-331 including 160-70 on the ground, though the margin in the air was narrow at just 291-261. The problem, however, was the turnovers as five GC drives concluded early on four interceptions and a lost fumble. Guilford actually also finished with more first downs, 19-18.
Tristan Gabrels (Buford, Ga.) quarterbacked a majority of the game, completing 19-of-31 for 214 yards and was also the team’s leading rusher, gaining 79 yards although his net was limited to just 55 due to a trio of sacks. He threw a touchdown but unfortunately, he also was responsible for five turnovers on four interceptions and one lost fumble. Luke Hyatt (Wadesboro, N.C.) took over late, completing 4-of-7 for 47 yards. Josh Long (Elon, N.C.) was good with four catches for 58 yards, but this one was the Shane Shapiro (Jacksonville, N.C.) show. In his final game as a Quaker, the senior wideout brought in 13 of his 14 targets taking them for 156 yards and scoring the lone GC touchdown.
Mekhi Brown was great throwing the ball for the hosts, completing 15-of-25 for 259 yards with three scores before Chase Oniel took over, connecting on all-four of his passes for 36 yards. Aidan McCloskey took eight carried for a game-high 72 yards, scoring twice. JoJo Sovula and Roge’t Walker finished tied for SU’s team-lead with four catchers each but only gained 36 and 11 yards apiece. Will Yoder had the most yardage with 83 on just two grabs, taking one for a TD and Kyle Grant scored on two of his three catches going for 65 yards.
Garrett Wilson (Winston-Salem, N.C.) had a game-high 11 tackles followed by Simeon Reid (Morganton, N.C.) and Jaden Shively (Denton, N.C.) who had eight each with Reid registering a TFL. Aaron Jones (La Grange, N.C.) forced a fumble that was recovered by Jordan Thomas (Spartanburg, S.C.). Nick English led SU with eight takedowns, followed by Tayton Smaldone and Brennan Wallace with six tackles. Jaren Mitchell had two interceptions for the hosts and also recovered a fumble that was forced by Gabriel Sanchez. Kamren Wells and Smaldone also had one pick each.
Shenandoah received the opening kickoff and went right down the field to score the game’s initial touchdown. After misfiring on his first toss of the game, Brown was a perfect 6-for-6 the rest of the drive before Aidan McCloskey finished off the 10-play, 77-yard drive from six away. GC picked up a first down but had to punt the ball back and the Hornets immediately added on, with Brown hitting Will Yoder on the first play of the drive and he did the rest, for a 69-yard score. After the PAT, the score would be 14-0 which is where it stood at the break.
On the second play of the second, Brown tossed to Kyle Grant for a 21-yard score, finishing an eight-play, 54-yard drive with an extended advantage before Guilford’s first extended drive. Gabrels linked with Shapiro for 13, then with Long for 20 and 21 on consecutive passes before scrambling for 18 himself, advancing all the way to the three yardline. Unfortunately, a fumble on another Gabrels rush attempt halted the drive. Guilford did get a stop but a brilliant punt by Connor Moyssiadis pinned them at their one, and GC never got out of the shadow of their own endzone. Even after the punt, SU had a short field, and they cashed in as Brown threw another score to Grant, this time from 28 away, upping their advantage at the half to 28-0.
As Guilford tried to climb back into the game in the second half, turnovers became an issue as a trio of times GC saw their drives cut short by interceptions. Shenandoah largely called off the dogs, though, turning to the ground game more often. In the third, after an interception gave SU a short field, Kellen Lewis ran in a touchdown from eight yards out then at the end of the stanza, McCloskey finished a 66-yard drive over five plays by running one in from 28 yards. In between, GC got their score, putting together a 12-play, 75-yard drive that Shapiro capped off with a nine-yard TD catch as the score finalized at 42-7.
This concludes Guilford football’s 2026 season.
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