Box Score

KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Shippensburg University football team was a victim to big plays on Saturday afternoon at University Field, dropping a 42-21 decision to the Kutztown Golden Bears. Red-shirt junior Mike Harris finished with a career-high 172 receiving yards and two touchdowns to lead the Red Raider attack.

Shippensburg (3-4, 2-2 PSAC East) held a seven-minute edge in time of possession and ran 80 plays from scrimmage in the contest. Harris finished with seven receptions, but Kutztown finished the game with 253 rushing yards on 40 carries. 

The red-shirt junior receiver had a 32-yard punt return early in the fourth quarter and then caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from red-shirt junior Chad DiFebbo on the next play for the second Red Raider score of the game.

Harris then caught a 46-yard Hail Mary pass from DiFebbo on an untimed down at the end of the game to bring the score to its final margin of 42-21.

The Red Raiders nearly drew first blood in the opening quarter, but a 67-yard touchdown run by red-shirt sophomore Chris Infante was negated on the first play of the team's third drive due to an illegal shift penalty.

On the ensuing drive, Kutztown junior Dontay Wilson scampered through the defense for a 73-yard touchdown run to give the Golden Bears the lead. Shippensburg stalled on its next drive, and sophomore Kendall Coleman returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown to extend Kutztown's lead to 14 points at the 7:07 mark of the first quarter.

Shippensburg responded with a solid, time-consuming drive to get on the scoreboard. A 14-yard touchdown run from Marshall capped off a 13-play, 80-yard drive to bring the score to 14-7 at 1:13 of the first quarter.

The Golden Bears re-gained the momentum and a two-touchdown lead after working with a short field from an illegal procedure penalty. A pass from quarterback Shane Martin to sophomore Jason Uhlig brought the score to 21-7 at 12:45 of the second quarter.

Shippensburg drove into Kutztown territory on the next drive but ran into trouble with an interception by Brent Howard that brought the ball to the Shippensburg 32-yard line. Two plays later, Wilson broke through for a second rushing touchdown to give Kutztown a 28-7 lead with 7:38 to play in the first half.   

Wilson finished with 143 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries, while Martin completed six passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns. DiFebbo completed 15 passes for 256 yards.

Shippensburg returns to action next weekend for a contest at West Chester that begins at 2:05 p.m.