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Game Notes vs. Shepherd
PSAC Week 1 Preview
2009 Media Guide (.pdf)

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W. Va. - Shippensburg University opens its 105th season of college football and the 20th under head coach Rocky Rees on Saturday against regional-rival Shepherd in the 12th Annual Great Valley Classic. Kickoff from Ram Stadium is set for 1 p.m. The Red Raiders have won two of the last six meetings between the teams.

The game is being broadcast live on Shippensburg University's student radio station, WSYC 88.7 FM and on the internet at www.wsyc.org (radio pre-game starts at 12:50 p.m.). Matt Groseclose and Jon Bloch will handle the play-by-play. Invica Sports will be televising the game to be shown on tape delay by WJAL-TV out of Chambersburg. The Shepherd radio broadcast will be available on WRNR-AM, which can be accessed at www.talkradiowrnr.com/.

Saturday's game marks the 12th meeting between Shippensburg and Shepherd in the Great Valley Classic. Shepherd has won seven of the 11 games in the classic, which dates back to 1998. The Red Raiders last earned a victory over Shepherd in 2004, when Shippensburg started out an eventual PSAC Western Division Championship campaign with a 35-7 victory to start the season.

Shippensburg leads the overall series with Shepherd 28-16 and holds a mark of 12-10 over the Rams in games held at Ram Stadium. Shepherd has won four consecutive games in the series by a combined total of just 23 points and is 7-4 since the inception of the Great Valley Classic in 1998. The teams have met every year since 1991 with Shippensburg holding a 10-8 edge during that time.

The last time the two teams met in Shepherd was on Sept. 1, 2007 when the Rams came from behind in the final two minutes to defeat the Red Raiders, 19-14. Mark Springirth caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Lazear with just 1:48 on the clock to give the Rams the decisive edge. Redshirt sophomore fullback Chris Lynch helped Shippensburg with 124 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

The two teams first met in 1923 with Shepherd taking a 14-7 victory at home. Shippensburg won four of the first seven meetings with the Rams from 1923-31 before winning nine-straight games in the series from 1937-59. The Red Raiders also won six-straight from 1991-96. However, since 2000, Shepherd has won seven of the nine meetings.

The Shippensburg University football team was picked to finish fifth in the 2009 PSAC Eastern Division Preseason Coaches Poll. This football season marks the second year at Shippensburg in which the Red Raiders will be based in the Eastern Division.

Shippensburg was picked ahead of Kutztown, Millersville and Cheyney, while Bloomsburg was voted atop the Eastern Division poll. West Chester, East Stroudsburg and C.W. Post round out the top four.

“Being ranked fifth is what you kind of expect after the season that we had last year,” said head coach Rocky Rees. “The motivation is to win, just win, and we're going to go out and try to make that happen.”

Shepherd enters the 2009 season after a disappointing sixth-place finish in the WVIAC that ended a streak of three consecutive NCAA Division II Football Championship appearances. Fifteen starters return to the lineup for the Rams.

The Rams return 46 letterwinners and feature four players that were named to the All-WVIAC
Preseason Team: senior offensive lineman Jeremy Hairston, junior running back Jimmy Sutch, junior cornerback Deante Steele and senior free safety Layton Hersh. Hairston, a three-year starter along the offensive line, will also serve as one of the team's captains this season along with senior wide receiver Nasser Muhammad, senior defensive lineman Frank Herrera and junior linebacker Brian Taylor.