SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - The Shippensburg University football team will be seeking its 400th NCAA victory this afternoon from SU Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium when it hosts Cheyney on Homecoming.
The Red Raiders are 48-31-3 in Homecoming games, including a 12-8 record under head coach Rocky Rees. Shippensburg has won two of its last five games on Homecoming, including last year's rain-soaked affair over West Chester.
The game is being broadcast live on Shippensburg University's student radio station, WSYC 88.7 FM and on the internet at wsyc.org (radio pre-game starts at 12:50 p.m.). A live video stream courtesy of Shippensburg University Television (SUTV) can be accessed on the internet at www.ship.edu/goraiders.
The SUTV feed will also be available on Comcast's community-access channel 21 and on campus channel 82. Invica Sports will be televising the game to be shown on tape delay at 5 p.m. by WJAL-TV [68].
Shippensburg holds an 11-0 lead in the series against Cheyney. The teams first met in 1951 where the Red Raiders earned a 28-0 shutout victory. Since then the Raiders have went on to capture the following 10 contests. The largest win in the series for Shippensburg came in the form of a 68-0 victory in 1954.
The Red Raiders have played through the
fourth-toughest schedule in Division II this season, with opponents having combined for a 28-13 record.
This weekend is also a particularly special one for a member of the Shippensburg University football family. Assistant head coach
Mark Maciejewski, in his 12th season as an assistant at Shippensburg and known to all as Coach 'Mac”, is one of six inductees this weekend into the Shippensburg University Athletic Hall of Fame.
'Mac' was one of the most intimidating defensive players in Red Raider football history and is one of just three SU players to receive All-PSAC First Team honors in three consecutive seasons at the same position. He finished his tenure with a school-record 28 tackles for loss as a nose guard, a total that includes 23 sacks. 'Mac' also earned Third Team All-America honors in '91 and '92 and holds the team's single-game and career records for most yards lost on sacks.
The Red Raiders are looking to establish its pace offensively after a tough performance against the Bloomsburg Huskies. SU had three major streaks snapped after last Saturday's game, including 20 straight games with 2+ touchdowns, 10 straight games with a rushing touchdown and 38 straight games with a pass play of 25+ yards.
The Wing-T establishes a strong tempo in the run game. SU has run the ball at least 25 times in 31 straight games and helped the Red Raiders lead the PSAC last season in time of possession.
Several defensive players were given an opportunity to play last Saturday and thrived. Redshirt freshmen
Mike Goode and
Tyriq Kershaw each set career highs with 10 tackles against the Huskies. Kershaw made his first collegiate start at safety in the game and also had a forced fumble that he also recovered.
Also on Saturday, freshman kicker
Drew Newcomer made his first collegiate field goal (25 yards), while fellow freshman
Nate Schmidt was forced to kick a career-high 10 punts.
Senior tailback
Kevin Marshall has rushed for 1,470 yards through three-plus years as a Red Raider while averaging over four yards per carry. With 230 more rushing yards, Marshall could move into the school's all-time Top 10 rushing yards leaders.
For his career, Marshall has compiled 4,019 all-purpose yards. He just entered the school's all-time Top 10 all-purpose yards list only a few weeks ago, but is now one of just three players in school history with 4,000 or more all-purpose yards. With 43 all-purpose yards on Saturday, Marshall will pass Winston Horshaw to move into second place on Shippensburg's all-time list.
