Box Score


MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Shippensburg University football team held Millersville to minus-7 yards of total offense until its final drive of the game and just 62 yards overall on a snowy Saturday afternoon from Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium while running for 391 yards, the fourth-best single-game total in school history, in a 40-0 shutout of the Marauders.

With snow covering the entire field, the Shippensburg (5-4, 3-3 PSAC East) front seven consistently made footprints in the Millersville (3-6, 2-4) backfield, stuffing the Marauders' running game and shortening their time in the pocket. The Raiders finished the game with seven sacks and 18 tackles for loss.

Offensively, junior tailback Mike Frenette had a career-high 177 rushing yards on just 18 carries, the most by a Raider tailback since the last time the two teams met at Millersville in 2009 when senior Roshaan McCain ran for 188 yards in a 63-24 victory in a rain-soaked night game. McCain added 79 yards on eight carries in Saturday's game.

Sophomore quarterback Zach Zulli tied the single-season school record for touchdown passes in a season by throwing for three scores in Saturday's game. Zulli now has 27 on the season, tying the mark set by Chad DiFebbo in 2009. Zulli threw for a season-low 70 yards on the afternoon because of the wintry conditions but was effective in managing the game.

The three touchdown passes thrown by Shippensburg did set a new single-season record for team touchdown passes with 29. Junior Steven Adams and redshirt freshman wide receiver Trevor Harman have also thrown touchdown passes this season.

The Red Raiders ran the ball on 58 of their 73 plays in the game and gained positive yardage on 51 of those carries despite the field being saturated with snow and slush for the duration of the contest. In addition to the success of Frenette and McCain, junior fullback Kevin Herod had five carries for 23 yards and a touchdown while freshman tailback Blair Brooks also added a career-high 82 yards on 13 carries.

SU forced a Millersville three-and-out on the opening possession, but the snow stopped the ensuing punt at the Shippensburg 1-yard line. Frenette carried the ball for the first five plays, before eventually breaking loose up the right side of the field for a 71-yard touchdown run – the second-longest of his career. The touchdown scamper came one play after the Marauders preserved the SU drive with a roughing the kicker penalty on a fourth-down punt.

Two Millersville possessions later, redshirt freshman linebacker Brian Sourber intercepted a pass by MU quarterback Dan Miller at the Millersville 36-yard line and returned it 26 yards to the Millersville 10. On 2nd and goal from the 9-yard line, Zulli rolled out and found junior wide receiver Jacob Baskerville open in the back of the end zone in front of the goal post for a 14-0 lead.

The Raiders embarked on a five-play drive at the end of the first quarter that finished six seconds into the second frame, when Zulli found Herod on a wheel route up the right sideline for a 17-yard touchdown. After the extra point attempt by sophomore Drew Newcomer was blocked, the Raiders held a 20-0 lead.

Junior linebacker Cody Fleming recorded Shippensburg's first sack of the game on the next MU possession. A punt gave the ball back to SU at its 39-yard line where it would embark on its longest drive of the game, a 13-play rumble that included 11 rushes. Frenette and Brooks carried the rock for most of the drive, but Herod polished it off with a two-yard touchdown run up the gut on 1st-and-goal.

On the Raiders' second possession of the second half, Brooks toted the ball four straight plays that set up third-and-four at the Millersville 37-yard line. Frenette took the next carry after a nice cutback up the middle, ran nearly untouched 37 yards for the touchdown. 

Zulli led Shippensburg on its final scoring drive in the fourth quarter, capping it off with a 9-yard touchdown pass to wide open redshirt-freshman wide receiver Trevor Harman in the back of the end zone.

Defensively, Sourber led the way with eight tackles, including three for loss. His sack for a loss of nine yards ended the first half and was one of seven sacks by Shippensburg. Junior defensive lineman Mark Kahlil Smith and sophomore defensive end Jake Metz each had two sacks. Smith had a game-high four tackles for loss.

Shippensburg returns home for its final two games of the season. SU hosts East Stroudsburg at 1 p.m. Saturday from SU Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium.

Notes: The shutout was SU's first since a 50-0 victory over Cheyney on Nov. 6, 2010...SU also broke the school record for completed passes in one season (198)...the old record was 197 pass completions in 1983...the Red Raiders now have 32 sacks this season - second-most in the PSAC...that total is the fourth-most in school history (record is 41 in 1981)...the seven sacks in Saturday's game match the season high achieved in Week 3 against Clarion...SU's 81.0 tackles for loss this season ranks fourth in school history (record is 96.0 set in 2003)...SU has outscored its opponents 199-86 in the first half this season...Zulli and Kutztown's Kevin Morton are tied for the PSAC lead with 27 touchdown passes...Frenette's 177-yard performance ranks 10th in school history...Millersville had as many completed passes as it did interceptions (3)...all three of SU's interceptions were by redshirt freshmen: Sourber, Chase Fleming and Trevor Mack...it was the first career pick for Chase Fleming and Mack...SU limited Millersville to just six first downs, and three of those were the result of Red Raider penalties...Shippensburg, who entered the game leading all of NCAA Division II in first downs per game (26.5), added 19 more on Saturday...SU did not allow a sack for the second time this season (other time was Kutztown)...through three quarters, the Red Raider limited the Marauders to negative-41 yards on 28 total plays.