Box Score  •   Chambersburg Public Opinion Game Story

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University football team ended the 2011 season with its fourth straight victory, breaking the single-season school records for total points and total offensive yards with a 27-point second half in a 40-16 win over defending PSAC champion Mercyhurst.

Shippensburg (7-4) finished the season with 411 points and 5,124 yards of total offense, surpassing the previous marks of the 1999 squad that scored 398 points and totaled 4,951 yards on offense. SU scored at least 40 points in every win this season, achieving an average margin of victory in those seven contests of 33.2 points.

Saturday's game appeared destined to be a battle down to the wire, as the score was tied 13-13 at halftime. The Lakers took a 16-13 lead with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter, but the Red Raiders responded with four touchdowns in 9 minutes, 13 seconds to take control.

A 33-yard field goal by Stephen Wakefield put Mercyhurst ahead by that 16-13 margin, but junior tailback #Mike Frenette# responded with a 27-yard kickoff return that put the ball on the SU 45-yard line. Two plays later, Frenette broke a marvelous 53-yard scamper to paydirt that spanned both sides of the field, as he ran a sweep up the left side and eventually cut back to the opposite sideline before diving into the end zone next to the right pylon.

Frenette tallied a career-high 245 all-purpose yards on Saturday (13th in SU single-game history) to give him the SU single-season record for all-purpose yards with 1,780 – 82 more than John Kuhn '04 totaled in 2003. Frenette also surpassed the 100-yard mark on the ground for the third straight contest with 112 rushing yards, finishing the 2011 season with a career-high 913 yards. That number also happens to be the most by an SU back since Kuhn ran for 1,487 yards in 2004.

After the teams combined for three consecutive three-and-outs, SU recorded a decisive strike with 25 seconds remaining in the third quarter. A beautifully executed play at the line scrimmage featured sophomore quarterback #Zach Zulli faking a handoff to Frenette and then faking a run before retreating back into the pocket and firing a strike to redshirt freshman Trevor Harman#. The young receiver caught the ball in stride up the seam at the Mercyhurst 45-yard line and ran the rest of the way untouched for a 64-yard touchdown that gave the Red Raiders a 27-16 lead.

Zulli completed 15-of-26 passes for 179 yards and three touchdowns – finishing his debut season as the Red Raider signal caller with a school-record 226 pass completions and 34 passing touchdowns. He also finished the year with a single-game SU record of six touchdown passes in the victory in addition to compiling 2,741 passing yards – a total just 91 yards short of the single-season school record of 2,832 set in 1999 by Chris Gicking.

Harman, meanwhile, caught three passes Saturday for 89 yards and two touchdowns. The redshirt freshman led the Red Raiders this season with 43 receptions, 681 receiving yards and nine touchdown catches. Harman is just the seventh different athlete in school history to finish a season with nine or more touchdown receptions.

An intriguing decision on Mercyhurst's ensuing drive ultimately benefitted the Red Raiders and set the team up for another touchdown. Laker punter Chad Tibbitts kicked the ball away on a fourth-down play but was knocked down after sophomore lineman #Jake Metz# was blocked into him on a punt. The five-yard penalty set up a 4th-and-1 from the Mercyhurst 24-yard line, and after a timeout, brought the Laker offense back onto the field.

The SU defense, which finished the day with three takeaways, four sacks, three additional tackles for loss and six quarterback hurries, stopped the Lakers on fourth down by stuffing tailback Richie Sanders for no gain. Six plays later, Frenette ran in from one yard out to put the Raiders up by 18 points.

Three plays after the touchdown, Metz recorded his first career interception after plucking a pass out of the air that had been broken up by sophomore #Dainen Green and returned it 31 yards to the Laker 20-yard line. A 10-yard run by senior Roshaan McCain# put SU into the red zone, and two plays later, Zulli found junior #Jacob Baskerville# open in the back right corner of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown that proved to be the final points of the contest.

Shippensburg's offense, under the guidance of first-year Red Raider coordinator Mike Yurcich, ran the ball 44 times while recording just 26 pass attempts in Saturday's contest. After showing a reliance to pass early in the season, SU proved during its four-game winning streak that it can run just as well as it can pass, totaling 1,095 rushing yards in that span (an average of 273.7 per game). The Red Raiders also ran the ball 207 times in the last four games while attempting just 112 passes.

The defense added another feather in its collective cap with a banner performance. Mercyhurst entered the game as the second-ranked passing offense in the PSAC, averaging 287.4 yards per game. Laker quarterback Anthony Vandemia finished Saturday's game just 15-of-44 for 138 yards. All-American wide receiver Trevor Kennedy was targeted 24 times by Vandemia and did catch 12 passes for 109 yards but was held without a touchdown for just the third time this season.

Sophomore #Tyriq Kershaw# led the defense with eight tackles in Saturday's game, recording two pass breakups and one tackle for loss. The young safety excelled in the second half of the season and finished the 2011 campaign with 70 tackles – second-most on the team – along with three interceptions.

Metz had five tackles, 1.5 sacks, two quarterback hurries, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery in addition to his interception. Redshirt freshman #Brian Sourber# capped off a stellar rookie season with seven tackles – one of which was a ferocious sack-fumble for a loss of 15 yards.

Junior #Cody Fleming# added seven solo tackles, including one for a loss. He finishes the season as Shippensburg's leader in tackles with 83 – a number that includes 19.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks and three forced fumbles. Fleming finished the regular season ranked third in the conference for tackles for loss behind Gannon's Randy Colling and Cheyney's Tim Hume.

Overall, Shippensburg finished the 2011 season with 93 tackles for loss – the second-most in a single season since 1979 (the first year for which available data for the statistic could be accessed). Additionally, the Red Raiders amassed an impressive 38 sacks – the third-most in school history and the largest single-season total since 1991. The SU defense did set a school record with 292 yards lost by opponents on sacks – 22 more than the 1982 team accomplished through 34 sacks.

Seven senior football players concluded their Red Raider career on Saturday: McCain, defensive back #Bryan Culler#, offensive tackle #Steve Hohenwarter#, defensive lineman/tight end #Nik Rosenberry#, defensive tackle #John Garnier# and the team's two co-captains, tight end #Brian Heitz and linebacker Vinnie Ranauto#.

McCain had eight carries for 24 yards in Saturday's game, giving him 1,261 rushing yards for his career on just 213 attempts – an average of 5.9 per carry. The Chester Springs native scored 15 touchdowns in his career and totaled 44 career rushes of 10 or more yards. McCain and Heitz appeared in 44 of the team's 45 games over the last four seasons – no current player has suited up for every game from 2008-11.

Culler recorded a pass breakup and a career-high four tackles in Saturday's game. In two years, Culler recorded 14 tackles and four career interceptions.

Hohenwarter was a stalwart along the offensive line, primarily playing left tackle for the last two seasons before making a mid-season switch to right tackle in 2011.

One of the most memorable and touching moments of Saturday's game occurred later in the contest with the entry of Ranauto. The Delaware native has battled the effects of concussions throughout his career and had missed the previous four games due to an injury sustained in Week 6 versus West Chester.

With 2:35 to play, Ranauto was given one last chance to get on the field and lined up deep as a safety. On the second of his two plays in the game, Ranauto read a pass intended for Kennedy and charged toward the ball – nearly intercepting but ultimately forcing an incompletion with a crunching hit (pictured below). Ranauto erupted in delight and was mobbed by his teammates before retreating to the sidelines.

The impact of the moment was overwhelming, and Ranauto shared a long hug with teammate and friend #Jeff Tomasetti# upon the realization that it was the final play of his career. Ranauto finished his Red Raider tenure as the only true senior among this year's class having totaled 186 tackles – 18.5 for loss – along with five interceptions and 4.5 sacks.

Saturday's game culminated a whirlwind season for inspirational junior safety #Corey Hunt#, who just six months earlier had been relegated to a hospital bed because of cancerous synovial cell sarcoma. Hunt not only defeated cancer, but he returned to the playing field and had the best season of his still bright career – recording 42 tackles and a team-high four interceptions.

Sophomore #Drew Newcomer# made two field goals in Saturday's game – converting kicks of 22 and 35 yards in the first half – to finish the season 11-of-11. Newcomer is the only kicker in school history to finish a season perfect in field goal kicking (through at least 10 attempts) and was the only qualified individual in the PSAC to make all of his field goals. He has now made all 16 attempts in his career – a new record for consecutive makes spanning over the course of more than one season.

More capsule information will be posted to this story in the coming days to shipraiders.com.

Notes: Shippensburg finished the regular season second in the PSAC in scoring (37.4 ppg) and total offense (464 ypg)…Frenette has totaled 3,389 all-purpose yards in his career, slotting him seventh in school history entering his senior season…his three consecutive 100-yard rushing performances is also the first time an SU back has done so since Kuhn in 2004…Frenette has 1,554 career rushing yards and junior #Kevin Herod# has 1,463 career rushing yards through three seasons…if either surpasses 1,700 career rushing yards they will enter the Top 10 in school history for the category…Frenette also broke the school record for receptions by a running back with 40, breaking the mark of Winston Horshaw (39) set in 1993…despite playing just one season at quarterback at SU, Zulli already ranks ninth in school history for career passing yards…SU broke the school record for total touchdowns in a season with 55, surpassing the 1999 squad (53)…Newcomer (79) broke Kyler Ford's record for the most points by a kicker in one season (77 in 2009)…SU broke the school record for total plays with 898 this season, 60 more than the 1981 campaign…the Red Raiders ended up with 281 first downs – 34 more than the previous record set in 1999…Cody Fleming enters his senior season 15 TFLs short of head coach Mark Maciejewski's school record for the category (51, 1989-92).