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SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The No. 16 Shippensburg University football team scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives beginning late in the second quarter on Saturday afternoon and put forth a stout defensive effort to remain unbeaten and pick up a 36-20 Homecoming victory over LIU Post in front of a loud, near-capacity crowd from SU Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium.

Shippensburg (6-0, 3-0 PSAC East) extended its winning streak to 10 games (dating back to last season) which, after Grand Valley State's loss on Saturday night, is now tied for the longest active run in Division II with Pittsburg State. The Red Raiders also snapped a three-game losing streak against the Pioneers that dated back to the 2009 season.

Senior tailback Mike Frenette was named the Shippensburg VFW Offensive MVP of the Homecoming game after finishing with 171 all-purpose yards and a rushing touchdown. Frenette's 73 rushing yards in Saturday's game helped him surpass the 2,000-yard mark for his career. His 2,051 career rushing yards ranks sixth in school history.

Sophomore defensive back James Cooper was named the Shippensburg VFW Defensive MVP of the Homecoming game after recording a career-high seven tackles and making a significant impact on pass defense. Cooper had numerous passes defensed and broken up out of the secondary.

The Red Raider defense, ranked No. 9 in Division II entering Saturday's game, put forth another marvelous effort by limiting LIU Post (2-3, 1-2 PSAC East) to just 258 yards on offense – 80 of which came on the game's final drive after SU had switched to a prevent defense. The visitors ran 78 plays but averaged just 3.3 yards per play.

Junior quarterback Zach Zulli was an efficient 21-of-32 for 276 yards and a pair of touchdowns on Saturday in addition to rushing for 27 yards and a score. Zulli moved past SU Executive Director of University Relations Dr. Tim Ebersole '83/'00M into fourth place on SU's career passing yards list on Saturday, bringing his career total to 4,883.

Shippensburg won the time of possession battle by 9:56 on Saturday, a fact further evidenced by SU's season-high 54 rushes that went for a total of 166 yards. Redshirt-freshman quarterback Chris Lawshe made his way under center for several snaps and contributed 44 rushing yards on just six carries.

The game's decisive stretch began with Shippensburg trailing by four points, 14-10, with less than five minutes left before halftime. On their next three possessions, the Red Raiders strung together drives of 10, 12 and eight plays that all ended with touchdowns – giving Shippensburg a 31-14 lead with 6:35 left in the third quarter.

All four of SU's touchdown drives featured at least eight plays. Shippensburg's first appearance in the end zone came early in the second quarter, when Zulli found senior fullback Kevin Herod open out of the backfield on a fourth-down play for a 12-yard touchdown catch and run. Saturday marked the first time this season that the Red Raiders did not score a touchdown in the first quarter.

Herod had another durable performance, matching a career high with four receptions for a total of 43 yards and carrying the ball five times out of the backfield. He also threw a 33-yard pass in the first quarter to senior Bryan Barley to set up a career-long 43-yard field goal by junior Michael Lloyd that opened the scoring.

SU went into halftime with the lead because of a 10-play, 81-yard drive that culminated with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Zulli to sophomore Kyle Kush. Zulli ran the ball four times on the drive and Lawshe completed a 28-yard pass to Barley on a 3rd-and-2 play.

Frenette particularly showed his mettle at the start of the second half – carrying the ball six consecutive times at one point during SU's opening drive coming out of halftime that helped move the ball from the Shippensburg 42-yard line to the LIU Post 21-yard line. A four-yard Zulli improvisational run to the left pylon capped off a 12-play, 66-yard scoring drive for the Red Raiders that put the home team up 24-14.

The defense forced a three-and-out on LIU Post's opening possession of the second half, affording Shippensburg the opportunity to expand its lead. Eight plays later, Frenette ran the ball in from 10 yards out to put the Red Raiders up by 17 points.

SU's offense almost made it four consecutive touchdown drives, reaching the LIU Post 2-yard line on its next sequence, but a mishandled snap on fourth down gave the ball back to the Pioneers. The next three plays went nowhere, however, and the snap on LIU Post's punt attempt hit the crossbar – resulting in a safety and a 33-14 lead for the Red Raiders.

Sophomore linebacker Sean Sadosky received extended playing time on Saturday and led the Red Raiders with eight tackles. Sophomore linebacker Brian Sourber led all players with 2.5 tackles for loss and teamed up with junior defensive end Jake Metz on an important 15-yard sack of Laurino in the third quarter.

The secondary was especially strong on Saturday. Joining Cooper as impact players from the defensive backfield were senior Corey Hunt and juniors Tyriq Kershaw and Avery Coleman, all three of whom finished with seven tackles. Junior Mike Goode added four tackles.

LIU Post achieved its first-half leads as a result of Red Raider turnovers. The visitors took a 7-3 lead in the first quarter after a sack-fumble of Zulli was scooped up by Tommy Williams and returned 16 yards for a touchdown.

The Pioneers built their 14-10 advantage after SU junior Nate Schmidt had a punt blocked and returned to the SU 2-yard line, where LIU Post quarterback Steven Laurino needed one play to find freshman tight end Sean Binckes open in the back of the end zone for a touchdown pass.

Despite completing 30-of-49 passes against the Red Raiders, Laurino managed just 176 total passing yards. None of his completed passes went for more than 14 yards. After running for 117 yards against the Red Raiders a season ago, Laurino managed just 53 rushing yards on Saturday against Shippensburg – 37 of which came in the Pioneers' final two drives.

The Red Raiders travel to Kutztown next Saturday for a 1:05 p.m. contest against the Golden Bears.

Notes: SU head coach Mark Maciejewski '92/'96M is 13-4 through his first 17 games as head coach, the second-best coaching start in school history...Harry Newsham Bentz, back in 1924, 1925 and 1927, began his coaching career 14-3...SU has outscored its opponents 66-7 in the third quarter this season, including its 16-0 margin on Saturday… SU's offense ran a season-high 88 plays en route to 503 yards from scrimmage…Barley had two catches for 61 yards on Saturday, which moved him past SU Hall of Famer Ed Noon '82 into 10th place in school history with 1,567 career receiving yards…Lloyd's 43-yard field goal is the longest by a Red Raider since Jamie Reder made one from 45 yards out at Clarion on Oct. 6, 2007 (51 games)…Lloyd added a 37-yard field goal in the fourth quarter…Herod is now 2-of-2 in his career as a passer for 37 yards and a touchdown, with both attempts coming this season…he now boasts a robust quarterback efficiency rating of 420.4…LIU Post ran for just 82 yards on Saturday after piling up 314 yards on the ground against the Red Raiders a season ago…the Pioneers totaled their fewest rushing yards in their last 13 games, dating back to a Sept. 17 meeting last year with Mercyhurst…LIU Post affirmed its NCAA-leading turnover margin by forcing two more takeaways on Saturday and not committing one of its own…Saturday marked the first time during SU's 10-game winning streak that it came away with a victory despite not forcing a takeaway…Frenette is 56 all-purpose yards shy of tying Kevin Marshall '11 for second in school history on the career list…senior linebacker Cody Fleming added two more tackles for loss to his career total and sits just three behind Maciejewski for the school record…Fleming is now tied with former Green Bay Packer Rob Davis '92 for second with 48.