By: By Kevin Kline and Bill Morgal, SU Sports Information
Box Score
In the Press:
Public Opinion Recap
Sentinel Recap
Winston-Salem Journal Recap
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The No. 15-ranked Shippensburg University football team was unable to overcome the speed and athleticism of undefeated and No. 2-ranked Winston-Salem State in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Division II Football Championships on a cool and windy Saturday afternoon, falling 37-14 from the Rams' Bowman Gray Stadium.
Shippensburg finishes the season with an 11-2 record, a PSAC Eastern Division title, its fifth NCAA playoff appearance and its first NCAA playoff victory in over 20 years.
Winston-Salem State (12-0) will host No. 11 IUP next week in the Super Region One championship game; the Crimson Hawks dealt No. 3 New Haven its first loss of the season with a 17-14 road victory on Saturday.
Junior quarterback
Zach Zulli finished the day 25-of-56 for 218 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Zulli's second-quarter touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver
Trevor Harman was his 54th and final of 2012, tying the Division-II single-season record set in 2000 by Valdosta State's Dusty Bonner.
Zulli finishes the season with a PSAC-record 4,747 yards passing, breaking former East Stroudsburg quarterback Jimmy Terwilliger's record of 4,571 in 2005. His 56 passing attempts also gave him another conference record of 509 passing attempts on the season (breaking former West Chester signal-caller Dave MacDonald's 504 in 1994). Updated information on SU's Harlon Hill-nominated quarterback will be provided Monday
here.
Two other Red Raiders also set school single-season records on Saturday. Junior defensive end
Jake Metz totaled 2.5 sacks to give him a school-record 11.5 on the season – breaking a record (10.0) previously shared by Rob Davis (1991), Ed Brown (1981) and Barry Johnson (1977).
Senior wide receiver
Jacob Baskerville hauled in nine passes for 114 yards, giving him 1,405 on the season – a new school record that passed Jamie Ware's 1,334 in 1999.
Shippensburg added to its school record with its sixth defensive touchdown of the season when sophomore
Brian Sourber intercepted a screen pass early in the second quarter and ran 63 yards untouched into the end zone. The extra-point attempt was blocked and made the score 7-6 in WSSU's favor.
Senior
Mike Frenette finished the day with 44 yards rushing on eight carries and five catches for 45 yards to give him 1,729 all-purpose yards on the season and 5,128 on his career. He finishes his career second in all-purpose yards and fourth all-time in career receptions (142) while Baskerville finishes fifth on that list (137).
Sophomore
Blair Brooks had two long kickoff returns, including a team season-high 86-yarder at the end of the first half that set up the Raiders' second touchdown. He finished with 141 all-purpose yards.
The Rams recorded 525 yards of total offense – the second-highest Shippensburg has allowed in a game this season. The Raiders also punted the ball a season-high eight times and gave up five turnovers, another season high. Division-I FCS transfer Anthony Carrothers (Grambling State) threw for 332 yards and three scores, while Jameze Massey hauled in eight receptions for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Maurice Lewis ran for 158 yards and two touchdowns.
It was a historic season for
Mark Maciejewski's Red Raiders in which the team won 11 games (second-most in school history and most since 1981) and either broke or tied 64 school records. SU opened the season with 10 consecutive victories and at one point owned the longest active winning streak in Division II (14 games) and held Super Region One's No. 1 ranking until the final week before the NCAA playoffs.
The loss also marked the final game for a group of 13 Red Raiders who comprised a phenomenal senior class that features
Rodney Baltimore,
Bryan Barley, Baskerville,
Cody Fleming, Frenette,
Kevin Herod,
Corey Hunt,
Saeed Khateeb,
Bobby Mullen,
Chris Restino,
Pat Schuhl,
Mark Kahlil Smith and
Jeff Tomasetti.