Box Score

In the Press: Carlisle Sentinel

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Shippensburg University football team used a career rushing effort from junior running back Blair Brooks and a 15-catch performance from junior wide receiver Trevor Harman on Saturday afternoon to stave off a second-half rally from a resilient Lock Haven squad in a 30-24 road win from the Bald Eagles' Hubert Jack Stadium.

The Red Raiders (4-2, 3-0 PSAC East) managed their fourth-straight win of the season and their 10th-consecutive victory over Lock Haven (2-4, 1-2), beginning with a dominant first-half defensive performance in which LHU entered halftime with just two first downs.

The Lock Haven offense proved trouble for SU in the second half, however, as the Bald Eagles scored all 24 of its points in an 11:30 span and out-scored Shippensburg by a 24-7 margin in the final 30 minutes.

Holding onto its 30-24 lead after another Lock Haven touchdown in the fourth quarter, the Raiders began perhaps their biggest drive of the season at their own 29-yard-line with 5:13 left. Shippensburg managed three first downs on the drive as that was all it needed to eventually run the clock out from the Lock Haven 23-yard-line.

Saturday marked the closest game by margin of victory by either opponent in the last three seasons – a span of 30 contests – and just the second game during that span in which the final score was decided by fewer than 10 points.

Brooks ran for a career-high 145 yards on 16 carries – with four clutch totes, including a game-clinching 14-yard first-down run on the final drive.

Harman totaled 122 receiving yards on Saturday and scored SU's first touchdown of the game with five minutes left in the first quarter on a 13-yard swing pass from senior quarterback Zach Zulli in which he tip-toed his way inside the left pylon.

The score gave Harman a touchdown catch in 20 career games, which ties Mike Harris's (2005, 2007-09) school record of career games with a touchdown catch. Harman's 15 catches on Saturday were the second-most in a single game in school history (he holds the school record with 18 grabs).

Zulli finished the day 30-for-41 passing for 280 yards and two touchdowns, bringing his career touchdown passes total to 106 and tying him for 14th all-time in Division II history.

Lock Haven junior starting quarterback Dillon Mazzoni – a transfer from Shippensburg in 2011 – left the game to injury in the first quarter and was replaced by redshirt-freshman backup quarterback Caleb Walton, whose shiftiness helped elude several near-Raider sacks throughout the game. Walton sparked LHU's second-half rally and finished the day 15-of-22 passing for 206 yards and a score.

A 27-yard field goal off the foot of senior place-kicker Drew Newcomer kicked off the scoring just over four minutes into the game, but after Harman's touchdown with 5:31 left in the first quarter, the Raider offense was held stagnant until just before halftime.

Holding onto its 10-0 lead late in the half, SU gave itself some momentum heading into intermission with a well-executed two-minute drill. Beginning at their own 25-yard-line with 1:47 remaining, the Raiders moved down the field in seven plays, including a 27-yard Harman reception in which he leaped over a defender along the right sideline and a 24-yard pass to junior wide receiver Sheldon Mayer down to the left pylon.

Zulli capped off the drive with a 1-yard hookup to junior wide receiver Quran Kent on a slant for a 16-0 lead after Newcomer's extra point attempt bounced off the left upright. Harman totaled four catches on the drive to give him 10 in the first half – the most he's had in a single half in his career.

Harman added another catch on SU's drive to start the second half, a six-play romp set up by a 42-yard kickoff return from junior Shannon Maura and finished off with a Brooks 30-yard touchdown run for a 23-0 lead.

The Raiders halted Lock Haven's initial rally of 11 unanswered points – including a 53-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter in which LHU converted the two-point conversion rush – with an eight-play drive capped off with a 1-yard touchdown rush from sophomore quarterback Chris Lawshe to give the Raiders some much-needed breathing room, up 30-11 with under 12 minutes left.

Lock Haven added another score on its ensuing drive, however, marching down the field in 10 plays with a three-yard rushing score to cut the deficit to 30-18 with 7:25 left in regulation. The Bald Eagles recovered the subsequent onside kick, but an offsides penalty negated the play and Lock Haven chose to kick deep on its second kickoff attempt.

A three-and-out from the Raider offense gave Lock Haven the ball back at its own 40-yard-line. Walton led the Bald Eagles down in four plays with a 14-yard rushing touchdown from graduate running back Brandon Brader – with a missed extra point – to cut the Shippensburg lead to 30-24 with 5:19 remaining.

The Raiders then embarked on their game-clinching drive that ran the clock out and cemented the victory. Aside from Brooks's first-down rush on the final play before SU began kneel-downs, the Raiders converted two other third-down conversions on the drive – a Lawshe two-yard rush up the middle on 3rd-and-1 and a clutch 14-yard pass from Zulli to Mayer over the middle.

Shippensburg was paced defensively by sophomore linebacker Cortlin Dell, who posted a career-high 11 tackles to go along with 1.5 sacks.

Senior defensive end Jake Metz recorded a sack and totaled two tackles for loss (TFL) on the day, bringing his career total to 52 – just a half-TFL short of tying the school record set by Cody Fleming (2009-12). Metz did pass Raider head coach Mark 'Mac' Maciejewski '92/'96M (51 career TFLs) on Saturday to move into second place.

The Raiders will return home to host Kutztown (1-5, 1-2 after beating Cheyney earlier today) next Saturday at 1 p.m. on Homecoming from SU Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium.

Notes: With his 22nd career win, Maciejewski moves into a tie with H.N. Bentz (1924-25, 1927-28) for seventh on the SU career coaching victories list…Harman's 172 career catches put him in sole possession of third place on the SU career receptions list...Mayer had a career-high 80 receiving yards on six catches…Brooks set a new career high in all-purpose yards with 245 (145 rushing, 11 receiving and 89 on kick returns).