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SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University football team went through a back-and-forth battle with No. 13 West Chester on a cold and breezy Saturday afternoon, exchanging leads three times with the Golden Rams before ultimately coming up short in a 32-29 loss in front of a capacity Homecoming crowd from SU Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium.

Shippensburg (5-3, 4-1 PSAC East) raced out to a 14-0 advantage in the first quarter before West Chester (8-0, 5-0) answered with three straight touchdowns by Rondell White to lead by seven points in the final minute of the opening half. SU responded with 15 straight points, scoring a touchdown with 24 seconds left in the second quarter (PAT failed) and converting three second-half field goals to lead 29-21 with 10:26 to play.

WCU rallied behind its fourth quarterback of the day, as Andrew Derr threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Adam Dempsey and the Golden Rams converted a two-point conversion to tie the score at 29-29 with 7:08 left.

The final seven minutes featured an inordinate amount of drama. On the second play after WCU tied the score, Golden Ram safety Brandon Pepper intercepted a pass on a trick play and returned the ball to the SU 31-yard line. After a three-and-out, WCU kicker Shawn Leo attempted a 42-yard field goal into the wind that landed short with 5:18 to play.

Shippensburg followed with a three-and-out and a punt, but WCU return man Brandon Monk muffed the catch and SU recovered at the WCU 42-yard line. The Red Raiders advanced the ball 14 yards over the next five plays before a holding penalty slid the ball back to the 39-yard line.

After an incompletion and a timeout, senior Drew Newcomer – who had made three field goals already on the day – came out to attempt a 56-yard field goal with the wind at his back. The kick would have set a PSAC record had it gone through, but it landed just a yard or two shy of the crossbar.

The ball went back to WCU with 2:26 remaining and the Golden Rams still needing significant yardage to reach field goal range. The difference came with 1:09 remaining, as Derr hung a ball into the wind on a third-and-six play that somehow managed to find the hands of White for a 25-yard completion. White finished the day with 274 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns.

After an 11-yard completion to Adam Dempsey and a 12-yard rush by White, Leo kicked a 26-yard field goal with 1.1 seconds remaining on the clock.

Saturday's game was the closest scoring margin in head coach Mark 'Mac' Maciejewski's 32 career games at the helm of the Red Raiders and just the third during his tenure decided by less than 10 points.

"We had our opportunities and we capitalized on a lot of them," Maciejewski said. "There's some things that we didn't do right but there's a lot of things we did do right and that's what we're going to talk about."

Junior running back Blair Brooks was named the Shippensburg VFW Homecoming Offensive MVP after running the ball 20 times for a career-high 155 yards and a touchdown. In his last three games, Brooks has totaled 450 rushing yards and averaged 9.0 yards over 50 carries.

Junior linebacker Brian Sourber was named the Shippensburg VFW Homecoming Defensive MVP after recording a game-high 12 tackles in addition to a pair of pass breakups. Sourber has totaled 25 tackles over his last three games.

Senior quarterback Zach Zulli completed 23-of-45 passes for 298 yards and threw two touchdowns. Zulli moved into 10th all-time in Division II history with 112 career touchdown passes, tying Toby Korrodi of Central Missouri and Northern State (2003-06).

Junior wide receiver Trevor Harman hauled in nine passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns, extending his school record with his seventh consecutive 100-yard receiving game. The two touchdown grabs moved Harman into second place all-time on the SU career scoring list (252 points).

"Our guys played a championship game today," Maciejewski said. "On the scoreboard they didn't come out ahead, but there's a lot of things to be proud of. They fought; they kept fighting, and kept believing. And that's all you can ask."

The Red Raiders have a short turnaround this week as they travel to No. 6 Bloomsburg (8-0, 5-0) on Thursday for an 8 p.m. Halloween matchup under the lights from the Huskies' Redman Stadium. Bloomsburg defeated Cheyney (0-8, 0-5) at home on Saturday, 35-7.

Thursday's game will be broadcast live nationally on CBS Sports Network as well as syndicated throughout the state by Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN). It is also anticipated that the game will be streamed live online by the NCAA. More information on the game and its viewing options can be found at shipraiders.com.

Homecoming: Saturday's game was played in front of a capacity crowd of well over 7,000 fans who braved chilly conditions. "I looked up at the crowd at different times during the game and it was awesome," Maciejewski recounted. "We really appreciate it as a team to have this kind of support. We play well at home, and I'm very proud of that aspect. I want to thank the fans and the community for coming and supporting us."

Notes: Shippensburg has now scored in the final minute of the first half in five of eight games this season (30 total points), including three touchdown passes to Harman of 20 yards or more…SU and WCU have alternated wins in the last three meetings…Brooks has now set a career-high for single-game rushing yards in each of the last three games...Harman now sits second all-time in school history for career receptions and is just six catches shy of tying the school career record (197 by Mike Harris (2005, 07-09))…Harman is 81 receiving yards shy of 3,000 for his career, a feat achieved by just two other wide receivers in school history (Jamie Ware [3,442] and Mike Harris [3,000])…Harman's 1,038 receiving yards marks just the seventh time a Red Raider wide receiver has surpassed the 1,000-yard mark…Harman is one of three SU wide receivers to achieve multiple 1,000-yard receiving seasons, joining Ware ('98, '99) and Harris ('08, '09)…SU's five-game overall winning streak was snapped in addition to its four-year Homecoming winning streak…the defeat also snapped SU's school-record 12-game home winning streak, a run that began with a victory over East Stroudsburg on Nov. 5, 2011…SU had outscored opponents by a 611-278 margin during the home winning streak and scored at least 36 points in each victory…West Chester was the last team to beat Shippensburg at home prior to Saturday…Newcomer kicked three field goals in one game for the first time since last year's NCAA playoff victory over Bloomsburg…SU's three touchdown drives lasted a total of 3:33…there were no pass interference penalties in the game despite the two teams combining for 83 passes…redshirt-freshman left guard Marc Ranaudo earned his first career start…the wind wreaked havoc on the return game, as the two teams combined for just 57 kickoff return yards and two punt return yards…junior Sheldon Mayer had five receptions for 91 yards and completed a 24-yard pass to Zulli.