More to come this week; including season/records wrapup.

The Shippensburg University football team wrapped up its 2014 football season on Saturday with a 42-21 loss at PSAC West opponent Mercyhurst amidst snow showers and frigid temperatures at Tullio Field.
 
Shippensburg (6-5), ranked No. 3 in Division II for plays per game (85.8) entering Saturday, ran 93 plays Saturday and extended its streak of games with three touchdowns and 21 points to 21-in-a-row dating back to the 2013 season opener at Shepherd.
 
The Red Raiders totaled 457 yards – 341 through the air – and were assessed just three penalties in the game. Junior Sheldon Mayer tallied 198 receiving yards on a career-best 14 receptions.   
 
Mercyhurst (7-4) got a 409-yard, five-touchdown effort from quarterback Brendan Boylan and 16 tackles from senior defensive back Michael Foster.
 
The turning point of the game came with 8:45 left in the third quarter. Trailing 21-14, SU had driven to the MU 19-yard line, but a pass toward the end zone was picked off by Colin Kimball and returned 100 yards for a touchdown that gave the Lakers a 14-point lead. MU scored 35 straight points after falling behind 14-7 in the first half.
 
Shippensburg was able to keep pace with Mercyhurst in the first half as the Raiders opened the scoring eight minutes into the first quarter. On a 4th-and-2 from the MU 23-yard line, junior Chris Lawshe scrambled to his left and lofted a pass to the back left of the end zone – connecting with sophomore Mike Brown to cap off an 11-play, 80-yard drive.
 
After Mercyhurst responded with a 12-play, 87-yard drive of its own, the Raiders were able to take a 14-7 lead with a 2-yard designed quarterback-keeper from Lawshe with 7:28 remaining in the half. The drive was keyed by a spectacular 38-yard diving catch by junior Sheldon Mayer, who was able to get a foot down before crashing out of bounds at the MU 17-yard line.
 
The Lakers tied the game at 14-14 after a 37-yard touchdown pass from Boylan to Dylan Bongiorni with 3:04 remaining in the first half.
 
On the next possession, the Raiders punted the ball down to the MU 15-yard line. When Mercyhurst took over, its first two plays were pass completions of 30 and 22 yards, getting the team into SU territory. On the next play, redshirt-freshman Chavez Cheatham intercepted a deep pass at the five-yard line to effectively end the half with at a 14-14 score.
 
SU was out-gained in the first half, 308-155, but forced two turnovers including a fumble that was forced and recovered by Cheatham. The redshirt-freshman defensive back finished with a team-high 11 tackles and also was credited with two additional pass breakups.
 
Mayer finished the year with 72 receptions for 1,099 yards – making him just the fifth player in school history with a 1,000-yard season. With one year of eligibility remaining, he moves into fourth place in school history with 164 career receptions and fifth place with 2,294 career receiving yards.
 
Senior Trevor Harman finished with six catches for 56 yards to wrap up his eventual Hall of Fame career at Shippensburg. Harman finished 2014 with 98 catches, 947 yards and 11 touchdowns.
 
Overall, Harman completed 46 games in a Red Raider uniform with 321 receptions, 4,249 yards and 61 touchdowns. He finishes third in Division II history for receiving touchdowns, fourth in career receptions, third in receiving touchdowns and 13th in receiving yards.

The Red Raiders totaled 457 yards of offense, including 37 rushes for 116 yards. The team finishes the season just 17 yards shy of breaking the single-season school record for team rushing yards (2,632) set in 2003. SU held a 29-15 advantage in first downs for the game, including a 3-of-5 performance on fourth down.
 
Lawshe completed 20-of-39 pass attempts for 240 yards and one touchdown in addition to his rushing touchdown in the first half. He threw three interceptions.
 
Redshirt-freshman Ryan Zapoticky completed 11-of-17 passes and tossed one touchdown in relief. His touchdown pass came on a 12-yard connection with sophomore Jordan Harro mid-way through the fourth quarter. The touchdown reception was the first of Harro's career.
 
Senior Blair Brooks finished with 58 yards on 10 carries. His 1,171 yards this season rank fourth all-time in school history.

Photos below by Daryl Bughman.