In the Press: Public Opinion Recap // WHAG-TV Highlights

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University football team rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit on Saturday to build an 11-point lead with three minutes to play, but the Red Raiders needed to make a final defensive stand at the buzzer to cement a 37-32 victory over visiting Kutztown on Senior Day at SU Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium.
 
Shippensburg (6-4, 5-4) trailed 19-3 at the intermission but scored touchdowns on its first five drives of the second half, overcoming a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to establish a 37-26 lead with 3:21 to play.
 
Kutztown (5-5, 5-4) responded with a 66-yard touchdown drive that took just 74 seconds to get within five points after its two-point conversion attempt went for naught. SU senior tight end Alex Kuljian recovered the ensuing onside kick, giving the ball to the Red Raiders with 1:58 to play and KU having just one timeout.
 
Shippensburg was able to burn the clock down to just 22 seconds, but on fourth down, the snap of SU's attempted punt went awry and hit a shield man back to block – forcing senior Michael Lloyd to pounce on the loose ball and hand possession to the Golden Bears.
 
Given new life on the SU 29-yard line, Kutztown – a squad ranked No. 12 in the country in red-zone offense entering Saturday – immediately completed a 21-yard pass that put KU within eight yards of a victory with less than 10 seconds to play.
 
Undaunted, the Red Raider defense forced incompletions on three nerve-wracking pass plays to end the game – with the final throw from KU quarterback Chad Barton sailing off the out-stretched hands of receiver Anthony Kelly in the back corner of the end zone as time expired.
 
"I'm proud of the fact that we were able to get the win for our seniors," head coach Mark 'Mac' Maciejewski '92/'96M said. "We were playing very hard for those 11 guys today because they mean so much to this program – especially to me because they have been here for the four years that I've been head coach. They have a special place in my heart, and they're pretty darn good football players."
 
The victory makes Mark Maciejewski '92/'96M the first SU head coach in the 110-year history of the program to begin his career with four straight winning seasons. Maciejewski has guided the Red Raiders to a 31-14 record and already ranks sixth all-time in school history for career coaching victories.
 
Junior quarterback Chris Lawshe provided 353 of SU's 445 yards of total offense, completing 29-of-36 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns in addition to leading the team by running 13 times for a career-high 102 yards.
 
Senior Trevor Harman was the recipient of 13 of Lawshe's passes, totaling 132 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown. Junior Sheldon Mayer, battling through an injury all game long, caught nine passes for 83 yards and a touchdown.
 
Many players made significant contributions to the Red Raider defense's spirited second-half effort, but the turning point came early in the fourth quarter. With the two teams having exchanged touchdowns on three consecutive drives, redshirt-freshman defensive back Chavez Cheatham stepped in front of a Chad Barton pass for his first career interception on the first play of a KU drive.
 
Cheatham's interception came at 10:38 and with Shippensburg trailing by three points, 26-23. SU's ensuing drive went 70 yards in six plays and was capped off with Harman's touchdown reception. The Red Raider defense countered with its fourth three-and-out of the game, allowing SU to march 75 yards on seven plays to build its 11-point lead after junior Andrew Smith broke a tackle and spun around a man at the line of scrimmage for a 24-yard touchdown run that prefaced the madcap finish.
 
Five different Red Raiders contributed to the touchdowns. Junior Daniel Wheeler caught SU's first touchdown, nabbing a reception and trundling over a KU defender into the end zone for a 12-yard score. It was Wheeler's first touchdown of the season and the second of his career.
 
Lawshe, who dodged would-be blitzers and tacklers on several occasions Saturday to scramble for first downs, took a shot midway through the third quarter on a 39-yard scamper. That allowed sophomore running back Justin Pyle to enter later on during that drive for a one-yard leaping touchdown out of the wildcat that put SU within three points, 19-16.
 
Mayer's touchdown came on a fade into the left corner of the end zone off a great touch throw by Lawshe. It capped off a nine-play drive that included a 31-yard scramble by Lawshe on a 3rd-and-16 play from the SU 29-yard line.
 
Senior linebacker James Brennan led the Red Raiders with nine tackles – including 1.5 for loss – and recovered a fumble on a sack by a fellow senior, defensive end Sean Sadosky. The linebackers accounted for three of SU's four leading tacklers, as junior Cortlin Dell had eight and senior Brian Sourber had seven.
 
Cheatham had his best game as a Red Raider with his second-half effort. In addition to seven tackles, Cheatham was credited with three pass breakups – including a diving knockdown of Kutztown's second-down pass play with less than 10 seconds remaining. He also deflected KU's first pass following the botched punt at the end of the game that ended up being caught by KU on a ricochet.
 
"That was a pretty good job by our defense there at the end of the game, with all that pressure on them, to be able shut down a very good offense in the red zone," Maciejewski said. "We sure do make it interesting. We don't want anybody to leave early, that's for sure."
 
Shippensburg managed to improves its all-time record at home against Kutztown to 30-3, as the Red Raiders have won 10 straight over the Golden Bears dating back to 1995. It was SU's fourth straight win over KU.
 
"We'll take the win any day," Maciejewski said afterward. "(Kutztown)'s a darn good football team. They kept fighting, we kept fighting, and it came down to the last punch, and we were able to land that one.
 
Kutztown entered the game with the No. 2 defense in the PSAC and the No. 13 total defense in Division II, allowing just 294 yards per game. The Red Raiders managed just 118 yards in the first half but responded with 445 for the game (327 in the second half), and the 37 points scored by Shippensburg match the most allowed by Kutztown this season.
 
"Our kids kept believing," Maciejewski said. "We were down most of that game but we were able to pull it out. It was a hard-fought battle, and this was one of those wins where you really had to work for it. We're excited that this is our fourth straight winning season, I'm pretty proud of that."
 
Shippensburg concludes its 2014 season at noon Saturday from Erie with a noon kickoff against Mercyhurst at Tullio Field. The Lakers, coached by former SU assistant Marty Schaetzle, defeated Cal 59-49 on Saturday behind six school records from their quarterback Brendan Boylan (including 544 passing yards).
 
Notes: Saturday's game was just the sixth time in 45 career games as a head coach that Maciejewski has had a game decided by 10 points or less – including the third this season (L, 30-38 at Bloomsburg, L, 33-37 vs. ESU)…Lawshe broke the single-season school record for rushing yards by a quarterback (456), eclipsing the old record (364) set by Zach Zulli in 2011…SU ran for 194 yards, bringing its season total to 2,500 through 10 games, just 132 yards shy of matching the single-season school record (2,632) set in 2003…Blair Brooks, who was in and out of the game because of injury, ran for just 42 yards but reached 1,118 yards for the season, putting him fourth in SU single-season history behind John Kuhn's 2002-04 seasons…Harman now has 92 receptions this season, second-most in SU single-season history (he had 105 last year)…Harman is 109 receiving yards shy of his third career 1,000-yard season…Mayer is 99 receiving yards shy of becoming just the fifth different wide receiver in school history with a 1,000-yard season…Sadosky's sack-fumble marked just the fifth fumble lost all year by Kutztown, who entered the game fourth in Division II for the category…SU is now 12-4 in games in which both Harman and Mayer catch a touchdown…SU is now 17-5 at home under Maciejewski and has scored at least 17 points in all 22 home games under Maciejewski…SU has scored three touchdowns and tallied at least 21 points in 20 straight games…Smith, who entered the game No. 4 in the country for return yards, added 114 to his total on four runbacks…Lloyd kicked a 32-yard field goal and had four touchbacks…SU's 5,182 yards of total offense this season is second-most in school single-season history behind the 2012 team…Lawshe's 2,769 yards of total offense are the fourth-most in SU single-season history and most by any player other than Zach Zulli…Lawshe became just the third quarterback in school history to have more than 100 yards rushing and passing in the same game (Zulli vs. ESU, 2011; Sassaman vs. LHU, 1965).