SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University football team set multiple single-game school records Saturday in a rout of visiting Millersville, as the Red Raiders totaled 10 sacks, returned three punts for touchdowns and scored five different ways in a 63-7 victory over the Marauders at SU Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium.
 
Shippensburg (7-2, 5-1 PSAC East) sacked Millersville (0-9, 0-6) on a flea flicker on the first play from scrimmage to set the tone for a simply dominant defensive effort. SU had six sacks in the first quarter alone – two shy of the single-game record despite having played just 15 minutes, and nine sacks by halftime. The 10 sacks by the Red Raiders are the most in a Division II game this season.
 
Due to the lost yardage on sacks and a stout front four, SU yielded negative-29 rushing yards – a total just one yard shy of tying the best single-game mark in school history. The visiting Marauders managed just 111 yards of total offense in the entire game – averaging 1.7 yards per play. At halftime, SU had held Millersville to 38 total yards on 39 plays from scrimmage.
 
Shippensburg held a 49-0 lead at the intermission but possessed the ball for just 6:00 in the first half. SU's 63 points on the day required just 7:28, and 4:15 of that time came on a fourth-quarter touchdown drive that included six running plays.
 
Senior Sheldon Mayer had a day for the ages, totaling a single-game school record 177 punt return yards and scoring twice – on runbacks of 66 and 91 yards. Mayer totaled 28 more punt return yards than any Division II player had in a single game this season; his 91-yard score is the second-long punt return touchdown in school history.
 
Mayer is now the SU record holder with four career punt return touchdowns, with three coming this season (he returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown at Cal in Week 3). He also caught a touchdown in the first quarter, giving him three scores on the day and 186 all-purpose yards. Mayer now has 951 career punt-return yards, making him Division II's active career leader for the category.
 
After being deemed less than a yard short of a punt-return touchdown last week at Cheyney, senior Andrew Smith left no doubt on Saturday as he took one 55 yards to the house late in the first quarter to make it a 21-0 Red Raider lead. Smith entered last week's game with just four career punt returns for 16 yards; he now has 91 punt-return yards and a score on his last two attempts.
 
On the ground, Smith broke a career-long run of 87 yards for a touchdown that was sandwiched in between Mayer's two punt return scores. Junior Justin Pyle had a 41-yard rush earlier in the quarter. Just two of SU's 35 rushes on the day went for negative yardage, as the Red Raiders averaged 8.2 yards per carry on Saturday.
 
Sophomore Kevin Taylor II recorded SU's third "pick-six" of the season; his first career interception came on the first play of an MU drive in the second quarter and he returned it 28 yards for a score.
 
Of the scores of Red Raiders with tackles for loss in the game, the efforts of redshirt-freshman Richard Nase stood out. Nase led the Red Raiders with eight tackles – 4.5 tackles for loss, including 3.5 sacks. He also forced a fumble on one of the sacks (recovered by Millersville) and deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage. Nase now has eight sacks this season – second-most in the PSAC.
 
The defense finished with a season-high 12 total tackles for loss (TFLs), marking the fourth time this season that the Red Raiders have had 10 or more TFLs in a game. SU has had at least 11 TFLs in all five meetings against Millersville during head coach Mark 'Mac' Maciejewski's tenure, including 18 TFLs back in 2011 and 2012.
 
Other Saturday standouts included sophomore Kevin Goldsmith, who had two sacks (including the opener on the aforementioned flea flicker), and sophomore Austin Rosenberry added 1.5 sacks. Eight different players had a hand in the 10 team sacks.
 
Redshirt-freshman Steven Cain scored a touchdown after the game's first series, as Millersville botched the snap on its first punt attempt and Cain fell on the loose ball in the end zone. Cain finished with five tackles as well.
 
Sophomore Ryan Zapoticky was 6-of-8 for 46 yards and a touchdown and also had an 18-yard rushing touchdown in what amounted to a glorified cameo for the SU signal caller. Freshman Chase Yocum was used often off the bench; he finished with 30 passing yards and 43 rushing yards.
 
Sophomore tailback Colin McDermott had a game-high 15 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown. Junior wide receiver Mike Brown, meanwhile, was the only Red Raider with multiple receptions in the game. He had two catches for 22 yards.
 
SU has put itself in a position to claim the PSAC Eastern Division title and the right to host the PSAC State Game if it can defeat Kutztown on the road the next weekend. Kickoff is at 1:05 p.m. from Andre Reed Stadium.
 
Notes: The Red Raiders have now won 12 consecutive games against Millersville, including a 272-39 margin in the last five meetings…SU has now scored 106 points off turnovers this season and maintains +13 turnover margin…after three quarters, SU led 56-7 but had more sacks at the time (10) than it did first downs (9)…SU's school record for fewest rushing yards allowed in a game is -30, set in 1954 against Southern Connecticut State…SU also allowed -29 rushing yards in 1953 against Bridgewater (Va.)…SU's 10 sacks are tied for the most in any FCS, FBS or Division II game this season (Temple sacked Penn State 10 times earlier this season)…SU now leads the PSAC with 30 sacks…SU has doubled its sack total from last season with 2+ games still to play…the NCAA Division II single-game record for punt return yards, for those curious, is 265 by Widener's Billy Johnson in 1972…in that game, Johnson also set the Division II record with three punt return touchdowns (he finished that game 4-265-3)…SU becomes the fourth school in Division II history and first since 1979 to score three punt-return touchdowns in a single game (Troy vs. West Alabama, 9/29/79; Widener vs. St. John's, 9/23/72; Hawaii vs. Linfield, 11/15/69)…Mayer's 91-yard punt return touchdown was two shy of the school record of Winston Horshaw; his 93-yard score came back in 1989 against West Liberty…Mayer did break single-game punt return yards record of 171 set in that game…Mayer is 55 all-purpose yards shy of becoming the seventh player in school history with 4,000+ all-purpose yards.