SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University football team raced out to a 17-0 lead on Saturday but could not maintain its early momentum, as visiting Gannon ultimately prevailed with a 24-20 decision over the Red Raiders on an extremely hot and muggy afternoon at SU Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium.
 
Shippensburg (1-1) scored two touchdowns in the first quarter, reaching paydirt on one-yard touchdown runs by senior Justin Pyle and junior Cole Chiappialle. Ironically, all three of SU's touchdowns this season have been one-yard touchdown runs.
 
Less than two minutes into the second quarter, following a fake punt by Gannon (2-0) from its own 32-yard line that was thwarted by redshirt-freshman Tig Spinelli, junior Billy Deane kicked a 43-yard field goal into the wind that enhanced the Red Raider lead to 17-0.
 
SU, however, was kept out of the end zone for the remainder of the contest. The only remaining Red Raider points came on a field goal late in the fourth quarter.
 
The decisive stretch occurred during the game's midway point. For five drives that spanned 13:02 of the second quarter through 6:13 of the third quarter, SU managed just 66 yards of offense while Gannon scored 21 of its 24 points. Save for the Golden Knights' four scoring drives during this midgame stretch, the visitors otherwise managed just 174 yards on the day and a 3.8 yard-per-play average.
 
Following Deane's field goal, the Golden Knights returned the ensuing kickoff 82 yards and scored one play later on a nine-yard touchdown pass. The visitors were then pinned on their own 1-yard line for their next offensive series, but responded with a 14-play, 99-yard drive to make the score 17-14. That score proved to be the halftime margin as Gannon missed a 31-yard field goal on the final play before the intermission.
 
The Golden Knights took the lead for good on their first drive of the third quarter, capitalizing on a blown coverage to score on an 84-yard touchdown pass to its tight end and lead 21-17. Tight end Will Davis caught a pass just about 10 yards down the field but there were no Red Raiders in the vicinity; he rumbled down the field and into the end zone for what proved to be the final touchdown of the game for either team.
 
SU's final four drives of the game all consisted of at least seven plays, but they ended with a sack-fumble, a turnover on downs, a field goal and an interception. The Red Raiders got a 33-yard field goal from Deane with 4:52 remaining to get within four points, and later got the ball back with 1:44 on the clock, but SU's final drive was thwarted on fourth down at the Gannon 30-yard line.
 
Junior quarterback Ryan Zapoticky completed 28-of-45 passes for 256 yards and rushed for 30 yards. On the ground, Pyle had 15 totes for 63 yards while Chiappialle ran for 28 yards and totaled 31 receiving yards.
 
It was a breakout day for senior Erik Kerns, who had career highs of 11 receptions and 133 receiving yards. Kerns, a transfer in his first season on the field for Shippensburg, had the most catches by an SU player since the final game of the 2014 season. He becomes just the fourth player in the Coach Maciejewski era (2011-present) to total double-digit receptions in a game, joining Trevor Harman (11 times), Sheldon Mayer (four times) and Taimur Harris (once).  

Kerns' performance surpassed a memorable game from his 2013 redshirt-freshman season in which he had 10 catches and 115 yards at Mercyhurst while playing for Seton Hill.
 
Defensively for the Red Raiders, senior linebacker Allen Holman led the team with nine tackles and had one of the squad's three sacks. Sophomores Tyler Emge and Dakota Thompson also achieved sacks on the day, while sophomore Richard Nase achieved multiple quarterback hurries.
 
Despite the three sacks, Gannon emerged victorious in large part to the elusive efforts of their quarterback, Zach Phillips. On the day, Phillips side-stepped numerous SU advances to the tune of 109 yards while also throwing for 218 yards and two touchdowns. He ran for five first downs on the day, moving the sticks on 3rd-and-12, 2nd-and-4, 4th-and-2, 3rd-and-10 and 3rd-and-8.
 
Overall, SU posted 21 first downs to Gannon's 16, but the visitors out-gained the Red Raiders 419-377.
 
Shippensburg continues its homestand at 1 p.m. Saturday with a non-conference showdown against Clarion from SU Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium.