SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University football team established a 41-0 halftime lead on Saturday, scoring touchdowns on all six of its first-half drives, en route to a dominating 51-14 Homecoming romp over Millersville in front of a capacity crowd at SU Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium.
 
Shippensburg (7-1, 4-1 PSAC East) ran for 258 yards, passed for 237 yards and forced three turnovers against a Millersville (3-5, 2-3) squad that was held to just 71 yards through the opening 30 minutes of play. The Red Raiders have outscored the opposition 201-43 in the first half of games this season.
 
Seniors Ryan Zapoticky and Kevin Taylor II were named the 2017 Shippensburg Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Homecoming MVPs. Zapoticky completed 15-of-21 passes for 237 yards and five touchdowns while also rushing for 30 yards in three quarters of action, while Taylor intercepted two passes and was credited with two additional pass breakups on the day.
 
The Red Raiders made a concerted effort to run the ball Saturday and did just that – posting its most rushes (57) in the last 16 games. Senior Colin McDermott finished with his second 100-yard game of the season, totaling a career-high 24 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown. McDermott now has a team-high 95 carries this season; only one of his rushes has gone for negative yardage.
 
Senior Cole Chiappialle had 14 carries for 73 yards and two touchdowns – scoring on runs of five and two yards in the first half. Through 17 games as a Red Raider, Chiappialle has 19 career rushing touchdowns.
 
After both of Taylor's interceptions on the day, Zapoticky threw long touchdown passes to redshirt-freshman wide receiver Winston Eubanks. The first connection was a 32-yard score with 6:34 remaining in the first half, and the second came with 2:27 left in the third quarter. Through eight games, Eubanks has 31 receptions and is averaging an incredible 27.9 yards per catch.
 
Sophomore Kyle Haines had four receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown, while Eubanks finished with three catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Redshirt-freshman Charles Headen III had two catches for 40 yards and a touchdown.
 
SU's opening drive was an 8-play, 89-yard sequence that was capped off by an exquisitely executed connection on a 3rd-and-goal from the 5-yard line, as Zapoticky lofted a throw to sophomore tight end Shea O'Donnell in the left edge of the endzone. It was O'Donnell's fourth reception of the season and second for a touchdown.
 
The second scoring drive ended with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Haines – a 30-yard reception to Headen III on a 3rd-and-9 play was a key in extending the drive and setting up the score. Shippensburg was 8-of-9 on third down in the first half.
 
SU's third scoring drive included two incredible conversions. On a 3rd-and-17 from the SU 49-yard line, Zapoticky found Haines, who fought off multiple defenders to battle forward and convert the first down with a 19-yard reception. On a 4th-and-11 from the MU 33-yard line, Zapoticky scrambled for a 13-yard gain to move the chains.
 
The second of Chiappialle's first-half scores, which made it 41-0 with 2:16 left before the intermission, came after a spirited defensive play in which redshirt-freshman Tim Bradley had a strip-sack from the blind side and junior Nick Drawbaugh scooped up the fumble and rumbled down to the Marauder 26-yard line.
 
Shippensburg's defense finished with 11 tackles-for-loss (TFLs), marking the fourth straight game it has recorded double digits in the category. Junior Tyler Emge was all over the field, tying for the team lead with six tackles, while posting two TFLs and two pass break-ups. Fellow junior linebacker Steven Cain also had six tackles, including one TFL.
 
Junior Dakota Thompson notched his team-leading sixth sack of the season. Shippensburg's 25 team sacks lead the PSAC.
 
Zapoticky now has 6,311 career passing yards, moving him past Brian Gilbert (6,205) and ranking him third all-time in school history behind Zach Zulli (10,988) and Chris Gicking (6,365).
 
Senior Billy Deane kicked a 40-yard field goal in the third quarter – his longest of the season and the fifth 40-plus yard field goal of his career. Deane now has 227 career points, ranking him third all-time in scoring among SU kickers (Jamie Reder – 249, Howie Guarini – 230).
 
Shippensburg travels to Kutztown at 4:05 p.m. Saturday for a pivotal PSAC East showdown on the Golden Bears' Homecoming weekend at Andre Reed Stadium. KU spoiled SU's Homecoming last season with a 24-21 double-overtime victory at Seth Grove Stadium.