SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University football team rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half on Saturday to tie the score with 12:18 remaining, but visiting West Chester scored the final 10 points to secure a 37-27 victory in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup on a hot day at SU Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium.
 
Shippensburg (5-1, 2-1 PSAC East) and West Chester (5-1, 3-0) combined for 903 yards of offense on an unseasonably warm afternoon in which the teams were battling fatigue, cramping, attrition and the wind down the stretch among myriad issues on the day. Forty-four of the combined 64 points were scored by the team playing with the wind (toward the north end of the stadium).
 
Saturday was a riveting clash of two teams with strong playoff aspirations. The Golden Rams are now in the catbird's seat in the Eastern Division standings as the only squad without a "conference" loss while also boasting head-to-head tiebreakers over SU and Kutztown. The Red Raiders join a group of teams with just one East setback but have plenty of time to position themselves among the Top 7 teams in Super Region I over the final six weeks.
 
SU drove 75 yards on eight plays to take a 7-0 lead just 1:47 into the contest and established a 10-3 lead through one quarter. WCU responded with 24 straight points to lead 27-10 just three minutes into the third quarter, but the Red Raiders then countered with two touchdowns in less than four minutes. A 20-yard field goal by senior Billy Deane tied the score at 27-27 with 12:18 to play.
 
One of the game's most pivotal plays came on the ensuing drive, as the Red Raider defense trapped West Chester on its own 1-yard line but the Golden Rams converted a 3rd-and-19 when quarterback Paul Dooley threw from the back of his own end zone and found Tyler Karpinski for a 25-yard completion.
 
The visitors would eventually cap off that drive with a 41-yard field goal. SU's ensuing march downfield was quashed by a late holding penalty after senior Ryan Zapoticky had converted a 3rd-and-16 with a 30-yard scamper. On the first play after the subsequent punt, WCU running back Jarel Elder was forced to the edge at the line of scrimmage but evaded a tackle at the sideline and turned up field – scampering 63 yards to paydirt to swing the momentum.
 
Zapoticky went deep often on Saturday, finishing 17-of-40 for 299 yards with a touchdown to redshirt-freshman Charles Headen III and an interception that WCU converted into seven points. His most frequent target was redshirt-freshman wide receiver Winston Eubanks, who finished with seven catches for 176 yards.
 
On the ground, senior Cole Chiappialle had seven carries for 56 yards and a touchdown, while graduate Colin McDermott had eight carries for 55 yards. Zapoticky finished with 33 yards and a touchdown – he had 38 rushing yards stricken from his total due to negative yardage from sacks.
 
Shippensburg's defensive line continued its strong play. Junior ends Dakota Thompson and Richard Nase combined for 16 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and multiple quarterback hurries. Thompson had three tackles for loss and a sack, while Nase was credited with 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack.

In the middle, junior John Durkin made four tackles and broke up two passes with deflections at the line of scrimmage, while junior Josh Lister had a hand in four tackles and senior Austin Rosenberry was credited with a sack.
 
Sophomore linebacker Tig Spinelli was all over the field and led the Red Raiders with 10 tackles. Senior defensive back Kevin Taylor II made nine tackles, forced a fumble, broke up multiple passes and nearly had an interception on WCU's fourth-quarter field goal drive. Juniors Richard Sheler and Steven Cain each had seven tackles.
 
Shippensburg finished 3-of-14 on third-down conversions and 0-of-3 on fourth-down conversions. The visitors were 8-of-18 on third down and finished with a 12-minute edge in time of possession (36:04 to 23:56).
 
WCU wide receiver Karpinski, the younger brother of former Red Raider safety Kyle Karpinski, had eight catches for 130 yards. The Golden Rams also got 149 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Elder, whose younger brother Jarey had seven tackles and the all-important interception in the second quarter. Dooley threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Shippensburg is at Cheyney next Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest with the Wolves.
 
Notes: Eubanks's 176 receiving yards on Saturday are the most in a single game by a Red Raider since Sheldon Mayer had 198 receiving yards in the 2014 season finale…Eubanks leads the PSAC in receiving yards (762), receiving yards per catch (28.2) and receiving yards per game (127.0)…Zapoticky's interception was just his second of the season, tying him with Kutztown's Collin DiGalbo for the fewest by a PSAC quarterback that meets the league's statistics minimums…Shippensburg still leads the PSAC in scoring defense (13.8 ppg) despite yielding a season-high 37 points on Saturday…SU's 19 sacks lead the conference.