CLARION, Pa. — The Shippensburg University football team posted 513 yards on offense Saturday and pitched its first shutout of a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division opponent since 2008 in a 31-0 victory over Clarion on a sunny and warm afternoon from Memorial Stadium.
 
Shippensburg (3-0) has won its opening three games of the season for the first time since 2012, and it achieved its victory Saturday in large part to a defensive unit that limited Clarion (0-3) to just 259 yards of offense. The Golden Eagles ran the ball 23 times, averaged less than a yard per rush, and did not muster a rushing first down in the contest. SU out-gained Clarion on the ground, 173-19.
 
SU held the Golden Eagles to just 34 yards of offense during the first 28 minutes of play, and finished the game limiting the home team to a 3-of-16 conversion rate on third downs. The Red Raider defense also intercepted two passes, and scored a defensive touchdown for the third straight week to start the season. 
 
Despite the more than 500 yards of offense, the Red Raiders held just a 7-0 lead at halftime. The lone first-half score came in the final minute of the first quarter on a precise pass from senior Ryan Zapoticky to redshirt-freshman Abel Hoff on a 34-yard go route.
 
The Red Raiders totaled 236 first-half yards from scrimmage, but the Golden Eagle defense provided relentless pressure from its front four throughout the opening 30 minutes that helped stall multiple SU drives.
 
Shippensburg's defense forced a punt to start the third quarter, and the offense needed just three plays to make it 14-0. Zapoticky found a wide-open redshirt-freshman Winston Eubanks (Philadelphia, Pa./LaSalle College) streaking up the middle of the field for an 80-yard touchdown. 
 
On its next offensive possession, graduate Colin McDermott capped a 9-play, 80-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown to make it 21-0. SU would make it a 17-point quarter with a 22-yard field goal from senior Billy Deane.
 
The Red Raider defense maintained its dominance through the remainder of the contest, clinching the victory with a pair of key turnovers. Early in the fourth quarter, sophomore Eric Dzieniszewski intercepted an Asiantii Woulard pass to stall a Golden Eagle drive. It marked the third straight game to start the season that Dzieniszewski has intercepted a pass.
 
On the next drive, senior Chavez Cheatham quashed any remaining Golden Eagle momentum by jumping in front of a Woulard pass and returning it 56 yards for a touchdown to create the game's final scoring margin.
 
Offensively, Zapoticky finished the day 21-of-38 for 340 yards and two touchdowns. Through three games, Zapoticky has completed 58 percent of his passes and thrown for 949 yards and eight touchdowns without an interception.
 
Hoff finished with seven receptions, six coming in the first half, for 110 yards and a touchdown. Eubanks had three catches for 123 yards and a touchdown. Through three games, Eubanks has 17 receptions, 416 yards and four touchdowns.
 
McDermott made his first collegiate start on the ground and finished with 15 carries for 68 yards and a touchdown. He alternated carries with junior Marcus Lominy, who had a career-high 18 carries for 69 yards. Lominy also had five receptions for 42 yards.
 
Junior Richard Sheler led the Red Raiders with a career-high 10 tackles and was credited with two pass breakups. The SU defense registered six tackles for loss in the contest, two each by juniors Tyler Emge and Dakota Thompson. Both Thompson and junior John Durkin had quarterback sacks.
 
Shippensburg opens its PSAC Eastern Division schedule next week with a 2 p.m. showdown at East Stroudsburg from Eiler-Martin Stadium.