EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University football team began its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division schedule on Saturday by recording 704 yards of total offense in a 40-0 blanking of East Stroudsburg, marking the first time in 13 years that the Red Raiders have posted back-to-back shutouts.

Shippensburg (4-0, 1-0 PSAC East) posted its fifth best single-game output for total offense in school history – the 704 yards are its most since a 713-yard performance against Seton Hill in 2014. The Red Raiders ran the ball 50 times Saturday for 334 yards – an average of 6.7 yards per rush – while senior quarterback Ryan Zapoticky completed 24 passes for 370 yards.
 
East Stroudsburg (1-3, 0-1) was shutout for the first time in 17 years (183 games, dating back to Oct. 14, 2000). The Warriors were held to just 17 rushing yards on 23 carries. ESU tailback Jaymar Anderson – who entered Saturday's game having put together three straight 100-yard rushing games to open the season, was limited to just eight yards on 10 carries.

Saturday's victory marks No. 50 all-time for Mark Maciejewski -- now in his seventh season as head coach of Red Raider Football. Maciejewski is already No. 2 all-time in head coaching victories at Shippensburg, and he is the only SU head coach to begin his tenure with six straight winning seasons.
 
The Red Raider defense forced four fumbles (recovering one) and totaled nine tackles for loss. Junior defensive end Nick Drawbaugh and sophomore linebacker Tig Spinelli each had 1.5 tackles for loss. Drawbaugh and junior John Durkin each had a sack. Junior safety Richard Sheler led SU with seven tackles and three pass breakups.
 
Graduate running back Colin McDermott earned his second straight start at running back and finished with a career day – rushing for 121 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries. All three of those feats are new single-game career bests for McDermott, who averaged 6.7 yards per carry.
 
McDermott is the first Red Raider with three rushing touchdowns in a game since Zapoticky in the 2015 finale, and the first Red Raider running back to do so since Justin Pyle in the 2015 meeting with ESU that lasted five overtimes.
 
Junior Marcus Lominy had 10 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown – giving him 132 rushing yards over the last two weeks. Redshirt-freshman London Whitfeld made his collegiate debut and ran for 68 yards on nine carries – including a 30-yard burst that is the longest by an SU player so far this season. Zapoticky ran for 52 yards, and junior Chase Yocum came off the bench with 30 rushing yards.
 
Zapoticky finished the game completing 24-of-30 passes for 370 yards, two touchdowns to redshirt-freshman Winston Eubanks and one interception. Zapoticky completed passes to eight different receivers.
 
Sophomore Kyle Haines led all players with eight receptions, totaling 89 yards. Redshirt-freshman Abel Hoff had five catches for 67 yards, and fellow redshirt-freshman Charles Headen III had a tremendous 34-yard catch in the first half.
 
Eubanks finished with the two touchdown catches that combined for 121 receiving yards. He has now caught at least one touchdown in all four games this season. Each of his last three receptions, dating back to last week's game at Clarion, have all been touchdowns.
 
Saturday's scoring opened with 5:49 remaining in the first quarter when Zapoticky hit Eubanks down the right sideline for a 74-yard to give the Red Raiders a 6-0 lead (extra point failed).
 
After forcing an ESU three-and-out, Shippensburg wasted no time in extending its lead by using an eight play, 54-yard drive that was capped off with a three-yard touchdown from McDermott that made it 12-0 (extra point blocked). McDermott accounted for 47 of the 54 yards on the drive, including a career-long run of 29 yards.
 
Through one quarter, the Red Raiders had limited the Warriors to just 37 yards – including just two yards on the ground. ESU drove to the SU 4-yard line with 9:35 remaining in the second quarter, but Drawbaugh and Spinelli combined to make a fourth-down stop. The ensuing Red Raider drive went 95 yards on 12 plays and was capped off with another McDermott touchdown.
 
SU led 26-0 at halftime after Lominy found the endzone with 26 seconds remaining before the intermission. The Red Raiders churned out 194 rushing yards in the first half on 29 attempts – including 102 from McDermott and 57 from Lominy.
 
McDermott capped off a 5-play, 75-yard drive to open the third quarter with a 16-yard rushing touchdown, and Zapoticky found Eubanks again later in the frame for a 47-yar touchdown throw that proved to be the game's final score.
 
The last time Shippensburg posted back-to-back shutouts was the final game of the 2003 season (35-0 over California) and the first game of the 2004 season (35-0 over Kutztown). The 2004 campaign is the last time SU had more than one shutout in a season, while the 2003 campaign is the last time that SU had three shutouts in the same season. This is the first time that SU has posted back-to-back shutouts in the same season since 1981.
 
The Red Raider defense has allowed just 40 points through four games. It is the fewest points allowed by Shippensburg through the first four games of the season since yielding just 23 points through the first four games of the 1989 season under head coach Joe Bottiglieri.
 
Shippensburg's three-game road trip is finally over, as the team returns home next weekend to face Lock Haven at 1 p.m. Saturday from SU Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium.
 
Next weekend, the Red Raiders will be hosting a return visit from Ethan Pyles, a young boy currently battling Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, as a part of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA)'s #CoachtoCureMD awareness efforts. The team will also be hosting 6-year-old Gunnar Downie, a local boy who recently joined the team through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation.