SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University football team held its opponent without a touchdown for the third straight week on Saturday, recording a season-high seven sacks and limiting Lock Haven to just 175 yards in a 37-6 victory over the visiting Bald Eagles in front of a large crowd at SU Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium.
 
Shippensburg (5-0, 2-0 PSAC East) scored its fourth defensive touchdown of the season on the first play from scrimmage, as senior Chavez Cheatham forced a fumble that was recovered by junior Tyler Emge, who scooped and scored from about 25 yards out. SU established a 17-0 lead after the first quarter and limited Lock Haven (0-5, 0-2) to just 85 first-half yards from scrimmage.
 
The Red Raiders led 24-3 at halftime, yielding a field goal with 5:11 left in the first half that ended a scoreless streak of 151:12 which dated back to Week 2 at Gannon. In the third quarter, Lock Haven ran 15 plays and kicked a field goal after a muffed punt but totaled negative-8 yards of offense in the frame. Through the first 48 minutes of play, the SU defense limited Lock Haven to just 76 yards from scrimmage – an average of 0.6 yards per play.
 
Shippensburg's 17 tackles-for-loss are tied for the second-most in an NCAA Division II game this season and the most in a game by a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) squad through the first five weeks of play. It is the most single-game tackles-for-loss by the Red Raiders since 18 against Millersville on Sept. 22, 2012.

Junior Dakota Thompson had a career-high three sacks and was constantly in the Bald Eagle backfield. Thompson totaled eight tackles – 3.5 for loss – and also recovered a second-half fumble that was forced by junior Steven Cain.
 
Eleven Red Raiders finished with at least five tackles. Sophomore Tig Spinelli led SU with nine tackles, including two TFLs and a sack. Cain had six tackles along with fellow linebacker senior Christian Brown – Brown had 1.5 TFLs including a sack.
 
Emge finished with five tackles – 2.5 TFLs including one sack, a pass break-up and the fumble-return touchdown. Sophomore Dennis Robinson and junior John Durkin each had five tackles including 1.5 TFLs, with Durkin also among those on the day with a sack.
 
Shippensburg's offense totaled an even 400 yards, including 220 on the ground. Junior Marcus Lominy led the running backs with 64 rushing yards on 14 carries, while graduate Colin McDermott had 47 yards and two touchdowns on his birthday.
 
Senior Ryan Zapoticky became the ninth quarterback in PSAC history to surpass 1,000 career rushing yards, finishing the day with 42 yards on six carries. Three of his six credited rushes were third-down plays in which he recorded first downs. Zapoticky has 1,018 career rushing yards through 28 games.
 
Sophomore Kyle Haines had five catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns. Haines hauled in a 24-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter and a 28-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter. Through the air, Zapoticky was 12-of-23 for 180 yards while dealing with a stiff north-to-south wind throughout the game.
 
Lock Haven was just 2-of-16 on third-down conversions as the latest opponent to face the PSAC's top third-down defense. The Red Raiders were ranked ninth in NCAA Division II for third-down defense entering Saturday.
 
After scoring 14 points off turnovers on Saturday, the Red Raiders have scored more points off turnovers (59) this season than its opponents have scored total points (46) through five games.
 
Saturday was a busy day at Shippensburg, with the Red Raider Football team hosting its newest team member Gunnar Downie (Friends of Jaclyn) as well as 15-year-old Ethan Pyles as part of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA)'s annual #CoachtoCureMD initiative. More info about these stories, including the latest visit by the Red Raider Pack, will be available in the coming days.
 
Shippensburg is now poised for a Eastern Division showdown at 1 p.m. next Saturday, when the West Chester Golden Rams come calling to SU Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium. WCU defeated Kutztown on Saturday, 28-21.