PITTSBURGH – The Shippensburg University football team scored 28 second-half points on Saturday to erase a halftime deficit and achieve victory in the 2018 season opener, defeating Clarion by a 35-13 score on a sunny and warm afternoon from Highmark Stadium.
 
Shippensburg (1-0) trailed 10-7 at the intermission, but began the second half by forcing a three-and-out on defense and then scoring on its first offensive possession to reclaim a lead that it would not relinquish the rest of the way.
 
Clarion (0-1) was out-gained by the Red Raiders in the second half, 358-83. Of Clarion's seven second-half drives, three resulted in three-and-outs, and a fourth ended on an interception.
 
"I'm real proud of them for coming out in the second half and playing," head coach Mark 'Mac' Maciejewski said of the Red Raiders. "We had a lot of young guys playing for the first time, and I think the jitters and the nerves got to them a little bit. But they settled down, and they started to showcase what they could do."

In his collegiate debut, redshirt-freshman quarterback Brycen Mussina threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns. Mussina did not throw an interception; he was not sacked, and he delivered a pass to eight different Red Raiders.
 
Redshirt-sophomore wide receiver Winston Eubanks was held without a reception in the first half but erupted for four catches, 161 yards and a touchdown in the second half. Eubanks had receptions of 47, 58, 36 and 20 yards on the day, and all of his catches came on Red Raider touchdown drives.
 
Redshirt-freshman Mari Wright had a team-high eight receptions for 46 yards, while redshirt-sophomore Josh Gontarek impressed with four catches, 30 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown reception that capped off a 99-yard scoring drive. Redshirt- sophomore Charles Headen III also hauled in a 23-yard touchdown from Mussina.
 
SU rotated multiple players in at running back throughout the contest. Redshirt-freshman Sean Judge earned the start and led the team in carries, running 14 times for 49 yards. Judge also had two catches, including an 11-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter that opened the scoring.
 
Redshirt-sophomore Raleigh Sirb led the team in rushing yards, carrying the ball nine times for 56 yards. Redshirt-senior Marcus Lominy averaged 4.7 yards per carry on 10 rushes. Senior quarterback Chase Yocum entered on several occasions and capped off SU's third touchdown drive with a one-yard scamper into the end zone on a read-option.
 
Shippensburg's defense did not allow a third-down conversion. Clarion finished the day 0-for-14 on third down, but did manage a fourth-down conversion in the second half.
 
The Red Raiders totaled nine tackles-for-loss (TFLs), including 4.5 TFLs by redshirt-senior defensive end Dakota Thompson. Redshirt-senior linebacker Steven Cain led SU with nine total tackles, including a six-yard sack. Cain also had two pass breakups.
 
Shippensburg finished with three sacks, of which redshirt-senior John Durkin had a hand in one. Senior linebacker Tyler Emge had seven total tackles, including two TFLs. Redshirt-sophomore Terez Franklin had SU's interception.
 
Clarion running back Mylique McGriff ran for 94 yards – with 53 coming on a touchdown run on a stretch play late in the first quarter. McGriff also had a 19-yard rush in the game. Of his 16 other carries, however, SU limited him to 35 yards (2.2 yards per carry).
 
Saturday marked Shippensburg's fifth consecutive victory in a season opener.
 
UP NEXT: vs. Slippery Rock, 1 p.m. Saturday at Seth Grove Stadium.
 
QUOTES
 
Coach Mac on the start to the second half: "That's what we talked about, coming out of the locker room at halftime, is that we have got to get a stop here for sure, and our offense has got to roll and get a score. They were able to do that, I think that turned it around a little bit, and that loosened us up as a football family and that helped."
 
Coach Mac on the SU defense: "The defense played well. We let that one play for the touchdown go, and somebody just lost their gap, and that's all it takes on a stretch play like that, so we cleaned that up, and I thought other than that we played really well."
 
Coach Mac on Brycen Mussina: "A young man, a first-time starter, you're gonna be nervous, and have jitters and things. He just had to settle down a little bit, but I give him a ton of credit, because he came back in the second half and played. He got comfortable in the driver's seat a little bit. We're looking forward to each week just getting a little bit better and better."
 
Coach Mac on Winston Eubanks: "You just got to get the ball to Winston. It's a no-brainer. We weren't doing a great job of that there in the first half, but we opened it up a bit in the second half. You get the ball close to him, and most of the time he's going to come down with it. He's just a great player, and a great young man."