SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University football team held homestanding East Stroudsburg scoreless in the second half on Saturday and forced three turnovers en route to a come-from-behind victory, 24-23, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division game at Gregory-Douds Field at Eiler-Martin Stadium.
 
Shippensburg (7-2, 4-2 PSAC East) extended its winning streak over East Stroudsburg (5-4, 3-3) to six consecutive games – SU's longest win streak in the 95-year history of the rivalry. The Raiders have won 11 of the last 12 over the Warriors dating back to 2009, with Saturday's game being the closest since the historic 69-67, five-overtime win on Oct. 3, 2015.
 
SU scored two touchdowns in the first half – a 30-yard pass from graduate wide receiver Evan Morrill back to redshirt-junior quarterback Brycen Mussina, and a one-yard run out of the wildcat by redshirt-sophomore running back Khalid Dorsey – but trailed 23-14 at halftime. The Warriors scored two touchdowns of their own and got three field goals from kicker Devin Bartholomew.
 
In a scoreless third quarter, Shippensburg punted three times and was intercepted once on a ricocheted pass, while East Stroudsburg missed a field goal and was stopped on a fourth-down play. On the first play of scrimmage in the fourth quarter, junior safety Mike Brewer intercepted a Jake Cirillo pass and returned it 53 yards to the ESU 5-yard line.
 
Two plays after the Brewer interception, redshirt-junior tight end David Balint III went airborne and made a one-handed catch as he was falling to the ground to secure a touchdown and get the Raiders within two points of the lead, 23-21.
 
After an exchange of punts, the Warriors drove to the SU 27-yard line with five minutes to go, but a hit by redshirt-freshman defensive back Khi'on Smith resulted in a fumble that was recovered by senior safety Trey Paul. On the ensuing drive, a 42-yard completion from Mussina to freshman Ian Sheehan got the Raiders into field goal range, and freshman Jaxson Montross kicked a 31-yarder with 1:27 remaining to create the final scoring margin.
 
ESU managed one first down on its final drive before ultimately turning the ball over on downs. On a second-down play, Paul intercepted a Cirillo throw but the Warriors were only called for an illegal forward pass on the play and penalized five yards and a loss of down. SU's pass rush produced an intentional grounding call on third down, and a fourth-down sack by sophomore Jacoby Sherard cinched the win.
 
Paul and senior linebacker Laron Woody, who served as the team's game captain Saturday, each finished with 11 tackles. Woody had a half-sack, while Paul had 1.5 tackles-for-loss in addition to the fumble recovery and the interception that wasn't.
 
Redshirt-sophomore linebacker Tyler Simon finished with a career-high nine tackles (seven solo). Simon's previous career high of eight tackles was recorded last season at East Stroudsburg.
 
Brewer added six tackles in addition to his interception. Smith contributed five tackles, including one TFL, in addition to his forced fumble. Redshirt-freshman linebacker Matt Feeney intercepted his first career pass and finished with three solo tackles.
 
Mussina finished the game 19-of-32 for 243 yards, throwing one touchdown, catching one touchdown and throwing one interception. He was sacked four times. Morrill had a team-high six receptions for 61 yards in addition to his touchdown throw to Mussina, while Sheehan had five catches for a team-high 97 yards. The SU ground game managed just 35 yards on 30 carries. Both teams were 4-of-13 on third down.
 
Saturday marked the first SU Football game decided by one point since a 44-43 double-overtime loss at West Chester on Oct. 7, 2010.     
 
SU maintains its best start to a season since the 2017 NCAA Tournament team had a 10-1 regular season.
 
Shippensburg hosts Lock Haven at 1 p.m. Saturday at Seth Grove Stadium.