The Shippensburg University football team twice erased a 14-point deficit to top Millersville in a roller coaster 35-27 victory in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division contest Saturday at Biemesderfer Stadium.
 
Shippensburg (2-4, 1-2 PSAC East) outscored the Marauders 21-3 in the second half. Freshman quarterback Vincent Micucci led the comeback, throwing the first four touchdown passes of his Raider career in his second-ever start. He finished 22-for-33 on pass attempts for 284 yards.
 
Sophomore wide receiver Karim Brice also had a career day, catching four passes for 101 yards and two scores.
 
Millersville (0-6, 0-3) held first-half leads of 14-0 and 21-7, and out-gained the Raiders 495-to-443 in the game. Marauder QB Ryan Zeltt threw for 327 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a losing effort.
 
Big plays from the Marauders put the Raiders in an early hole during a frantic opening frame.
 
Zeltt connected with Hakim Melvin on an 80-yard TD pass on MU's opening possession, and a wide receiver pass by Kam Taylor resulted in another long touchdown – a 78-yarder to Isaac Sines that made it 14-0.
 
Micucci broke the ice for the Raiders with his first career TD pass less than two minutes into the second quarter. The SU quarterback found redshirt-freshman Marcus Sweeney on a screen pass, and the wideout broke several tackles before finding his way into the endzone from 14 yards out.
 
Sweeney led the Raiders with seven receptions for a total of 67 yards. The TD reception was also the first of Sweeney's career.
 
After Millersville answered with a score to once again make it a two-touchdown game, Brice took a Micucci screen pass and raced 59 yards to the house to make it 21-14 midway through the second quarter.
 
A 39-yard field goal just before the halftime whistle from Millersville's Trent McDowell made it a 10-point deficit at the break, 24-14.
 
Micucci showed tremendous poise under pressure despite his lack of experience. On a third and five in the redzone, Micucci improvised to avoid the Millersville rush, creating enough time to find Brice in the back of the endzone for an 11-yard TD, 24-21, with 9:14 left in the third quarter.
 
Later in the third, Micucci converted on another third and long pass play in the redzone, this time finding junior Griffin Patterson in the seam for an 18-yard TD strike to give the Raiders their first lead, 28-27.
 
In the fourth, redshirt-junior Tanner Hess capped a 12-play, six-minute Raider drive with a one-yard TD plunge to extend the lead, 35-27, with 2:45 remaining.
 
Redshirt-freshman Gabe Benjamin then intercepted Zeltt on the following drive to all but seal the Raider victory.
 
The key for the Shippensburg offense Saturday was its success on third down. SU converted 8-of-15 third down attempts and were 2-for-2 on fourth down conversions in the contest. They went 4-for-19 on third down the week prior.
 
Micucci led the SU ground game with 63 yards. Hess finished with 49 yards on 16 carries.
 
Senior Javon M. Cruz paced the Raider defense with eight tackles. Freshman Ty Kephart finished with six. Redshirt-junior Jeremiah Carothers posted two tackles for loss.
 
Next week, the Raiders welcome nationally-ranked Kutztown for Shippensburg University's annual Homecoming Game. Kickoff from Seth Grove Stadium is slated for 1 p.m.