SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University football team could not solve No. 5 Kutztown on Saturday, falling 31-2 to the Golden Bears in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division contest on a sunny Homecoming afternoon at Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium.
 
Shippensburg (2-5, 1-3 PSAC East) started four drives at its own 40-yard line or better but could not establish any offensive momentum against Kutztown (7-0, 4-0) – who entered the game ranked third in the nation in scoring defense and fourth in total defense. SU only got as far as the KU 37-yard line on the day, managing just 102 yards and seven first downs.
 
The Raider defense limited the visitors to 50 rushing yards and recorded two interceptions – KU boasts the PSAC's best turnover margin and had only thrown one interception all season entering Saturday. Josh Lesesne and Mike Fayemi picked off Judd Novak passes to keep the Raiders in the game.
 
The contest was a 7-0 affair midway through the second quarter when the Golden Bears had the most productive drive of the game by either team – a nine-play, 53-yard jaunt that took 5:20 and gave the visitors a 14-0 lead with 3:14 left in the half.
 
The backbreaker for SU came in the final minute of the half. After a turnover on downs, KU got the ball with 58 seconds left and on the second play of the drive popped a 46-yard touchdown pass to take a 21-0 lead into halftime.
 
The lone points for Shippensburg came in the third quarter when the snap on a KU punt went horribly awry and rolled 30 yards through the back of the end zone for a safety.
 
Defensively for the Raiders, junior Ely Ghameshlougy had eight tackles and a pass breakup while redshirt-freshman Gabe Benjamin had seven tackles and a pass breakup. Freshman Alex Sauve had seven tackles (five solo), while Fayemi ended up with six tackles. Redshirt-freshman Nate Myers contributed to 1.5 tackles-for-loss (TFLs).
 
Shippensburg hits the road next Saturday for a 2 p.m. game at Bloomsburg.