Gallery: (11-12-2025) 2025 Football vs. West Chester
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University football team wrapped up Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division play Saturday with its largest margin of victory over West Chester since the inaugural meeting between the teams 104 years ago, as the Raiders scored 29 unanswered points in the second half to claim a 43-14 victory over the Golden Rams on a sunny and mild day at Seth Grove Stadium.
Shippensburg (3-7, 3-4) won a game in which its passing yards leader was a wide receiver and its offensive star was a running back who entered the day with career totals of 21 carries, 93 rushing yards and zero touchdowns in 16 collegiate games.
Andre Weidman ran 23 times for 168 yards and four touchdowns – including three straight scores in a 12-minute span of the second half. Weidman is the first Raider to score four or more rushing touchdowns in a game since SU Hall of Famer John Kuhn '04 scored five times in a game 21 years ago (Oct. 23, 2004 at Clarion).
Nate Myers had two of Shippensburg's four interceptions and contributed 11 tackles to buoy a spirited defensive effort. It is the first time the Raiders have intercepted four passes in a game since Week 2 of the 2022 season (a 36-17 win over Seton Hill).
SU ran the ball 49 times for 274 yards – a total that includes 12 yards lost due to sacks – while completing 7-of-14 pass attempts for 80 yards. It is the most rushing yards in a single game by the Raiders in eight years, dating back to the final game of the 2017 regular season (326 yards in a 51-13 win over Seton Hill). Six different players finished with three or more rushes, while three different players completed a pass.
Shippensburg also did not turn the ball over and posted an 11:40 advantage in time of possession (35:50 – 24:10).
The game began innocently enough, with the only scoring of the first quarter being an 18-yard touchdown pass from Cooper Jordan to Ivan Thorpe that gave West Chester (4-6, 2-5) a 7-0 lead.
On the first play of the second quarter, Myers intercepted Jordan at midfield – the ball was knocked loose during Myers' return but
Alex Sauve recovered at the WCU 31-yard line.
Eight plays later, quarterback
Riley Gunnels found
Derek Guzman from one yard out to even the score. It was Guzman's first career touchdown. A key play on the drive was an eight-yard run on fourth-and-3 by
Vincent Micucci.
Shippensburg employed three players behind center at "quarterback" throughout the day. Gunnels, the primary signal caller, was frequently spelled for various plays by Micucci and
Kal-El Durham – both of whom normally operated out of the "wildcat" formation.
The shining example of the offensive creativity came on the next drive, one in which the Raiders inherited the ball at its own 9-yard line. What unfolded was a 15-play, 91-yard sequence of plays that consumed 9:06 of game clock and ended with Weidman's first career touchdown – a three-yard scamper – that made it 14-7 SU with just 1:11 left in the half.
On the drive, Gunnels completed a 22-yard pass to wide receiver
Caiden Pines; Durham twice ran for nine yards on direct snaps, and Weidman had gains of 12 and 10 yards. Later on, Pines ran for 11 yards on a handoff from Micucci on a 3rd-and-5, and Micucci had his own nine-yard run on a direct snap that prefaced the Weidman touchdown. At one point, SU used a different quarterback on four consecutive plays.
A few noteworthy plays on the day provided noticeable momentum boosts (or shifts, depending on the timing). The first came on the aforementioned drive, as on a 3rd-and-2 from near midfield, a play that was initially ruled on the field as a backwards pass was challenged by head coach Mark 'Mac' Maciejewski and overturned to an incomplete forward pass. Instead of 4th-and-12, the Raiders were presented with a 4th-and-2 from the 49-yard line. They went for it, and Weidman ran for 10 yards and a first down to keep the drive moving. SU was 2-of-3 on fourth down in the game.
WCU had its high-water mark early in the third quarter, as it forced a punt on Shippensburg's opening drive of the second half and then equaled the score two plays later. Jordan completed a lofted pass up the left sideline to Dylan McKenzie, who got behind the defense and raced 77 yards to make it 14-14.
The Raiders also had to punt on their next drive but pinned the Golden Rams on their 9-yard line. A three-and-out proceeded and was capped by
DJ Jackson providing one of his two pass breakups on the day.
The game completely changed on the next play. The Golden Rams, needing to kick out of their end zone, inserted their holder (and backup punter) Zack Liberatore to attempt the punt. The snap, however, rolled through Liberatore's legs and went out the back of the end zone for a safety.
Ethan Arneson returned the ensuing free kick 33 yards to the WCU 32-yard line, and Weidman scored again six plays later to complete the nine-point swing that began the 29-point surge. While it wasn't entirely evident at the time, the rout was on.
Shippensburg overcame three penalties on the drive to score – one for holding, one for too many men, and another for a false start. Facing a 2nd-and-18 from the WCU 40, Durham took a direct snap out of the wildcat, pitched the ball to wide receiver
Jaevon Parker, who halted a reverse and threw to
Ty Neal for a 38-yard connection that was SU's longest pass play of the day.
Myers intercepted Jordan for a second time on the final play of the third quarter and returned it to the WCU 23-yard line. After an incomplete pass, Weidman found paydirt for his third score of the game and a 30-14 lead.
With about eight minutes left,
Eli Rodriguez contributed a 14-yard sack to force another Golden Ram punt. Four plays later, Weidman burst up the middle for a 60-yard score that brought Seth Grove Stadium to a fever pitch.
After another three-and-out, Neal returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown to create the game's final margin. It capped a 20-point fourth quarter for the Raiders and marked the first touchdown for the Raiders from a punt return since Cole Chiappialle had a 79-yarder at Millersville on Oct. 22, 2016.
Saturday's game decided fifth place in the final PSAC East standings, with SU securing its highest division finish in the last three years and the Golden Rams falling back to sixth.
Gunnels was 5-of-11 for 34 yards and a touchdown. Durham ran for 35 yards on five carries and completed an eight-yard pass to
Marcus Sweeney. Micucci ran for 21 yards. Pines and
Tobee Stokes each had 22 rushing yards.
Defensively,
Tyler Marshall intercepted a pass in the end zone in the first quarter while
Ely Ghameshlougy ended West Chester's final drive with an interception of his own. Sauve equaled Myers with 10 tackles, one of which was a six-yard sack.
Gabe Benjamin had eight tackles and a pass breakup.
Jordan finished the day 13-of-25 for the Golden Rams with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Backup Colin O'Sullivan threw the late pick to Ghameshlougy. McKenzie finished with four catches for a game-high 144 receiving yards. Connor Noble and Jimmy Wright each had 10 tackles for the visitors.
Shippensburg concludes its season at 1 p.m. Saturday when it hosts California (Pa.) for Senior Day at Seth Grove Stadium. The Vulcans are 7-3 and entered the week at No. 6 in the Super Region 1 rankings.
Notes: Shippensburg won the inaugural meeting with West Chester by a 63-7 margin on Nov. 5, 1921 but had not won by more than 18 points since, as the Golden Rams maintain a 32-14-1 edge in the overall series… SU entered the day 14th out of 15 teams in the PSAC in rushing offense, averaging 65.2 rushing yards per game, but have now totaled 200 or more rushing yards in three straight games against West Chester (203 in 2024, 211 in 2023)…SU had 53 punt return yards for the season entering Saturday (31 by Neal, 22 by
Joziah Gonzalez) and had just 62 punt return yards in the entire 2024 season (all by Neal) prior to Neal's 70-yard score on Saturday…SU's touchdown was its first of any kind on a punt since Oct. 8 2022 in a 20-13 comeback win at West Chester in which
Terrance Peterson Jr. blocked a punt that was recovered in the end zone by Ray Jones.
Interviews with Nate Myers and Andre Weidman can be accessed via the Instagram post below.
