SHIPPENSBURG
UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL
September
4, 2004
DEFENSE
CARRIES RED RAIDERS TO FOURTH-STRAIGHT WIN
SHIPPENSBURG,
Pennsylvania
The Shippensburg University football team won in convincing fashion for the
second-straight week on Saturday afternoon, 35-7, over Shepherd University at
Seth Grove Stadium. The victory
for the Red Raiders was their second consecutive in the Great Valley Classic
and their fourth overall in seven classic meetings.
Although
the two teams have played 40 games in the overall series, the inaugural game of
the Great Valley Classic came in 1998.
The ³Great Valley² was the original name of the valley where both
Shippensburg and Shepherd are located.
Now, it is known as the Shenandoah Valley south of the Potomac River and
the Cumberland Valley north of the Potomac.
Shippensburg
(2-0), currently ranked No. 19 in the American Football Coaches Association
(AFCA) and d2football.com polls, limited the Rams (0-2) to 229 yards in total
offense, including only 48 yards rushing.
Meanwhile,
the Red Raider offense accumulated 527 yards in total offense, led by 149 yards
rushing and two touchdowns from senior fullback John Kuhn (York,
Pa./Dover). For Kuhn, it was the 19th
time in his career that he surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark in a game.
Trailing
14-0 at halftime, Shepherd threatened to make it a close game early in the
third quarter when quarterback Leonard Ferguson connected with receiver Rodney
Jackson for a 67-yard touchdown reception with 12:11 remaining, bringing the
Rams to within one touchdown, 14-7.
The scoring play ended the Shippensburg defense¹s string of 10
consecutive quarters without allowing a score of any kind. The streak dated back to week 10 of
last season, a 40-14 victory over East Stroudsburg on November 8.
In trying
to keep the momentum in their favor, the Ram defense forced a punt on the
ensuing Red Raider possession, but Shippensburg regained control, blowing the
game open with three unanswered touchdowns on consecutive possessions, the last
coming with 9:06 left in the game on a 15-yard run by Kuhn to give the Red
Raiders a 35-7 lead.
Sophomore
quarterback Tony Gomez (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville) had another strong
performance in leading the offense as he led the offense on four of its five
scoring drives. He completed
7-of-13 passes for 145 yards and one touchdown and also had a rushing score, an
8-yard run early in the fourth quarter.
Junior
quarterback Rick Henshaw (Marmora, NJ/Ocean City) also had a good day,
throwing for 99 yards and one touchdown, a 58-yard strike to junior Patrick
Ferguson (Mt. Airy, Md./Urbana) in the third quarter that
was the first of Shippensburg¹s three-straight second half scores.
In the
first half, the Red Raider defense limited the Ram offense to only 78 yards of
total offense and one first down.
The Red Raider offense had trouble in the opening half as four of their
six possessions ended in two turnover on downs, one interception and one
punt. Senior Ryan Hoffman
(Phoenixville, Pa./St. Pius X) contributed to the
defensive effort with six tackles, two sacks and one pass deflection. Sophomore John Sharbaugh
(Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and senior Mike
Street (Philadelphia, Pa./Mastbaum) led the defense with eight
tackles each.
Shippensburg plays its third-straight home game to start the season next week in a showdown against intra-league rival Bloomsburg University. The Huskies were ranked No. 20 in last week¹s AFCA Division II Coaches¹ Poll and were picked to finish first in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Division in the preseason. Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m., at Seth Grove Stadium on Parents¹ and Family Day at Shippensburg University.
NOTE: Today¹s game with Shepherd University will be re-broadcast by SUTV on Monday, September 6 at 6:30 p.m., on Comcast cable channel 21, throughout the Cumberland Valley.
Score by
Quarters 1 2 3 4 Final
Shepherd
(0-2) 0 0 7 0 - 7
#19
Shippensburg (2-0) 6 8 7 14 - 35
SHIP‹John Kuhn
2 yd run (Scott Lafferty kick failed)
1Q, 7:59
SHIP‹David
Wilkerson 27 yd pass from Tony Gomez (Walter Crump pass) 2Q, 8:45
SHEP‹Rodney
Jackson 67 yd pass from Leonard Ferguson (Ricky Schmitt kick) 3Q, 12:11
SHIP‹Pat
Ferguson 58 yd pass from Rick Henshaw (Lafferty kick) 3Q, 7:31
SHIP‹Tony
Gomez 8 yd run (Scott Lafferty kick) 4Q 13:22
SHIP‹John
Kuhn 15 yd run (Scott Lafferty kick) 4Q 9:06
First Downs 7 24
Rushing (No.-Yds.) 23-48 58-283
Passing (Yds.) 181 244
Passes (Att.-Comp.-Int.) 29-10-1 24-13-1
Total Offense 52-229 82-527
Fumbles (No.-Lost) 2-1 1-0
Penalties (No.-Yds.) 10-92 12-85
Attendance: 3,487