Red Raiders Open 2007 Season With Heartbreaking 19-14 Loss at No. 9 Shepherd
Sept. 1, 2007
SHEPHERDSTOWN, W. Va. - Mark Springirth's 25-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Lazear with 1:48 remaining helped No. 9-ranked Shepherd avoid its first regular-season loss since 2004. The Rams came from behind for a 19-14 victory over Shippensburg Saturday afternoon in the 10th annual Great Valley Classic at Ram Stadium.
Despite 124 rushing yards and two touchdowns from red-shirt sophomore Chris Lynch (Bushkill/East Stroudsburg) and a career-high 99 receiving yards from red-shirt senior Howard Chavous (Collingdale/Academy Park), Shippensburg (0-1) lost its second-straight at Ram Stadium by five points or less and its second consecutive against Shepherd in its season-opener.
The last time Shepherd allowed an opponent to rush for 100 yards was back on Sept. 24, 2005, a span of 17 games, when the Rams surrendered 154 yards to Wendell Johnson of Fairmont State in a 14-11 victory at home.
In making his second collegiate start in 19 career games, red-shirt Gabe Maiocco (Media/Marple Newtown) completed 13-of-33 pass attempts for a career-high 178 yards.
Shepherd (2-0) extended its regular-season win streak to 30 and its Great Valley Classic streak to three as the Rams are now 6-4 in the annual classic. The Red Raiders lead the overall series with the Rams, 28-15.
The last regular-season loss for the Rams came back on Sept. 11, 2004 when they lost to Slippery Rock 30-27 at home. The win was also Shepherd's 63rd out of the last 64 when holding its opponent to 14 points or less. The team's only loss during that time came at Virginia State, 13-8 on Aug. 28, 2004.
Trailing 14-13 with 3:09 remaining, Shepherd’s Taros Harris would give the Rams excellent field position at the Shippensburg 46-yard line following a 20-yard punt return after the Shepherd defense held the Red Raiders to its second three-and-out in three possessions.
Three plays later, Lazear would find Springirth for his third touchdown pass of the day, giving the Rams a five-point lead with 1:48 to play. Springirth’s game-winning reception came against Shippensburg junior Gus Macfoy (Lanham, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) who spent two seasons at Shepherd in 2003 and 2004.
Lazear finished the game by completing 15-of-21 passes for 148 yards and the three scores.
Shepherd totaled 150 of its 339 yards of total offense on its last four possessions while controlling the ball for 9:02 of the game’s final 15:26.
Meanwhile, Shippensburg totaled just 59 yards of total offense on its last five possessions forcing the Red Raider defense to try and preserve a one-point lead on the road against a top-10 opponent who has won its last 17-straight at home in the regular season and 18 of its last 19, including the postseason.
Holding a 14-13 lead, Shippensburg senior Jamie Reder (Warrenton, Va./Fauquier) came up just short on his second 50-yard field goal attempt of the game after the Red Raiders had a conversion on third-and-3 nullified because of holding.
Shepherd started the drive at its own 33-yard line with 8:28 remaining. The Rams would drive down to the Red Raider 12-yard line before senior Jonathan Aldridge (Pittsburgh/Seneca Valley) and red-shirt senior Jaron Nalewak (Chambersburg/Chambersburg) combined to stop Shepherd’s Dervon Wallace for a two-yard loss on fourth-and-2.
Nalewak, who finished one short of the school record last season with 23 tackles for loss, had 2.5 tackles for loss today along with nine total tackles.
Shepherd drove 85 yards in seven plays on its first possession of the game to take a 7-0 lead on John Sheehan's 23-yard touchdown reception from Lazear, but the Red Raiders would hold the Rams to just 104 yards on their next eight possessions while building a 14-7 lead.
With the score tied 7-7 at halftime, Shepherd appeared to take control after Wallace began the second half by returning the kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, only to have it negated by a holding penalty.
After
the penalty the Rams began their opening drive at the Shippensburg 31-yard
line before Red
Raider
red-shirt junior
Bill Morrison (Brookeville/Brookeville) forced a Wallace fumble on the first play that
was recovered by red-shirt junior Jason
Groller (Easton/Easton).
Morrison finished the game with a team-high 10
tackles.
With 26 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Shepherd would get the ball back after the Ram defense did not allow a yard on three consecutive plays, forcing a Red Raider punt.
Seven plays later, Lazear would find Bobby Humphries for a 13-yard touchdown pass to pull Shepherd within one, 14-13. However, the extra-point attempt was blocked, preserving Shippensburg’s one-point lead.
Following a punt and missed 50-yard field
goal attempt by Reder that hit the crossbar,
Shippensburg tied
the game at
7-7 on
its third
possession when Lynch scored on an 8-yard run
with 2:52 left in the first quarter,
one play
after a fully extended Chavous made a
remarkable 41-yard reception that gave the Red
Raiders a first-and-goal.
Shippensburg will return to action next Saturday at Williams Stadium against Division I Football Championship Subdivision member Liberty. Game time is set for 7:00 PM.
- Red Raider Football -
