SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — The Shippensburg University football team concludes the 2011 regular season at 1 p.m. Saturday from SU Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium in a conference crossover matchup against the Lakers of Mercyhurst College.
It will be the final Red Raider football game for seniors
Bryan Culler,
John Garnier,
Brian Heitz,
Steve Hohenwarter,
Roshaan McCain,
Vinnie Ranauto and
Nik Rosenberry.
Shippensburg (6-4, 4-3 PSAC East) secured itself a winning season in the first year of head coach
Mark Maciejewski '92/'96M with its victory last weekend over East Stroudsburg and has scored at least 40 points in all six of its victories in 2011.
Tickets for the game are $8 for adults and $3 for senior citizens and non-SU students. Shippensburg students and PSAC students are admitted free with their student ID. Children ages five and under also receive free admission.
Live video coverage of the game will be provided by Shippensburg University's student television station (SUTV) and can be accessed online
here. The game will also be shown on local cable television on Comcast community access channel 21 and campus channel 82. Student broadcasters Jon Bloch and Trey Kemble will call the action.
A student-radio broadcast of the game will be available on 88.7 FM in Shippensburg and can be accessed online through the link above. Student broadcasters Sean Gallagher and Chris Field will call the action on the radio.
Shippensburg has scored 371 points through the first 10 games of the season — which is the second-most in school history through that span. The 1999 team scored 382 points through that span and holds the school record for points in one season with 398. If Shippensburg scores 28 points against Mercyhurst, it will set a school record for the most points in one season.
Shippensburg has set a school record with 263 first downs, 16 more than the team achieved in the 1999 season. The Red Raiders also set a school record in its Week 3 win over Clarion with 33 first downs – 15 by rushing, 13 by passing and five by penalty. SU has nearly matched that single-game record on several occasions: posting 32 first downs in Week 6 versus West Chester and Week 10 versus East Stroudsburg in addition to 31 first downs in Week 8 at Cheyney.
SU has run 828 plays in 10 games. If Shippensburg runs 22 plays in Saturday's games, it will set a new record established by the 2004 team (849 plays in 12 games). The Red Raiders ran an incredible 101 plays in the Week 6 loss to West Chester — the second-most in a game in school history.
After being held without a sack in the opener at Shepherd, Shippensburg has totaled 34 sacks in the last nine games to rank second in the PSAC behind C.W. Post (38). The Red Raiders had seven sacks in its Week 3 win over Clarion and a Week 9 win at Millersville – its most in one contest since recording eight against Lock Haven on Sept. 30, 2000.
Shippensburg matched or surpassed several school records in terms of its passing attack:
SU has now completed 218 passes — a new single-season record for pass completions — and is just one behind Mercyhurst (220) for the conference lead in the category.
SU has thrown for 33 touchdown passes this season, which has surpassed the previous school record of 28 set by the 1998, 1999 and 2009 teams
Sophomore quarterback
Zach Zulli has thrown 31 touchdown passes this season to tie the single-season school record set by Chad DiFebbo in 2009. He is also just 270 yards short of the single-season passing yards record of 2,832 set by Chris Gicking in 1999.
In last weekend's game versus East Stroudsburg, SU had 621 yards of total offense, which is the third most in SU single-game history and the most recorded by the Red Raiders since setting the school record (749 yards) in 2007 against Lock Haven. Meanwhile, the 401 rushing yards recorded by Shippensburg is the fourth-most in school history and gives the Red Raiders 792 rushing yards in its last two games.
Zulli ran for a game-high 126 yards last week. The 126 yards on the ground marks the second-most by a quarterback in school history, as Ralph Sassaman ran for 127 in a 1965 contest against Lock Haven.
The Shippensburg defense recorded a shutout streak of 123 minutes, 58 seconds until the Warriors scored a touchdown with 8:23 remaining in last Saturday's contest. The streak dated back to the fourth quarter of Shippensburg's Week 8 victory at Cheyney.
