Fifth-ranked Shepherd football team dominates Edinboro
SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – Junior running back Ronnie Brown (Baltimore/Dundalk) rushed 15 times for 278 yards and three touchdowns to lead Division II fifth-ranked Shepherd (2-0) to a 41-7 win over Edinboro (1-1) weekend football action.
Shepherd took a 7-0 lead when Brown dashed 39 yards for a score with 4:57 remaining in the first quarter. Redshirt sophomore kicker Jacob Haynie (Fairfax, Va./Robinson) added the extra point.
Shepherd increased its lead to 14-0 when senior quarterback Tyson Bagent (Martinsburg, W.Va./Martinsburg) fired a seven-yard scoring strike to freshman wide receiver Kenny Edelin (Middletown, Del./Middletown/West Chester) with 2:25 left in the first quarter.
Brown added a 73-yard scoring run with 35 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Isaac Bernard teamed with Mike Watkins on a 54-yard score for Edinboro to cut the lead to 21-7 with 11:48 left in the second quarter.
Brown then raced down the left sideline for a 50-yard score with10:35 left in the second quarter to give the Rams a 28-7 lead at the break.
Senior defensive end Kyle Smith (Sterling, Va./Dominion) picked off an Edinboro pass and went nine yards for a score with 4:58 left in the third quarter to open the second half scoring.
Bagent tossed a four-yard scoring pass to senior fullback/tight end Michael McCook (Hagerstown, Md./South Hagerstown) with 8:43 left in the fourth quarter to complete the scoring.
Bagent completed 19-of-28 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns for the Rams. Bernard completed 28-of-51 passes for 338 yards and a score for Edinboro.
Junior wide receiver Marlon Cook (Forestville, Md./Potomac) led the Shepherd receivers with five catches for 109 yards. Thaddeus Standfield had seven grabs for 127 yards for the Fighting Scots.
Freshman running back Blake Hartman (Inwood, W.Va./Musselman/Lehigh) added three carries for 94 yards.
Shepherd had 546 yards of total offense, while Edinboro had 354.
Redshirt sophomore Devon Lynch (Springfield, Va./Robert E. Lee) had a game-high nine tackles for the Rams. Senior defensive end Malik Holloway (Baltimore/Douglass) added seven stops (four solos) with 2.5 sacks and a pair of forced fumbles. Junior linebacker Dewayne Grantham (Martinsburg, W.Va./Martinsburg/Lackawanna) added three stops and an interception.
Micah Thomas recorded seven tackles (six solos) for the Fighting Scots.
The Rams return to action Saturday when they host California (Pa.) at noon at Ram Stadium.
Shippensburg U. sophomore sets all-purpose yardage record as Ship wins home football opener
SHIPPENSBURG – Sophomore Redd Douglas (Youngstown, Ohio/Chaney (Wooster)) set a single-game school record with 350 all-purpose yards and scored three touchdowns as the Shippensburg University football team opened the home portion of its 2022 schedule with a 36-17 victory over Seton Hill last Saturday.
Shippensburg (1-1) had its defense force four interceptions and recorded two sacks and a safety, scoring 13 points off turnovers, and exceled on special teams by averaging 58.2 yards per kickoff return. It helped the Raiders overcome being outgained in total offense by Seton Hill (0-2) by more than 100 yards, 345-230, as the Griffins held a 13-minute advantage in time of possession.
Douglas was all over the field for the Raiders – totaling 233 kickoff return yards, 113 receiving yards and four punt return yards en route to his school record. The 233 kickoff return yards are seven short of the single-game record set by Shannon Maura in 2013 against East Stroudsburg. Douglas is the first player in school history to have 200 or more kickoff return yards and 100 or more receiving yards in the same game.
SU grabbed the momentum on the first drive of the game with a 75-yard interception return for a touchdown by redshirt sophomore defensive back Khi’on Smith that gave the Raiders a 7-0 lead less than 90 seconds into the game. Seton Hill completed a 50-yard pass on the first play of the game to get to the SU 31-yard line, but two plays later, Smith avenged the long Griffin completion with an excellent break on a Eddie Scott pass for the defensive score.
Seton Hill then countered with the longest drive of the game, an 18-play, 58-yard drive that lasted nearly nine minutes, but ended with just three points on a 34-yard field goal by Luke Hauger.
SU made it 9-3 early in the second quarter when the Griffins were whistled for a holding penalty in the end zone that resulted in a safety. The bad field position that led to the safety was the result of SU sophomore Tanner Luther’s punt that was downed at the 1-yard line and a sack by sophomore Chisom Ifeanyi.
Redshirt freshman Joey McCracken earned the start at quarterback and completed his longest pass play of the day on the first play of the drive after the ensuing free kick — finding sophomore Ian Sheehan for a perfectly-thrown 31-yard strike. Six plays later, junior Richie Sykes Jr. found the end zone from two yards out to make it 16-3.
The final three minutes of the first half featured a memorable sequence of plays, beginning with a nifty 65-yard touchdown by Scott in which he scrambled away from pressure and snuck a pass from just behind the line of scrimmage over to tailback JaiQuawn McGriff, who scampered down the sideline to paydirt.
On the ensuing kickoff, Douglas fielded the ball two yards deep in his end zone and ran down the sideline almost untouched for a 102-yard kickoff touchdown. Redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Johnson III then found sophomore fullback Jake DeLuccia for a two-point conversion, and the Raiders took a 24-10 lead that lasted into halftime.
Shippensburg scored on the opening drive of the third quarter to take a 31-10 lead as Johnson found Douglas for a pretty 42-yard touchdown strike. SU’s final score came with 6:47 to go when Johnson found Douglas again for a seven-yard strike that had been setup by the second of two interceptions on the day by redshirt sophomore safety Isaiah Gilmore.
Gilmore had interceptions on back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter – the first two of his collegiate career. Junior safety Brandon Holt pilfered his first pass as a Raider – the fourth interception of his career – and had six tackles. Smith finished with eight tackles in addition to his pick-six.
Redshirt sophomore linebacker Matt Feeney led all players with a career-high 13 tackles and had a pass breakup; junior linebacker Tyler Simon had 10 tackles and a pass breakup. Redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Riley Good had his second straight solid game with eight tackles. Jake Hines and Cordell Cash added sacks.
Offensively, the SU quarterbacks combined to go 11-of-21 for 152 yards and two touchdowns. Sykes had 18 rushing yards and a touchdown, while redshirt sophomore Nasai Moon led the Raiders with 38 rushing yards.
Penalties slowed the contest; the two teams combined for 26 penalties and 327 penalty yards. Among the flags were six personal fouls, six accepted holding penalties and seven second-half false starts between the two teams.
Shippensburg hosts IUP at 1 p.m. Saturday for Family Day at Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium.
