Shippensburg routs Bloomsburg to advance in NCAA Division II playoffs

SHIPPENSBURG -- A key marker in defining a great football team is resiliency.

One week after getting thumped by IUP in the PSAC championship game, Shippensburg wrote its own definition of the word. And won its first NCAA playoff game in 21 years.

Trailing at the break, the Red Raiders dumped 45 points on a stunned Bloomsburg in the second half Saturday to roll the Huskies 58-20 in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs Saturday at Seth Grove Stadium.

Ship?s reward is a visit to Super Region 1 top-seed Winston-Salem State in North Carolina next Saturday at noon. The Rams received a bye this week.

?Coming back from what happened at IUP, it?s pretty impressive our kids were able to step up and put the hammer down a bit today,? Ship head coach Mark Maciejewski said.

The two PSAC rivals played a firecracker of a contest three weeks ago at the Grove for the East Division crown, with the Raiders hanging on for a 49-42 win after building a huge first-half lead.

This time, the script was reversed.

Bloom led 14-13 at halftime in what shaped up to be a toned-down struggle from that first meeting. But Ship went frighteningly off in the third quarter, scoring 24 points while shutting out the Huskies at the other end.

The Raiders added three fourth-quarter touchdowns to turn it into an unexpected laugher, booking 673 yards of offense along the way.

Maciejewski deflected credit for the avalanche of points. ?I?m not sure I said anything [at halftime],? he said. ?The players said it to me. They said, ?coach, we?re not losing this game.? If they?re telling me that, I don?t need to say anything.?

Junior quarterback Zach Zulli continued his season-long assault on the end zone, adding four touchdowns (3 passing, 1 rushing) Saturday to give him 54 for the season. Zulli was 26 of 35 for 479 yards with two TD tosses to Jacob Baskerville and one to Bryan Barley.

Back Kevin Herod was a hybrid in every sense of the word. Herod rushed seven times for 63 yards, caught seven balls for 64 yards and tossed a halfback option pass 28 yards to Barley early in the fourth to cap a five-play, 63-yard drive for a 44-14 lead.

Mike Frenette (Cumberland Valley) ? who kept his college career alive for another week ? bowled over from 16 yards 25 seconds later following James Cooper?s pick of Huskies redshirt freshman quarterback Tim Kelly (Cedar Cliff) for his only score of the day to make it 51-14 with 13:20 left. Fellow CV Eagle Trevor Harman caught six balls for 117 yards.

Ship?s defense bounced back in a big way, after getting shredded a week ago, by forcing five turnovers. The Raiders made life miserable for Kelly, who completed just 3 of 14 passes for 23 yards and was intercepted three times.

Bloom running back Franklyn Quiteh got his yards, with 199 on 24 carries with two scores. But Quiteh coughed the ball up at the Ship 11 early in third with the Raiders holding a precarious 23-14 lead. Safety Mike Goode made the strip and recovery at the 15. With everything breaking right, Zulli then marched the team 85 yards in seven plays in as snappy 2:16, going over from the Bloom 1 for a 30-14 bulge.

?I think it was the turning point of the game,? Maciejewski said. ?Mike did a great job of getting that ball out, and that?s something we talk about all the time. It came at the right time and put momentum back on our side.??

OTHERS?

IUP 27, Shepherd 17: The PSAC champion Crimson Hawks (11-1) forced three turnovers, including a 77-yard interception return by Carl Fleming, to advance in the Division II playoffs at Indiana. IUP will take on New Haven (Conn.) next Saturday in Super Region 1, with the winner facing the Shippensburg/Winston-Salem victor on Dec. 1. De?Antwan Williams had 152 yards rushing for IUP.
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DIVISION III

Albright 38, F&M 34: Albright scored 24 fourth-quarter points to shock the Diplomats (7-4) in Lancaster in the ECAC Southeast Bowl. Trailing 28-14 early in the final period, the Lions scored two touchdowns in 14 seconds to tie it. Later, T.J. Luddy?s 1-yard plunge capped off a 10-play, 66-yard drive in 5:40 to give the Lions a 35-28 lead. Dips QB E.J. Schneider 17 of 30 for 259 yards and five TDs, and rushed for 100 on 12 carries.
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FCS?

Bucknell 24, Bryant 21: At Lewisburg, Brandon Wesley threw TD passes to Nick Gatto and Tyler Smith, as the Bison ended a 3-8 campaign on a winning note. Steel-High?s Jeremiah Young wrapped his college career by appearing in the game, but did not dent the stat sheet.
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Lehigh 38, Lafayette 21: The 148th meeting between the two Patriot League rivals featured a comeback by Mountain Hawks (10-1, 4-1), who trailed 21-10 after the first quarter. QB Mike Colvin threw for 362 yards and four touchdowns for Lehigh, which scored two touchdowns in the third quarter and one in the fourth while shutting down the Leopards (5-6, 2-3).???

JEFF DEWEES: jdewees@pnco.com

ON TWITTER: @pn_jdewees

Source: http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnewssports/2012/11/shippensburg_routs_bloomsburg.html

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