Game Preview - Shippensburg

Shippensburg (4-2, 2-1) celebrates homecoming when they welcome the Golden Rams (4-2, 3-0) on Saturday at 1:00 pm in Seth Grove Stadium.

Series History:
West Chester leads the overall series 25-10-1. In his 12 years at West Chester, Bill Zwaan is 10-3 against the Raiders. Shippensburg head coach Mark Maciejewski is in his fifth season and holds a 31-15 (plus this season) record.

In the final regular season game of the 2004 season, Shippensburg knocked off the Golden Rams at Farrell Stadium in overtime. But two weeks later in the second round of the NCAA playoffs, West Chester avenged that loss in Shippensburg. West Chester took the next four contests during the Golden Rams' run of qualifying for the NCAA playoffs from 2005-2008. Shippensburg won in 2009 and went on to win the PSAC championship that season. In one of the most memorable games in West Chester football history, Golden Ram quarterback Sean McCartney made his first collegiate start and threw for 444 yards and five touchdowns to lead West Chester to a 44-43 victory in two overtimes in a nationally televised Thursday night game in 2010. The following year, West Chester laid a 52-17 loss on the Raiders, but Shippensburg returned the favor in 2012, beating West Chester 42-24 on homecoming at Farrell Stadium and continued on the PSAC championship game and the NCAA playoffs that year. In 2013, Shawn Leo booted a 26-yard field goal with one second left to give West Chester the thrilling victory.

Last 10 Meetings:

Year	H/A	W/L	Score	Year	H/A	W/L	Score
2005	Away	Win	24-16	2010	Home	Win	44-43 2OT
2006	Home	Win	24-0	2011	Away	Win	52-17
2007	Away	Win	34-29	2012	Home	Loss	42-24
2008	Home	Win	25-7	2013	Away	Win	32-29
2009	Away	Loss	24-19	2014	Home	Win	55-28

Last Meeting:

10/18/2014 West Chester 55 - Shippensburg 28

West Chester scored on the first play from scrimmage, rolled up 586 yards of offense and cruised to a 55-28 homecoming victory in front of 7,000 people at Farrell Stadium. Tight end Tim Brown had four catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns while Eddie Elliott had 63 yards rushing and 65 yards receiving while scoring two touchdowns. Shippensburg was hampered at quarterback and West Chester sacked their signal caller five times. Andrew Cohen led West Chester with eight tackles including a sack and two quarterback hurries. Drew Formica also registered a sack among his six solo tackles.

Scouting the Opponent:

Shippensburg is one of the top offensive teams in the PSAC, and they can do it on the ground or through the air. Quarterback Ryan Zapoticky (142 of 237 for 1,568 yards, 14 TD's, 4 int's) is only a sophomore, but he saw plenty of action last year, including starting the game at West Chester. His top targets are All-PSAC East Sheldon Mayer (30 catches, 347 yards, 4 TD's) and 5'6" Quran Kent (19 catches, 155 yards). But the Red Raiders boast six players with at least a dozen catches. And they have a couple of dual threat running backs in Justin Pyle (21 catches, 209 yards, 3 TD's; 70 carries, 373 yards, 5 TD's) and Andrew Smith (86 carries, 502 yards, 6 TD's, 18 catches, 180 yards, 1 TD). And Zapoticky isn't afraid to run with it either (80 carries, 342 yards). So the ball gets spread around to all eligible players.

Billy Deane handles all of the kicking duties for Shippensburg (23 punts, 37.0 average, 3 fair catches, 3 inside the 20, 22 of 25 on PAT's, 10 of 13 on field goals with a long of 44) and is the reigning PSAC East Special Teams Player of the Week.

The Red Raiders' top tackler is linebacker Kevin Goldsmith (52 tackles, 5.0 TFL's) and fellow linebacker Allen Holman (42 tackles, 6.0 TFL's) is close behind. Cornerback Chavez Cheatham (43 tackles, 3 passes defended) was the PSAC East Freshman of the Year last season, but classmate Kevin Taylor II (27 tackles, 11 pass breakups) leads the PSAC in passes defended.

Analysis:

With a balanced and prolific offense, and much like Kutztown last week, Shippensburg appears to be a mirror image of the Golden Rams, although Shippensburg runs the ball better that Kutztown. Although Bloomsburg held Shippensburg to just two field goals, the Raiders are a pretty offensive team - fourth in rushing and fourth in total yards in the PSAC. They've put up at least 60 points on two occasions this season, although one of them came in a five overtime affair at East Stroudsburg. This will be the toughest test for West Chester's PSAC-leading pass defense until they host East Stroudsburg in three weeks.

If the West Chester offense avoids interceptions, it will likely be able to throw against Shippensburg which is last in the PSAC in passing defense. The Raiders are fifth in the PSAC run defense, but West Chester has to run the ball to consume some clock. It's somewhat interesting that Shippensburg's opponents are among the most penalized in the conference, so West Chester has to be wary about being goaded into altercations.

This has all the makings of an offensive shootout, and the crowd will surely be large as it's Shippensburg's homecoming.

Game Coverage:

Live Stats   Audio   Video

PSAC Site - Football Notes Week 7

Shippensburg Athletic Site - Football Gears Up For PSAC East Showdown With West Chester

The Morning Call - West Chester University's Eddie Elliott not ready to give up football just yet

KYW Newsradio - West Chester Enters Critical Stretch In Schedule

Public Opinion - Shippensburg will be tested against streaking West Chester

Times Herald - Norristown’s Mayer brothers ready for final gridiron showdown

D2football - PSAC Columnist - Previewing Week 7 in the PSAC