SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – In a game filled with twists and turns, the Shippensburg University football team got the final fortunate bounce and came away with a 25-21 win over Slippery Rock University Saturday at Seth Grove Stadium in a back-and-forth game between two teams receiving votes in the national poll.
 
The Rock (1-1) intercepted a pass at their own two-yard line with 1:06 to play leading 21-18 and looked poised to close out a wild game, but couldn't handle a snap on second down. Shippensburg (2-0) had two timeouts remaining, despite the stadium scoreboard causing confusion by listing only one left, so SRU couldn't run the game clock out without needing to run a fourth down play with around 15 seconds remaining. The second down snap sailed high off the hands of backup QB Taylor King and was recovered in the end zone by Shippensburg to give the Red Raiders a 25-21 lead with less than a minute to play. The Rock marched down the field in the final minute, but stalled with an interception at the four-yard line to end the game.
 
King was playing because starting QB Andrew Koester left the game at halftime with an injury. The Rock also lost starting running back Wes Hills to an injury just two plays into the game, but still managed to put up 502 yards of total offense with 457 passing yards and 45 rushing yards, despite missing its top two players.
 
The offensive prowess was canceled out at by a total of 12 penalties for 149 yards, three trips inside the red zone that resulted in no points, three missed field goals and five total turnovers. The Rock's uncharacteristic miscues were turned into points on the other end with Shippensburg scoring all 25 of its points after turnovers or other miscues. The Red Raiders managed just 135 yards of total offense in the second half, but scored 19 points during that stretch.
 
Multiple fortunate bounces went to the way of the hosts throughout the day. In addition to the game-winning touchdown on the bad snap, Shippensburg also scored its first go-ahead TD of the second half in strange fashion. SRU blocked a field goal attempt, but Shippensburg fell on the ball and was awarded possession on the one-yard line before punching in a touchdown on the next play.
 
The Raiders finished the game with 405 yards of total offense with 285 passing yards and 120 rushing yards. Most of that offensive success came in the first half with 270 total yards, but resulted in just six points. They gained just 135 total yards of offense in the second half and ran for just nine yards in the final 30 minutes. Overall, Shippensburg turned the ball over three times, had two field goals blocked and missed point after attempts on three of its four touchdowns.
 
King finished the second half 20-of-29 for 335 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in his debut. Koester threw for 122 yards and one interception in the first half.
 
Carnel Harley and Henry Litwin both had big days in the receiving game, pulling down seven passes for more than 130 yards each. Litwin finished with 133 yards and one touchdown, while Harley finished with 137 yards. Austin Scott also caught seven passes for 80 yards and Chacar Berry caught five passes for 50 yards to go along with 57 rushing yards and one touchdown.
 
The Rock defense scored the only points of the first half when Trysten McDonald recovered a fumble and raced 97 yards for a score in the first quarter. McDonald added six tackles, one tackle for loss and blocked one kick. Brad Zaffram recorded a team-high nine tackles in his first game at SRU. Kyle Hall added seven tackles, blocked one kick and intercepted one pass. Khadir Roberts picked off the pass late in the fourth quarter and Tyree Spearman finished with two pass breakups.
 
Shippensburg QB Brycen Mussina finished the game 23-of-48 (48%) for 285 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Josh Gontarek caught three passes for 84 yards and one TD. Reigning PSAC East Rookie of the Year Winston Eubanks was held in check all day, finishing with just three catches for 42 yards. Marcus Lominy led the ground game with 14 carries for 77 yards.
 
Slippery Rock will look to bounce back next Saturday with a 4 p.m. game at Millersville University (0-2).
 

NOTES: A week two loss by SRU marks the earliest loss for the program in the last six years as SRU had won at least its first two games of the year in each of the last five seasons ... SRU had won at least its first three games in each of the last four years ... both SRU and Shippensburg were receiving votes in the national poll this week ... Saturday's game featured five lead changes in the second half ... SRU lost starting running back Wes Hills, who ran for 164 yards in week one, on just the second play of the game with an upper body injury ... SRU then lost starting QB Andrew Koester at halftime to an injury ... SRU later lost starting defensive tackle Wilford Clark to injury ... backup QB Taylor King made his debut at SRU by passing for 335 yards in the second half alone ... SRU was just 1-for-4 in scoring points in the red zone and got no points on two separate possessions in the second half in which they had first and goal inside the 10-yard line ... SRU missed three FGs in the game, marking the worst kicking performance from a FG standpoint in the last three years ... Carnel Harley (137 yards), Henry Litwin (133 yards) and Austin Scott (80 yards) all had career-highs in receiving yards ... SRU entered the game leading the nation in tackles for loss, but had just 3.0 TFL and no sacks on the day ... Shippensburg sacked SRU QBs five times in the game ... SRU turned the ball over five times (two fumbles, three INT) and Shippensburg turned it over three times (two INT, one fumble) for a total of eight turnovers in the game ... SRU drops to 40-22-2 all-time against Shippensburg ... the two teams have now alternated wins in each of the last nine meetings dating back to 2002.


 
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