Maiocco Throws For Career-High 164 Yards in 35-20 Loss to California

October 28, 2006

SHIPPENSBURG, PA - Sophomore Brandon Lombardy and senior Nate Forse each had two touchdowns and combined for 338 yards of total offense as No. 25-ranked California (Pa.) won its fifth-straight game while handing Shippensburg its third consecutive home loss with a 35-20 victory at Seth Grove Stadium on Saturday.

Lombardy ran for 178 yards on 40 carries, both career-highs, while Forse totaled hauled in four receptions for 140 yards, 118 of which came on 63 and 53-yard touchdown passes. The Vulcans (7-2, 4-0 PSAC West) amassed 427 yards in total offense, an average of 6.5 yards per play, while limiting the Red Raiders to 244, including just 80 yards rushing.

Despite the significant statistical advantage for California (Pa.), Shippensburg (4-5, 2-2 PSAC West) remained in the game early, trailing by just one point at halftime, 14-13. However, big plays and an opportunistic defense proved to be difference for the Vulcans.

On the first possession of the second half, Shippensburg junior Gabe Maiocco (Media/Marple Newtown) had his pass intercepted deep in his own territory by Gary Butler who returned it for 28 yards for a California (Pa.) touchdown, extending its lead to 21-14 and starting a streak of three-straight touchdowns for the Vulcans.

 After forcing the Red Raiders to punt on each of their next two possessions, California (Pa.) scored on two Lombardy touchdown runs of three and two yards, respectively, increasing its margin to 22 points, 35-13 with 8:35 left in the fourth quarter.

Saturday's game was eerily similar to last season's meeting in which the Vulcans snapped a 14-game losing streak to Shippensburg with a 41-13 road victory on Homecoming for the Red Raiders. With California (Pa.) leading 14-10 at halftime a year ago, Jared Dumm intercepted a Shippensburg pass and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown before Antwjuan Cox recovered a blocked punt in the end zone to give the Vulcans a 27-10 lead early in the third quarter.

After Shippensburg took a 7-0 lead on an 18-yard touchdown reception from Maiocco to red-shirt senior Patrick Ferguson (Mount Airy, Md./Urbana), California (Pa.) responded with a 65-yard pass from junior Joe Ruggiero to Forse to tie the game.

The Red Raiders would take the lead again on a 67-yard interception return by junior James Rockymore (Sewickley/Quaker Valley), but the extra-point attempt by junior Jamie Reder (Warrenton, Va./Faquier) was blocked Butler, allowing the Vulcans to take the lead wipth 13:35 remaining in the second quarter when Ruggiero and Forse connected once again, this time from 53 yards to give California (Pa.) a 14-13 lead.

For Reder, the blocked extra point was his first miss of the season, ending a string of 37-straight without a miss or block, including 19 this season.

Maiocco, substituting for injured senior Tony Gomez (Pottsville/Pottsville) made his first start in 18 career games which includes 10 games at Kutztown where he played from 2003-04. He completed 12-of-37 passes for 164 yards, all of which were career-highs, but threw two interceptions. Red-shirt junior Aaron Dykes (West Chester/Downingtown) ran for a season-high 84 yards and his fourth rushing touchdown, a 10-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, red-shirt senior Patrick Ferguson (Mount Airy, Md./Urbana) had five catches for 84 yards, all season-highs, and his 18th career touchdown reception which moved him into a tie for fifth-place with Mike Erlandson (1996-99) on the school's career touchdowns receiving list. Ferguson has caught at least one pass in all nine games this season and in 13-straight games dating back to the final four games of the 2004 season.

Defensively, senior Frank Duffy (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) had a game-high 10 tackles for Shippensburg, one short of his career-high set at Edinboro last season, while red-shirt sophomore Jason Groller (Easton/Easton) and sophomore Reggie Farrior (Johnstown/Greater Johnstown) each posted career-highs with seven tackles.

The Red Raiders travel to Edinboro next week for its final road game of the 2006 season with kickoff from Sox Harrison Stadium set for 1:00 p.m. Last year, the Fighting Scots handed Shippensburg a 16-0 loss.

Courtesy of Sports Information Director Jason Eichelberger.

Shippensburg's Tim Devanney Overcomes Adversity

Exclusive by BILL ALBRIGHT

October 7, 2006

SLIPPERY ROCK, PA -- If Tim Devanney was a young man who would throw in the towel when faced with adversity, he more than likely have been found sitting in front of a television set, watching a football game last Saturday night.

However, subscribing to the late Jimmy Valvano's motto of "don't give up. whatever you do, don't ever give up,", Devanney was seen running pass patterns for the Shippensburg in the Red Raiders big 28-21 win over Slippery Rock Saturday night at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium.

Coming out of Mifflinburg High School, Devanney found his way to south-central Pennsylvania and Shippensburg University.

Bound and determined to do his thing immediately for the Red Raider football program, Devanney, like many other young athletes, had to pay his dues while making the transition from high school to the college game.

"It has been just basically a case of paying your dues and working through whether you are playing or whether you are not on the field," explained Devanney. "The best thing you can do is be persistent through the whole process. Most people coming into a program get red-shirted, but I had a chance to play my freshman year. It was a time to work hard and learn the system."

Following learning seasons in 2003 and 2004, Devanney was all primed to step into a starting role for Ship. But as the case has been for many young athletes, the injury "bug" bit him and he missed the entire 2005 campaign with an ACL problem.

"It was just one of those things where you knew what you had to do when you have an ACL problem," said Devanney. "When you have an ACL, it is a matter of what kind of rehab you are going to have to do and for me, I had a little bigger problem that required two surgeries. I had ACL surgery, but the scar tissue that developed caused me more problems. That meant I had to have secondary surgery, but since that time, I have been just fine."

Returning for his redshirt junior campaign this year along with fellow classmate Patrick Ferguson (also injured in 2005), both Devanney (7 catches for 235 yards and 1 TD) and Ferguson (25 catches for 721 yards and 7 TDs), found a few bumps in the road.

In their absence during the 2005 campaign, the opportunity for a couple of younger Raider receivers was there, and Howard Chavous and Mike Harris came up with solid seasons for Ship, thus setting the stage for a very competitive battle for the starting jobs in 2006.

"During camp, it was a real fun camp for us," said Devanney. "With me, Ferg and Chavous battling for time, we all think we can not only play, but make plays. All three of us have started (at times) and we just got in there and competed and so far, it has all worked out for us. All of us get on the field and that makes for a good situation."

Going into the game with The Rock, Devanney had made numerous contributions to the Red Raider success in 2006 with five receptions for 84 yards and one score. His first catch of the campaign also resulted in his only touchdown of the season when he hauled in an 8-yard scoring aerial from quarterback Tony Gomez in a 35-0 season-opening rout of Mansfield.

In Saturday's win, Devanney didn't find the end zone, but he did catch a pair of passes from Gomez for 22 yards, his second reception covering nine yards in a drive that pinned The Rock deep in its own territory to set up the game-winning drive by the Raiders.

"I wouldn't say that I am satisfied with what I have contributed thus far," Devanney said. "But tonight, the important thing is that we got the win against a pretty good Slippery Rock team. They (Slippery Rock) were 4-1 before we played them. As long as we can win the game, what I contribute to the team doesn't really matter to me."

Like any other athlete, there is life after the football field. For Devanney, that means more time in the classroom as he plans to continue his education.

"I am definitely going to go to graduate school," he said. "My long-term goal is to become a college professor, probably in the field of criminal justice or something related to that. Right now, that is what I am looking toward, but who knows, maybe I'll end up taking some other route."

Regardless of what route Tim Devanney takes when he leaves Shippensburg, one thing is certain. You can be sure that the routes he runs on the football field will be good ones with specific objectives, and they are catch the ball, get to the end zone and help the team win the football game.

Shippensburg’s Upset Bid Falls Short Against #10 Bloomsburg

September 30, 2006

SHIPPENSBURG, PA - Bloomsburg's Brahin Bilal's 53-yard touchdown reception from Dan Latorre on 3rd-and-19 with 9:51 remaining in the fourth quarter ended an attempted Shippensburg come back and secured the 10th-ranked Huskies their 16th-straight regular-season Division II victory 35-14 on Saturday afternoon at Seth Grove Stadium.

Prior to Bilal¹s touchdown, the Red Raiders (2-3) pulled to within 14 points following a 10-yard touchdown pass from red-shirt junior Gabe Maiocco (Media/Marple-Newtown) to senior Patrick Ferguson (Mount Airy, Md./Urbana) with 10:51 left in the fourth quarter and a two-point conversion from Maiocco to senior Walter Crump (Sharon Hill/Academy Park).

The touchdown was the 15th of Ferguson's career, moving him into ninth on the school¹s career touchdowns receiving list, but more importantly, ended a streak of nine quarters for Shippensburg without a touchdown after the team did not score in the fourth quarter against Kutztown and was shutout last week at West Chester.

The win was the first for Bloomsburg (3-1) at Seth Grove Stadium since a 27-26 victory on Sept. 14, 2002. Meanwhile, Red Raider head coach Rocky Rees fell short of reaching his 100th win in 17 seasons at Shippensburg for the second-straight game and will try for that next week at Slippery Rock.

Despite the 21-point margin, the game was much more competitive than the score indicated. After holding the Huskies to a punt on the game¹s first possession, the Red Raiders faced a 2nd-and-1 on their own 33-yard line when senior quarterback Tony Gomez (Pottsville/Pottsville) fumbled, losing control of the ball in his throwing motion in rainy conditions, turning the ball over to Bloomsburg at the Red Raider 20.

Six consecutive carries by the Huskies' Jamar Brittingham resulted in his team's first score of the game and a 7-0 lead with 8:09 to play in the first quarter.

Shippensburg would drive down to the Bloomsburg 16-yard line on its ensuing possession, but had to settle for a 33-yard field goal by junior Jamie Reder (Warrenton, Va./Fauquier) and a 7-3 deficit. For Reder, it was the 28^th field goal of his career and the first this season, moving him into sole possession of third-place on the Shippensburg list for career field goals made.

Reder's field goal was set-up by a 51-yard kickoff return from red-shirtjunior Howard Chavous (Collingdale/Academy Park) that gave the Red Raiders starting field position at the Bloomsburg 39-yard line.

After a 1-yard touchdown run by Brittingham made the score 14-3 in favor of Bloomsburg, Reder hit is second field goal of the game, this time from 36 yards after the Red Raider drive stalled at the Bloomsburg 19. After missing his first three attempts this season, Reder is now 2-for-5 this year and 29-of-36 in his career for 80.6-percent.

The school record for career field goal accuracy is 73.8-percent, held by Howie Guarini (1988-91) while the NCAA Division II career record is 80.0-percent held by Bill May of Clarion (1977-80).

Big plays by the Huskies allowed them to keep their distance from Shippensburg all afternoon. In addition to Bilal's 53-yard touchdown reception, Latorre had a 48-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter on a quarterback draw that gave Bloomsburg a 21-6 lead at halftime instead of only an eight-point advantage.

Brittingham would score his third rushing touchdown of the game, an 11-yard run midway through the third quarter, after Bloomsburg recovered a Shippensburg fumble at the Husky 27. Two of Bloomsburg's five touchdown came as a result of three Red Raider turnovers as Shippensburg fumbled twice and threw one interception.

In last week's shutout loss at West Chester, the Red Raiders committed five turnovers which led to 17 points for the Golden Rams. Coming into today¹s game, Shippensburg was ranked last in turnover margin in the 14-team PSAC.

Including Saturdays game, the Red Raiders have now committed 14 turnovers while forcing only four.

Saturday also marked the second consecutive game in which Shippensburgs opponent did not have any turnovers.

Defensively, the Red Raiders were led by a game-high 12 tackles from red-shirt junior Jonathan Aldridge (Pittsburgh/Seneca Valley). Fellow safety, senior John Sharbaugh (Mechanicsburg/Cumberland Valley) made nine stops as the Shippensburg defensive backs accounted for a total of 29 tackles.

Shippensburg will look to get back on track next week when the team travels to Slippery Rock for a 7:00 p.m., kickoff from N. Kerr Thompson Stadium. The Red Raiders are 1-7 in their last eight games at The Rock with their only win during that time coming back in 2001, 32-20.

Slippery Rock currently leads the PSAC in scoring offense and is ranked second in total offense. Shippensburg was defeated at The Rock a year ago, 58-28.

Courtesy of Sports Information Director Jason Eichelberger.

Rocky Rees Looks For 100th Win at Shippensburg on Saturday at West Chester

September 22, 2006

SHIPPENSBURG, PA - Shippensburg University head football coach Rocky Rees, a 1971 graduate of West Chester, will be looking for his 100th win in 17 seasons at Shippensburg on Saturday on Saturday when the Red Raiders travel to West Chester to face the Golden Rams. Kickoff from Farrell Stadium is set for 1:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on Shippensburg University student radio station, WSYC 88.7 FM and on the internet at raiders.ship.edu (radio pre-game starts at 12:40 p.m.). Bill Morgal will handle the play-by-play while Chris Voss will be the color commentator.

NOTES:
* Shippensburg fans who are not able to attend Saturday's game will be able to watch it live on the internet thanks to a partnership between NCAA Division II and College Sports Television (CSTV). The game will be one of four selected contests from around the nation available via CSTVs web site at www.cstv.com/ncaa/divii.
* Rees enters the game with a mark of 99-81-1 (.550) in 16-plus seasons with the Red Raiders and a record of 135-96-2 in 22  seasons as a college head  coach which includes five seasons at NCAA Division III Susquehanna.
* Last week, Shippensburg scored the games first 21 points and never looked back en route to a 42-27 victory at home over Kutztown at Seth Grove Stadium. The victory was the second-straight for the Red Raiders who led 42-7 midway through the third quarter. For the second-straight week, freshman Chris Infante led the way for Shippensburg offensively, totaling 97 yards rushing and one touchdown and 20 carries. Shippensburg, who totaled 330 yards  in total offense and another 223 in returns, scored touchdowns on its first  five possessions and opened the game with a 96-yard kickoff return from red-shirt  junior Howard Chavous.
* Meanwhile, junior Osagie Osunde produced 158 all-purpose yards in the first half and the West Chester defense held Clarion scoreless in the second as the Golden Rams picked up their first victory of the 2006 season, 49-21 on  the road at Memorial Stadium. West Chester totaled 312 yards rushing and  produced 522 yards in total offense. Osunde, who carried the ball 14 times  for 130 yards, played just the first half before being sidelined with an  injury. Junior Bill Zwaan completed 11-of-17 pass attempts for 195 yards and two touchdowns while sophomore Michael Washington finished the game with  two receptions for 76 yards and one touchdown.
* Neither the Red Raiders nor Golden Rams are ranked in this weeks national polls.

Courtesy of Sports Information Director Jason Eichelberger.

Shippensburg at West Chester to be Broadcast Live on the Internet by CSTV

September 18, 2006

SHIPPENSBURG, PA - Fans of the Shippensburg football team who are not able to attend Saturday's game at West Chester will be able to watch the game live on the internet thanks to a partnership between NCAA Division II and College Sports Television (CSTV). The game will be one of four selected from around the nation to be available via CSTV's web site.

In July, NCAA Division II announced a three-year regular-season television and broadband partnership with College CSTV that will showcase select Division II football and men's and women's basketball games live, beginning with coverage in the 2006 fall and 2007 winter seasons.

The broadcast of Saturday's game can be found at http://www.cstv.com/ncaa/divii/.  In addition to live games, the web site will feature stories, scores, blogs, video and audio that are dedicated to Division II sports making it not only a destination site for live games, but for information on Division II sports.

Accompanying the video from Saturday's game on the internet will be the audio play-by-play from West Chester radio WCOJ 1420 AM. However, fans are encouraged to watch the game while listening to the audio from Shippensburg University student radio station WSYC 88.7 FM.

Following last week's 42-27 victory over Kutztown at home, Red Raider head coach Rocky Rees, a 1971 graduate of West Chester, will be looking for his 100th win in 17 seasons at Shippensburg. In 22 seasons as a college head coach, Rees is 135-96-2.

In three seasons as a running back at West Chester from 1968-70, Rees earned All-PSAC each year while rushing for 2,240 yards and 28 touchdowns. He still ranks 12th on the school's career rushing yardage list. Following his graduation in 1971, Rees began what has been a 35-year career as a football coach as a graduate assistant at West Chester.

Shippensburg assistant coach and offensive coordinator Pete Lee also spent one year as a graduate assistant at West Chester in 1988. Following that season, Lee was promoted to assistant coach where he was in charge of the offensive line and recruiting coordinator for the next six seasons until 1994.

The agreement with CSTV will also feature a similar series of men's and women's basketball games at the Division II level. The schedule of those contests will be announced later this fall.

Courtesy of Sports Information Director Jason Eichelberger.

Fast Start Leads Red Raiders To 42-27 Victory Over Kutztown At Home

September 16, 2006

SHIPPENSBURG, PA – The Shippensburg football team scored the game’s first 21 points and never looked back en route to a 42-27 victory over Kutztown at Seth Grove Stadium on Saturday. The victory was the second-straight for the Red Raiders who led 42-7 midway through the third quarter.

For the second-straight week, freshman Chris Infante (Tobyhanna/Pocono Mountain West) led the way for Shippensburg (2-1) offensively, totaling 97 yards rushing and one touchdown and 20 carries. Last week at Mansfield, he became the first freshman since Matt Phillips in 2001 to rush for over 100 yards when he had 118 and two touchdowns.

Shippensburg, who totaled 330 yards in total offense and another 223 in returns, scored touchdowns on its first five possessions and opened the game with a 96-yard kickoff return from red-shirt junior Howard Chavous (Collingdale/Academy Park) which was the third-longest kickoff return in school history.

Chavous’ kickoff return was also the first for a touchdown since Sept. 3, 2005 when Brent Grimes returned one 99 yards for a touchdown at Shepherd.

The Red Raiders jumped out to a 21-0 lead with 1:57 left in the first quarter after a 3-yard touchdown pass from senior Tony Gomez (Pottsville/Pottsville) to senior Walter Crump (Sharon Hill/Academy Park) and a 5-yard run from junior Dave Wilkerson (Downingtown/Downingtown).

Wilkerson’s touchdown run was his first since Oct. 9, 2004 in a 45-7 victory at home.

Meanwhile, the Golden Bears (1-1) were held to -2 yards total offense on six plays before mounting a 12-play, 66-yard drive that ended in a 13-yard pass from Kyle Spotts to Elfren Quiles for Kutztown’s first score.

Following Quiles’ second touchdown of the season, Shippensburg scored another 21 consecutive points to build a 42-7 lead with 8:21 remaining in the third quarter. To that point, the Red Raiders’ average starting field position was the Golden Bear 47-yard line.

However, Kutztown managed to stay competitive, scoring the game’s final three touchdowns to reduce a 35-point deficit down to the final margin of 15. Also, after totaling just 173 yards in total offense through the game’s first 37 minutes, the Golden Bears amassed 266 over the final 23, totaling scoring drives of 71, 78 and 94 yards.

Shippensburg’s last touchdown came on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Gomez to red-shirt senior Patrick Ferguson (Mount Airy, Md./Urbana), marking the first touchdown reception for Ferguson since Nov. 20, 2004 against West Chester in the second round of the NCAA Division II Football Championship.

Ferguson, who was named All-PSAC Western Division First Team in 2004, missed the 2005 season with an injury. It was also the 14th of his career as he is currently in ninth on the school’s career touchdowns receiving list.

As for Gomez, his two touchdown passes, which came on just three completions, gave him 24 for his career which moved him into sixth on the Shippensburg career passing touchdowns list, ahead of Scott Knudson who totaled 23 from 1976-78.

Defensively for the Red Raiders, senior Jaron Nalewak (Chambersburg/Chambersburg) totaled a career-high 12 tackles, including nine solo. He also added two tackles for loss, one sack, one pass breakup and one quarterback hurry.

Shippensburg travels to West Chester next week for a 6:00 p.m., game at Farrell Stadium with the Golden Rams. The game will be broadcast live on raiders.ship.edu as well as NCAAsports.com/DII by College Sports Television.

NOTES:  Shippensburg unveiled its new mascot prior to Saturday’s game. The university is sponsoring a contest to name the new mascot and the winning name will be announced at Homecoming on October 21 … Junior Josh Emberg (Carlisle/Cumberland Valley) had a career-high seven tackles, including two sacks … In facing his former team for the first since transferring from Kutztown last year, red-shirt junior Gabe Maiocco (Media/Marple-Newtown) completed 3-of-8 pass attempts for 57 yards … the offensive line did not surrender a sack this afternoon for the first time since Sept. 17, 2005 in a 23-17 victory over Millersville at home, a span of 11 games.

Supplied by Sports Information Director Jason Eichelberger.