Box Score

EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University overcame a 10-point deficit in the final six minutes and junior Greg Knauss made a 29-yard field goal in overtime to give head coach Denny Douds the PSAC record with his 213th career victory as the Warriors defeated Shippensburg 44-41 on Saturday night at Eiler-Martin Stadium.

Douds, in his 35th season at ESU, broke the record he shared with Gene Carpenter, who coached at Millersville from 1970-2000. Douds improves to 213-140-1 since taking over as the eighth head coach in program history in 1974.

Senior quarterback Tim Roken threw for 414 yards, with 321 coming in the second half, and was 31-of-59 to set a school record for passing attempts. He threw four first-half interceptions but also led ESU back from a deficit of at least 10 points four different times before the Warriors tied the game with 1:02 left.

Roken was 5-of-6 for 91 yards while engineering a seven play, 87-yard drive that was capped by a one-yard touchdown run by redshirt senior tailback Joe Partridge that tied the game at 41-41.

The drive included big plays to redshirt junior Sam Shuman for 26 and 21 yards, and redshirt senior Doug Ogden for 27 and 14 yards, the final catch setting up Partridge's third touchdown of the game.

Shuman had his second straight 100-yard game with six catches for 111 yards, while Ogden had 163 yards receiving and caught seven of his eight passes in the second half.

Shippensburg's final possession of regulation stalled short of midfield to send the Warriors and Raiders into overtime for the third time in series history. The defense also came up with a huge three-and-out to turn the ball over to Roken and the offense for the game-tying drive with 3:13 remaining.

Kyler Ford, who missed two extra points earlier in the game, pushed a 30-yard field goal wide left to turn the ball over to the Warriors with a chance to win the game. Partridge ripped a 13-yard run on the first play, and Knauss came on to drill the 29-yarder on first down for the second game-winning field goal of his career.

Shippensburg (1-3, 0-1 PSAC East) turned five turnovers into a 21-7 halftime lead before ESU (4-0, 1-0) put up 34 second-half points. The three touchdown drives covered 27, seven and 23 yards and were all set up by interceptions.

Mike Harris caught touchdown passes of 24 and 15 yards from Chad DiFebbo around a five-yard TD run by ESU redshirt freshman tailback Russell Johnson. Fullback Chris Infante scored from six yards out with 3:20 left in the half, and Mark Rossi hauled in the two-point conversion pass from DiFebbo to give Ship its 14-point cushion at the break.

Partridge scored on runs of one and seven yards in the third quarter, the second set up by an interception by sophomore cornerback David Castillo, as ESU pulled within 28-24 through 45 minutes to set up an exciting final quarter.

Kevin Marshall (15 carries, 87 yards) had two long scoring plays for Ship in the fourth, starting with a 59-yard run that put his team ahead 35-24 with 10:29 left.

ESU responded with a critical 73-yard drive and trimmed the margin to 35-31 when Roken hit senior Drew Stem for the touchdown on 4th-and-2 from the four-yard line. The momentum was short-lived, however, as Marshall returned the ensuing kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown, but Ford missed the PAT to keep the score 41-31 with 6:58 on the clock.

An unsportsmanlike conduct flag after the return forced Ship to kick off from the 15-yard line and Stem had a 38-yard runback to the 40. A 25-yard pass from Stem to redshirt sophomore Ed Kiser set up first-and-goal at the 10, and Knauss hit a 24-yard field goal to pull ESU within 41-34 and set up the finish.

ESU ran 90 plays, the fourth-most in school history, and had 531 yards of total offense. Ship gained 333 yards, with DiFebbo going 10-of-26 for 161 yards and Harris catching five passes for 74 yards and two scores. The Warriors held Infante, Ship's leading rusher, to 14 carries for 20 yards (2 TD).

The Warriors will look for their fourth 5-0 start under Douds when they host Cheyney next Saturday at 6 p.m. at Eiler-Martin Stadium.