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SHIPPENSBURG – Shippensburg jumped out to a 24-0 lead on its first four possessions and Zach Zulli threw for 220 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 126 yards and another score in a 44-14 win over East Stroudsburg University on Saturday afternoon at Seth Grove Stadium.
Redshirt senior quarterback
Ray Wagner threw for 172 yards to go over the 3,000-yard mark for the season, joining Jimmy Terwilliger (2004, 2005) and Damian Poalucci (1996) as ESU quarterbacks to throw for 3,000 yards. Wagner's 3,011 passing yards are fourth in school history.
Wagner entered in the first quarter in relief of redshirt sophomore
Nate Daniels, who made his first career start but left on the first play of the Warriors' fourth possession. Wagner threw a two-yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman tight end
Steven Jones in the fourth quarter and was 13-for-31 with four interceptions. Daniels was 0-for-3 after playing in each of ESU's last two games, a 31-27 loss to Millersville and 10-6 win at Cheyney.
Redshirt junior wide receiver
Jordan Hallman had four catches for 64 yards and redshirt sophomore
Robert Bleiler had three for 70 yards, including a 50-yarder to set up the short TD pass to Jones. Junior tailback
Eric Deery had seven carries for 81 yards and had a 66-yarder to set up a one-yard TD run late in the game.
Most of the rest of the day belonged to Shippensburg, which gained 621 yards, 401 rushing and 220 passing, and gained 18 of its 32 first downs in the first half as the Red Raiders went into the locker room with a 31-0 lead.
Mike Frenette had 19 carries for 115 yards and Zulli threw TD passes to Bryan Barley (7 catches, 83 yards), Trevor Harman (5-68), Kevin Herod (2-18) and Taimur Harris (2-12). Frenette also caught three passes for 32 yards and had two kick returns for 54 yards for 201 all-purpose yards.
Zulli was second in the PSAC to Wagner in total offense entering the game and was 20-for-34 passing and ran 14 times to account for his 346 yards of total offense.
Ship forced seven punts and two interceptions on ESU's nine first-half possessions and used the short field to launch scoring drives of 59, 31, 63 and 39 yards. Zulli threw a seven-yard TD pass to Harris, Drew Newcomer hit a 29-yard field goal, Zulli ran for a 22-yard score and hit Barley for a five-yard TD to make the score 24-0 with 1:40 left in the first quarter.
Zulli threw a one-yard TD to Harman to cap a 10-play, 66-yard drive in the second quarter. A nine-yard TD pass to Herod made it 38-0 after an 11-play, 74-yard drive on the first possession of the second half.
Wagner took the Warriors 76 yards on eight plays for their first touchdown of the fourth quarter and went over the 3,000-yard passing mark with his 50-yard pass to Bleiler. He topped 3,000 yards of total offense earlier in the game and has 3,144 yards, passing current Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin for 7th in school history, entering the season finale vs. Edinboro next Saturday.
GAME NOTES
* Sr. LB
Mike Bergey had a career-high 15 tackles, R-Sr. LB
Taylor Cave had 12 and R-So. OLB
Thomas Chesko had 11.
* R-Fr. DE
Sam Trunzo had a sack and forced fumble that was recovered by Bergey, and R-Sr. CB
Shawnte Carroll had his first interception of the season and sixth of his career.
* Bergey has 91 tackles this season with one game remaining.
* Shippensburg improved to 28-17-2 in the all-time series. Ship, IUP, Slippery Rock and West Chester are the only four schools in the 16-team PSAC that have winning records against ESU. The Warriors are tied in their series with California and will play Mercyhurst for the first time in 2012.
* Daniels was the 30th ESU quarterback to start a game under Coach Douds. Wagner made his first career start in the season opener vs. Pace. This is the sixth time in 38 seasons under Douds that two quarterbacks made their first career start in the same year - 1974, 1978, 1981, 1998, 2007 and 2011.
* Wagner moved into 4th in single-season passing yards with 3,011, behind Jimmy Terwilliger (4,571 - 2005), Damian Poalucci (3,831 - 1996) and Terwilliger (3,826 - 2004). He is 7th in total offense with 3,144 yards and is 198 yards from tying for 5th (Terwilliger, 3,342 - 2003).
* Jr. TB
Kendrick Williams had five kick returns for 108 yards, moving into 2nd in single-season kick return yards with 692. Matt Kacanda had 1,210 yards in 1999.
* Williams moved into 9th in single-season all-purpose yards with 1,302 and 11th in career all-purpose yards with 2,813.