EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — The East Stroudsburg (6-1, 4-0) defense put together a smothering effort over Shippensburg in a 24-7 win Saturday night at Eiler-Martin Stadium, totaling six sacks and shutting down the Raiders offense to win its sixth-straight game.
It was an all-around effort from a defense that only ceded 181 yards and a stifling 3.4 yards per play while creating two turnovers that never let Shippensburg's offense get into a rhythm. Four different players recorded a sack, including redshirt junior DL
Trenton Dunnick with a career-high three. Redshirt freshman DL
Ryan Epps was also a constant in the backfield, putting together a performance of one sack and one tackle for loss.
Whenever Shippensburg did begin to create momentum on offense, the Warriors were able to swiftly shut that down with a timely turnover. Shippensburg had a chance to make it a one-score game going into halftime, but redshirt senior S
Amir Shields intercepted Riley Gunnels to put East Stroudsburg into field goal range that led to three more points for ESU. After the Raiders forced a turnover on the Warriors' first drive of the second half, redshirt junior S
Everette Dingle came away with a forced fumble and recovery inside his own 10-yard line to keep Shippensburg off the scoreboard.
On the other side of the ball, a balanced rushing attack powered the East Stroudsburg offense, as six Warriors combined for 182 rushing yards. Redshirt freshman WR
Cade Sawyer paced the group with 49 yards on five carries, and redshirt sophomore QB
Harrison Susi and redshirt freshman TB
Ajani Walker each found paydirt. Through the air, redshirt senior QB
Sean McTaggart was 10-for-20 for 136 yards and a touchdown.
Redshirt sophomore WR
Cam Burti and sophomore WR
Jaylen Andrews each had four receptions, Burti totaling 67 yards and Andrews adding 39. Senior TE
Beau Heyser caught his second touchdown of the year in a two-catch, 32-yard performance.
The Raiders offense started the game with a pair of first downs, as Gunnels hit Marcus Sweeney for a gain of 10 and kept it himself for a 15-yard rush to set Shippensburg up just past midfield. On second down from the ESU 49 yard-line, Epps broke through the middle with a sack to quickly send Shippensburg back to their own territory and squash its opening drive.
Once McTaggart found Andrews for a 19-yard gain for East Stroudsburg's first first down, Walker began to find his own rhythm on the ground. Two straight rushes for the freshman gained 21 yards for the Warriors, setting them up on the positive side of the 50-yard line. McTaggart completed a pass to Burti on a catch-and-run to set ESU up just outside the redzone, but the Raiders sniffed out a trick play with Susi to push the Warriors back to the Shippensburg 30-yard line. Junior K
Ty Quintois' 48-yard attempt had the leg, but it caromed off the right post falling just in front of the crossbar to preserve the scoreless tie.
The teams traded punts into the second quarter until the Warriors offense came through with a big gain after the catch to put them inside the redzone for the first time on the night. McTaggart hit Burti on a pass that allowed the receiver to go into the open space down the left side all the way to the 15-yard line for a 40-yard gain. The very next play, McTaggart threw a strike to Heyser over the middle for the game's first score with 7:12 remaining in the half.
A penalty on first down put Shippensburg behind the chains, but Ethan Arneson got most of the yardage back with a 13-yard rush to set up second and long. The Raiders would not have any success against the ESU secondary, as Dingle and redshirt senior DB
Malachi Bowman broke up passes on second and third down to force the punt.
Deante Crawford took over the backfield for the Warriors on the ensuing drive, rushing for 21 yards on the first three plays to put East Stroudsburg at the Shippensburg 33-yard line. A defensive pass interference call moved ESU up 15 yards, and Susi broke through the middle for an 18-yard rushing touchdown to double the Warriors' lead.
East Stroudsburg had all the momentum, and it continued as Shields intercepted Gunnels well inside Shippensburg territory, but the Raiders defense limited the Warriors to a field goal, with Quintois making the 41-yard attempt to put ESU up by three scores going into halftime.
It was a chaotic start to the second half, with Shippensburg's defense responding to potentially get them back in the game. On the second play of the opening drive, McTaggart was intercepted by Connor Black at the Warriors' 41-yard line. Arneson opened the Raiders drive with a 12-yard gain on first down, and Gunnels completed a pass to Bailey Landon across the middle at the Warriors' 22-yard line. As Landon fought for extra yardage though, Dingle stuck with him the entire way and was able to pry the ball out at the seven-yard line.
ESU seemed to be out of trouble after Walker started the drive off with a 15-yard gain, but the Warriors were pushed back closer to their own endzone after a penalty. With no one open and a stunt by the Raiders defensive line, Eli Rodriguez came around the blindside and strip sacked McTaggart in the endzone to get Shippensburg on the board with 12:17 left in the third quarter.
After two straight turnovers, the East Stroudsburg offense looked to be headed towards a three-and-out, but a costly penalty by Shippensburg gave the Warriors a fresh set of downs. The McTaggart-Heyser connection came through for East Stroudsburg again, jumpstarting the drive to put the Warriors into field goal range. Knocking on the door of the red zone, ESU was called for a pair of penalties on the offensive line that pushed the Warriors just outside field goal range, pinning the Raiders at their own seven-yard line.
Shippensburg chipped its way into more breathing room away from its own end zone, but graduate student
Jered Fenstermaker ended that drive with a sack on third down, forcing a punt.
After Shippensburg got the ball back at the beginning of the fourth quarter off a 58-yard punt from redshirt sophomore P
Adam Noll, the Raiders made it to midfield looking to make it a one-score game. However, that would be about as far as Shippensburg would get, as Epps blew up a play with a tackle for loss on first down, and Dunnick ended the drive with a sack on fourth down.
The following drive from the Warriors looked to be headed towards a punt, but a downfield pass intended for redshirt senior WR
Evan Roche was broken up by defensive pass interference, giving ESU 15 yards and a fresh set of downs. Susi nearly had his second touchdown rush of the evening, bursting up the middle on a 29-yard run that got down to the one-yard line. After a quarterback sneak play was stuffed, Walker came in and hurdled over the line for the Warriors' final score of the night with 4:29 remaining.
The Raiders final drive was more of the same throughout the game, as Gunnick tallied his third sack of the night to put Shippensburg behind the sticks, and after an incompletion and short gain, Shields broke up the fourth down pass to give the Warriors the ball and run out the clock.
GAME NOTES
- East Stroudsburg has not allowed the Shippensburg offense to score in consecutive meetings, allowing an average of just 164.5 total yards per game and forcing five turnovers.
- The Warriors have defeated the Raiders in their last four meetings, outscoring Shippensburg 133-40.
UP NEXT
The Warriors are back on the road to play Shepherd (3-4, 3-1) at noon next Saturday, Oct. 25 in Shepherdstown, W. Va.
