Box Score Seton Hill opened its 2014 season with a Thursday night matchup with Shippensburg at Offutt Field in Greensburg. The name of the game was offense as the teams combined for 181 plays and 1104 yards of total offense. The Griffins came up on the short end of the scoreboard, dropping a 55-30 decision to the Raiders.
The Griffin defense was able to keep the Raiders off the scoreboard in their first two drives, one ending in a punt and the other in a missed field goal. Shippensburg was finally able to get on the scoreboard on their third drive of the night when they score on a 10 yard TD reception. The point after attempt was fumbled and
Phillip Moreland picked up the ball and raced to the endzone for two points and cut the Ship lead to 6-2 with 4:32 to play in the first quarter. After a three and out for the Griffins, the Raiders connected on an 88 yard touchdown to extend their lead to 13-2, a lead they would hold at the end of the first quarter.
Shippensburg went 10 plays and 52 yards to open the second quarter and took a 20-2 lead with 12:22 to play in the second quarter.
Jarvis McClam then ran back the kickoff 35 yards to give the Griffins the ball at their own 35 yard line. On the next play,
Drew Jackson hit
FJ Williams with a 65 yard bomb to trim the Ship lead to 20-9 with 12:03 left in the second.
Tim Johnson forced a fumble on the next Shippensburg possession with
Tyler Zimmer recovering the fumble on the Ship 28 yard line. The Griffins could only move the ball two yards and turned the ball over on downs. The Raiders were able to extend their lead to 27-9 on a 8 yard TD pass with 4:36 to play in the first half. The Griffins responded right back. McClam returned the kickoff 41 yards, setting up a 53 yard touchdown pass from Jackson to
Erik Kerns which cut the lead to 27-16 with 3:50 left in the half. Ship answered right back with a 4 play, 68 yard touchdown drive to push the lead back to 34-16, a lead they would take into the halftime break.
Seton Hill continued their great kickoff returns to open the second half.
Malik Scott ran the kickoff back 72 yards to the Ship 23 yard line.
Drew Jackson then hit
FJ Williams with a 23 yard TD pass and the Griffins trailed 34-23 just 16 seconds into the second half. The Griffin defense then forced a turnover on downs on the next Shippensburg possession. After the Griffins were forced to punt,
Ricardo Housen intercepted a Ship pass and gave the Griffins the ball at the Griffin 46. The Griffins were able to convert a 4th and 8 on a 29 yard pass from Jackson to Kerns which gave them the ball at the Ship 8 yard line. The next play was a key play in the contest as the Griffins fumbled the ball and Ship recovered at their own 4 yard line, ending a threat to cut the lead to single digits. Ship then went on a 12 play, 96 yard drive and were able to extend their lead back to 41-23 with 4:22 to play in the third quarter.
Brandon Frye intercepted a Ship pass with 10:57 to play in the fourth quarter but the Griffins could not capitalize and were forced to punt. The Raiders scored on a 6 yard run with 7:02 to play in the quarter. The Griffins closed out the scoring when Jackson hit
Marcus Peterson with a 42 yard touchdown pass with 1:12 remaining in the contest.
Drew Jackson finished the game with 18 completions for 321 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Erik Kerns finished with 4 receptions for 110 yards and 1 TD.
FJ Williams had 3 catches for 92 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Tim Johnson ended the game with 12 tackles, 1 sack and 3 tackles for loss.
Ricardo Housen had 10 tackles, 1 interception and 1 break up.
Seton Hill will return to action next Saturday when they travel to Lock Haven for a 3 PM kickoff.
