The Griffins traveled to Edinboro on Saturday afternoon for a nationally broadcast game on ESPN 3 looking to secure its first winning season since 2008. For the first 38 minutes it looked like the Griffins would get that winning season but Edinboro scored the final 21 points of the game for a 42-34 victory over the Griffins. SHU drops to 5-4 overall and 2-4 in PSAC action while Edinboro improves to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in PSAC play.
SHU forced a three and out on the first Edinboro possession. Seton Hill then marched right down the field in seven plays, the last one a 12 yard touchdown pass from
Christian Strong to
Norman Darden that gave SHU a 7-0 lead. The Scots answered right back with a 60 yard TD pass to tie the score at seven with 11:15 to play in the first quarter. The Griffins then went to the ground game as they moved the ball 83 yards in 14 plays.
Khalil Howard finished off the drive with a one yard touchdown run to increase the lead to 14-7. On the second play of the Edinboro drive
Richardo Housen picked off a pass and returned it to the Edinboro 37 yard line. On the next play,
Michael Elardo took an end around 37 yards for a Griffin touchdown. SHU led 21-7 with 6:42 left in the quarter. Edinboro needed just four plays to cut into the Griffins lead. They used a one yard TD pass to cut the lead to 21-14 with 5:24 left.
On the first Edinboro drive of the second quarter, they missed a field goal from 49 yards out. SHU took advantage of the play and increased their lead to 28-14 on another one yard touchdown run from Howard. SHU went 68 yards in 8 plays with a 25 yard run from Howard and a 29 yard pass to
Ardell Brown being big plays in the drive.
Tyrell Best-Savage ended the next Edinboro drive with an interception in the end zone. Strong hit Elardo with a 58 yard bomb to get the Griffins to the Scots 10 but a fumble ended the Griffins possession. The Scots scored on their final possession of the half with a 72 yard touchdown pass to trim the lead to 28-21 at the half.
The first Griffin possession of the half ended with an interception in the end zone. SHU then took advantage of a short field as they only needed to drive 36 yards after a short punt. The final 30 yards came on a pass from Strong to Darden. SHU led 34-21 after a missed extra point with 7:46 to play in the third quarter. The Scots needed just 2:49 to to cut into the SHU lead. A one yard touchdown run trimmed the lead to 34-28 with 4:47 left in the third. SHU threw a pick on their next drive which led to the go ahead touchdown for the Scots.
Edinboro took their first lead of the game on the second play of the fourth quarter. Another SHU interception gave Edinboro a short field and they extended their lead to 42-34 with 12:36 left in the game. SHU was forced to punt on their next two possessions.
David Gutzmore intercepted a Boro pass to give the Griffins the ball at the Edinboro 43 with 4:03 to play in the game. A personal foul on the Griffins backed them up 15 yards on the play, moving the ball back into SHU territory. SHU moved to the 50 but turned the ball over on downs. The defense forced a three and out and the punt went into the endzone which put the ball at the 20 with 1:33 to play. SHU could not move the ball and a sack on fourth down gave the Scots the ball back to run out the clock.
Edinboro had 30 first downs to 25 for the Griffins. SHU finished with 545 total yards including 219 on the ground. Strong finished 24-43 for 326 yards and 2 touchdowns with 3 interceptions.
Khalil Howard rushed for 165 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Michael Elardo had 6 receptions for 121 yards.
Tim Johnson finished with 13 total tackles.
SHU returns to action next weekend at Slippery Rock.
