Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008

Kutztown (3-4, 2-2 PSAC East) 42
Shippensburg (3-4, 2-2 PSAC East) 21
BOX SCORE

Dontay Wilson vs. Shippensburg (photo by Jeff Unger)

KUTZTOWN, Pa - Dontay Wilson ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns to lead Kutztown to a 42-21 win over Shippensburg Saturday in the teams' first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division meeting.

Wilson scored on a 73-yard run, KU's sixth offensive play of the game, and added a 32-yard scoring run in the second quarter. He averaged 11.9 yards on 12 carries in his return from injury that kept him out of KU's last two games. Kendell Coleman scored two touchdowns, one a 78-yard punt return and the other a 13-yard run. Shane Martin threw two TD passes, one each to Jason Uhlig and Jake Thierjung.

Cory Porrino led all players with 10 tackles, including a sack.  He also broke up a pass.  Brent Howard and Chris McCaffrey had interceptions.  Greg Rotkowski added a sack.

Shippensburg's Mike Harris caught two TDs from Chad DiFebbo, including a 46-yard Hail Mary on the game's final play. Harris had seven catches for 172 yards. Kevin Marshall's 13-yard run accounted for the Raiders' only first-half score.

After three Shippensburg punts surrounded a KU fumble and a career-long 70-yard punt by Ryan Nye, KU finally got the offense going on its third possession. Wilson scampered 73 yards on KU's sixth play from scrimmage for a 7-0 lead with 9:37 to play in the first.

Kutztown forced another punt on Shippensburg's next drive.  After the first two punts went out of bounds and Coleman was stopped for no gain on the third punt, the 5-8 sophomore broke free for a 78-yard punt return touchdown. It was KU's first TD return on a punt since 2006 (Brett Harbach). 

The Raiders cut the lead in half on their next possession, marching 80 yards on 13 plays, capped by Marshall's 13-yard run. 

A 35-yard hookup from Martin to Mike Dietrich set up KU's next score on the next possession.  Martin hit Uhlig from 9 yards out for a 21-7 lead with 12:45 left in the second.

Two possessions later, Brent Howard's interception and 42-yard return set up Wilson's 32 yard run and a 28-7 lead midway through the second. 

The teams traded punts to start the third quarter, before Martin's QB keeper was good for 37 yards.  Coleman scored from 13 yards on two plays later for a 35-7 edge with 9:20 left in the third.

KU went 64 yards on eight plays, including a 28-yard run by Maurice Adams to set up Martin's 1-yard lob to Thierjung.  The Golden Bears led 42-7, their most points ever in 60 meetings with Shippensburg, with 4:18 left in the third.

The Raiders added two late touchdowns. Harris hauled in a 27-yard pass from DiFebbo with 10:43 remaining in the game, then the duo hooked up again on a Hail Mary 46-yard catch on the final play. The play was untimed, as a pass interference call on the previous play gave the Raiders an untimed down.

Ship's late TDs prevented KU from recording its most lopsided win over Shippensburg. The 21-point final margin was eight points fewer than KU's 29-point win (35-6) over the Raiders in 1995.