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WEST CHESTER - The longest and one of the most exciting games in Shippensburg University football history ended on a sour note for the Red Raiders, who lost 44-43 to West Chester in double overtime on Thursday night.
The PSAC East game at Farrell Stadium ended on a blocked extra-point in the second overtime, ending a nationally televised contest that lasted three hours and 45 minutes and ended just before midnight.
An indication of how evenly matched the teams were: Each offense produced the same amount of net yards, 512.
Shippensburg (1-5, 0-3 PSAC East) trailed by 10 points, 13-3, at halftime. The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, then the Raiders pulled within four points with 14 seconds left in the period. Quarterback Steven Adams hit halfback Mike Frenette for a 64-yard TD.
Early in the fourth quarter, safety Jamahn McCullough made an interception to give Ship the ball at West Chester's 41-yard line. Backup fullback Pat Schuhl keyed a seven-play drive with 28 yards on five carries, including his first career TD. It gave the Raiders a 23-20 lead with 10:03 remaining.
Golden Rams QB Sean McCartney answered with a 68-yard TD pass to LaRonn Lee to put West Chester ahead 27-23 with 7:44 to go. SU responded three plays later as Adams found Bryan Barley for a 60-yard TD to go up 30-27 with 6:07 left.
The fourth quarter went down to the final seconds, as Rams placekicker Shawn Leo connected on a 42-yard field goal with 25 seconds remaining to tie the score 30-30 and send the game into overtime.
Ship scored a TD in its first OT possession, on a 3-yard run by fullback Kevin Herod. West Chester (2-4, 2-1 PSAC East) sent the game into a second OT with a 25-yard scoring pass from McCartney to Brian McDermott. The score was 37-37.
In the second OT, the Rams went ahead 44-37 as Dan DePalma caught a 13-yard TV pass from McCartney. That set up the end-of-game heartbreak for the Raiders.
Herod scored on a 1-yard run to bring SU within a point, 44-43. But on the extra point, Nate Schmidt's attempt was blocked and West Chester had the victory.
Notes: Shippensburg dominated the ground game with 214 yards to West Chester's 68 ... The Rams had the edge in passing yardage, 444-298 ... McCartney, a freshman, threw for 444 yards and five TDs in his first career start ... Frenette returned to action after missing two games with injury and had a career-high 109 receiving yards ... SU's Kevin Marshall (Scotland School) totaled 246 all-purpose yards, moving into third place all-time in school history (3,887) in passing Dave Brown Class of '01, Mike Erlandson '99 and Jamie Ware '99 ... Ship hosts Bloomsburg next Saturday, 1 p.m.
West Chester 44, Shippensburg 43, 2OT
Shippensburg 0 3 13 14 7 6 -- 43
West Chester 7 6 7 10 7 7 -- 44
First Quarter
WC --Tim Keyser 29 pass from Sean McCartney (Shawn Leo kick), 7:29
Second Quarter
WC -- Leo 32 field goal, 12:40
WC -- Leo 48 field goal, 3:48
S -- Nate Schmidt 29 field goal, 0:35
Third Quarter
S -- Kevin Marshall 2 run (Schmidt kick), 6:52
WC -- Keyser 63 pass from McCartney (Leo kick), 4:02
S -- Mike Frenette 64 pass from Steven Adams (kick failed), 0:14
Fourth Quarter
S -- Pat Schuhl 4 run (Schmidt kick), 11:46
WC -- LaRonn Lee 68 pass from McCartney (Leo kick), 7:44
S -- Bryan Barley 60 pass from Adams (Schmidt kick), 6:07
WC -- Leo 42 field goal, 0:25
First Overtime
S -- Kevin Herod 3 run (Schmidt kick)
WC -- Brian McDermott 25 pass from McCartney (Leo kick)
Second Overtime
WC -- Dan DePalma 13 pass from McCartney (Leo kick)
S -- Herod 1 run (kick blocked)
TEAM STATISTICS
Ship WC
First downs 27 21
Rushes-yds 56-214 24-68
Passing yds 298 444
Total offense 512 512
Passing 16-27-1 27-50-1
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0
Punts-avg 3-34.7 2-42.5
Penalties-yds 5-45 7-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Ship, Herod 17-72, Marshall 13-64, Schuhl 8-34, Roshaan McCain 8-32, Adams 5-8, Frenette 5-4. WC, D'Andre Webb 7-27, Rondell White 4-23, Jackson Fagan 8-11, Lee 1-6, McCartney 3-3.
PASSING -- Ship, Adams 16-27-298-1. WC, McCartney 27-49-444-1, Team 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING -- Ship, Marshall 5-67, Frenette 4-109, Barley 2-88, Jake Biondi 2-12, Jacob Baskerville 1-10, Schuhl 1-9, Herod 1-3. WC, DePalma 7-97, Fagan 6-48, Keyser 4-127, Lee 4-95, Justin Curry 3-21, McDermott 1-25, White 1-22, Webb 1-9.
INTERCEPTIONS -- Ship, Jamahn McCullough. WC, John O'Donnell.
FIELD GOALS MISSED -- Ship, Schmidt 27 (blocked).
