Millersville (0-4, 0-2 PSAC) fell to formerly ranked Shippensburg (2-2, 2-0 PSAC) 48-10 on Saturday. PSAC East Offensive Athlete of the Week and 11-time 2012 award winning QB Zach Zulli put on a clinic for the crowd, including firing his 100th touchdown pass of his career to his top receiver Trevor Harman.
What a way to do it, right?
Additionally, Souderton grad Jake Metz set a Ship record for most tackles for a loss with his 2.5 scored against Millersville.
Regardless, what could be considered a rout in the media, this game was not. The Marauder defense was forcing a lot of third and long situations, but thanks to Shippensburg's offensive acumen, head coach Mark Maciejewski decided to go for it on fourth down and converted one of three chances. That one proved to be very important.
There is improvement to be had. What was a 60-70% third down conversion rate for the opposition at the beginning of the year, Millersville held Shippensburg to 56%. On the season, that number now stands at 58.49%. That will be a point of focus against two of the finest teams in Division II, #7 IUP on Saturday, and #9 Bloomsburg next week.
After a solid start in the rushing department in weeks one and two, Millersville has been held to single digit rushing yards in consecutive weeks. This discrepancy could be explained with the tackles for loss due to sacks, but Ian Sadon has slowed a bit after his electric start. He rushed for 33 yards on 14 carries on Saturday, unable to break open the offense on a big play just yet.
For the fourth straight game, both quarterbacks saw time in the saddle. Connor Casey, after coming back from an undisclosed injury against West Chester, was felled by a face mask from the aforementioned Metz. He ended the day 10/25 for 141 yards. Curtis Frye finished the game going 8/12 for for 86 yards. He also threw his first collegiate career TD pass.
As a whole, we saw several players emerge. Redshirt senior co-captain Dominic Sanders made his mark on this game with four catches for 80 yards, and the Marauders' only touchdown. Sanders has been battling injuries throughout the year, but he looked extremely dangerous last week.
Tight End Trenton Petrovich showed he can be a legitimately dangerous offensive player as well as an astute blocker. He matched his week one totals of four catches for 79 yards. He could be considered a true X-Factor throughout the rest of the season. Petrovich continues to present himself as a difficult target to cover, or even tackle.
Defensively, Marvin Gaskill made a mark on the line. Zulli scrambled all day thanks to Gaskill breaking a green offensive line on the Red Raiders. This team loves the big man. Teammate Kevin Bohl described him as quick as a cat.
Shawn Fahey, Matt Brinser and Dean May also contributed with tackles for loss.
Slow and steady wins the race this season, especially against such a gauntlet of nationally ranked teams. Just looking at the players and the coaching staff after big plays, even when the game is pretty much all but sealed up, they continue to be excited for each other. This team hasn't, and won't, quit.
Perhaps the most encouraging thing about being 0-2 in the PSAC is that they aren't out of it. Kutztown and Cheyney join them at the 0-2 mark, and Lock Haven and ESU find themselves at the 1-1 mark. It will be fun to see how this season pans out for these teams.
Look out for Kutztown, especially. They were one point away from massively upsetting now #17 West Chester last week. I doubt they will be very happy about missing out on that opportunity, but that might have catapulted them into a good finish. They will draw difficult competition with Slippery Rock next Saturday.
Off to IUP next week. Check out the broadcast on millersvilleathletics.com/msbn starting at 1:30 p.m. for the Marauder Pride Pregame Show presented by Homewood Suites by Hilton Lancaster.
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