Box Score
Brookville, N.Y. - Despite a career day of 300 yards passing from Bill Shirk and 139 yards rushing from Cardoza Jacks, the Millersville football team fell in the highest scoringame in school history--a 55-38 shootout--to C.W. Post's surprisingly prolific offense Saturday afternoon in Brookville, N.Y.
The Millersville offense proved difficult to stop for the third-straight week and kept the Marauders close until late in the third quarter. The Marauders have now posted 35.7 points per game in its last three outings. Shirk continued his historic run as the starting quarterback, becoming the first Marauder to throw for 300 yards since Dan Csencsitz went for 301 against Bloomsburg in 2001. Shirk also threw for the three touchdowns for the second straight game and has eight in his last three outings.
On the receiving end of Shirk's passes were the blooming wide receiver tandem of Andy Tischbein and Jamal Smith. Tischbein recorded his third-straight 100-yard receiving game (108 yards) on seven catches. He also hauled in a pair of TD passes, giving him five in the last two games. Not to be outdone, Smith posted a career-high 139 yards on five catches. It was his second 100-yard receiving since making the move from quarterback to wide receiver in week four.
While the Marauders' offense played well, C.W. Post (2-6, 1-3) proved unstoppable. The Pioneers entered the homecoming match-up averaging just 12.0 points per game, but exploded for a season-high in points and a season-high 563 yards of total offense to snap a three-game losing streak. Quarterback Nick Gorretti had completed just 49.2 percent of his passes through his first seven games, but on Saturday, everything clicked as he hit on 17-of-20 passes for 263 yards. Running back Jason Gwaltney rumbled for 156 yards and four touchdowns.
The offensive showcase began early as the Marauders drove 84 yards in seven plays on the opening drive of the game. Jacks scored the first of his two touchdowns to give the Marauders an early lead. C.W. Post quickly answered with a four-play drive and scored with just over nine minutes left in the first.
C.W. Post forced the Marauders to punt on the next possession, but Steven Roberts forced and recovered a fumble on the C.W. Post 18-yard line. Two plays later, Jacks ripped off an 18-yard run for his second touchdown.
The two squads traded punches until a C.W. Post interception set up a field goal and a 17-14 lead with 11:54 left in the second quarter. Millersville, however, responded with a 38-yard TD strike from Shirk to Tischbein on the next possession, giving the Marauders a 21-17 edge. C.W. Post quickly tacked on two scores to boost the advantage to 31-21 with 24 seconds left in the half, but with excellent field position, Shirk found Smith on a 54-yard bomb to close the half with a touchdown and cut the deficit to three points heading into the half.
Whatever momentum the Marauders took into halftime quickly dissipated as the Pioneers scored on the opening drive of the second and went on to outscore Millersville 21-3 in the third period and outscored Millersville 24-10 in the second half.
Millersville's maligned defense surrendered more than 40 points for the third-straight game and the fifth time this season. A pair of bright spots on defense were freshmen Martique Vanderpool and Ryan Christian, each of who tallied a career-high 11 tackles.
Millersville, now 1-7 overall and 1-4 in the PSAC East will look to bounce back next week when it travels to Kutztown for a 1:05 p.m. showdown.
