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| GAME COVERAGE |
Thursday, Oct. 19, 1 p.m.
Shippensburg, Pa.
Live Stats | Live Video
Twitter | Instagram |
| ABOUT THE SERIES |
Series vs. SU: 23-44-2
Series Streak: SU, 13
First Meeting: 1916 (L, 0-16)
Last Meeting: 2016 (L, 9-43)
Largest Margin of Victory: 29 (1973)
Largest Margin of Defeat: 71 (1924)
Record at Ship: 9-6 (since 1968)
Most Millersville Points: 56 (1973)
Most SU Points: 71 (1924) |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
RUSHING
Tyrone Gibson (VILLE)
61-377, 2 TD, 6.2 YPC
Cole Chiappialle (SU)
80-347, 6 TD, 69.4 YPG
PASSING
Tony Staffieri (VILLE)
44-72, 4 TD, 1 INT, 454 yds
Ryan Zapoticky (SU)
130-222, 13 TD, 2 INT, 1924 yds
RECEIVING
Kevin Wiggins (VILLE)
46-527, 4 TD, 75.3 YPG
Winston Eubanks (SU)
28-773, 6 TD, 110.4 YPG
DEFENSE
Sean Dugan (VILLE)
75 tkls, 5.5 TFL, 3 sacks
Tig Spinelli (SU)
34 tkls, 5 TFL, 1 sack
|
| TEAM COMPARISON |
| VILLE |
STAT |
SU |
| 23.7 |
PPG |
39.0 |
| 125.1 |
Rush/GM |
199.6 |
| 201.1 |
Pass/GM |
278.0 |
| 312.7 |
Total Off |
477.6 |
| 26.4 |
Scoring D |
11.9 |
| 168.4 |
Rush D/GM |
80.6 |
| 326.3 |
Pass D/GM |
185.9 |
| 358.1 |
Total D |
266.4 |
THE MATCH-UP
• Millersville travels to Shippensburg Saturday looking to win three in a row for the first time since 2003. Millersville last won three consecutive PSAC East games in 2000, and the Marauders' 34-21 win over Lock Haven last week marked the first back-to-back PSAC East wins since 2006.
• Last week against Lock Haven, the Marauders put up 408 yards of offense--its second highest total of the season.
Tony Staffieri was back in the saddle at quarterback, making his third start and playing his second full game of the season. In his two full games (vs. Bloomsburg and Lock Haven), Staffieri has completed 60 percent of his passes, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Staffieri is slated to start Saturday against Shippensburg, and it would be only the second time this season that the same Millersville quarterback has started back-to-back games. However, no Millersville quarterback has started AND finished two consecutive games.
•
Kevin Wiggins caught 11 passes for a season-high 133 yards last week against Lock Haven. It was one catch shy of his career high and the second time this season he has recorded double-digit catches.
• On Monday, freshman
Joey Farley became the first Marauder to be named PSAC East Special Teams Athlete of the Week. Farley made all four PAT tries and hit field goals of 26 and 31 yards against Lock Haven. Farley has made three field goals in a row, all coming in Millersville's last two wins.
• Millersville has now produced a PSAC East player of the week on offense (
Collin Shank, week two), defense (
Sean Dugan, week two), and special teams (Farley, week seven).
SCOUTING BY THE NUMBERS
• At 6-1 overall and 3-1 in PSAC East play, Shippensburg is fighting for a spot in the PSAC Championship game and the NCAA playoffs. There is a four-way tie atop the PSAC East standings with Millersville sitting a game back at 2-2. The Raiders suffered a 37-27 loss at to West Chester two weeks ago but bounced back with a 56-0 win over Cheyney in which they rushed for 273 yards and seven touchdowns while allowing one first down and -3 yards of total offense.
• The Raiders are arguably the most balanced team in the PSAC. They rank in the top four in the conference in points scored, total yards, rushing yards and passing yards. Defensively, it ranks first in scoring (10 TD's allowed in seven games), first in total defense, second against the run and second against the pass. Its 23 team sacks also lead the league.
• Quarterback Ryan Zapoticky is making his case for PSAC East Offensive Player of the Year. He is efficient as a passer, hitting 58.6 percent of his throws, totaling 13 touchdowns to two interceptions. And while he ranks third in passing yards, his rushing ability presents a problem as he averages 4.1 yards per carry and has totaled 216 yards. Winston Eubanks is a big-play threat, averaging 27.6 yards per catch on 28 grabs. Millersville knows first-hand the versatility of Cole Chiappialle. Last season, Chiappialle scored touchdowns rushing, receiving and on a punt return.Â
• Millersville has also looked to its quarterback for production in the run game. Millersville's three quarterbacks have combined for six of the team's nine rushing touchdowns.
Stephen Flanagan is likely slated to start his third game of the season. He has rushed 43 times for 102 yards in his three appearances.
• It won't be easy to get the ground game established against this Shippensburg defense, but Millersville has vastly improved its rushing attack in recent weeks.
Tyrone Gibson totaled eight carries for 46 yards in his first three games but in his last three games, Gibson
Tyrone Gibson has provided quite a spark for the Millersville run game. After totaling eight carries for 46 yards in his first three games, Gibson has rushed rushed 53 times for 331 yards and two scores, averaging 6.2 yards per carry. He has a run of at least 34 yards in each of the last two games. His 59-yard run against East Stroudsburg was the longest by a Marauder since 2014. Millersville has averaged 161.7 rushing yards per game over the last three weeks compared to 97.8 in the first four games.
• In the last three games, Millersville has held opponents to 16.3 points per game. Five of Millersville's opponents have failed to reach 400 yards of offense, and Millersville has allowed an average of just 315 total yards in the last two games. Last week, Millersville matched a season-high with seven tackles for loss, giving it 13 in the last two weeks. Millersville is up to sixth in the PSAC in scoring defense and eighth in total defense. The Marauders also rank third against the pass and fifth against the run. Opponents' 18.1 first downs per game are the fourth-fewest allowed in the PSAC.
THE LAST MEETING (SU 43, Millersville 9, 10/22/16)
• Cole Chiappialle scored on a 47-yard touchdown pass just 1:29 into the game and added a 79-yard punt return with 1:46 remaining in the first as the Raiders scored 22 in the period and led 36-9 at the half. Shippensburg defeated Millersville for the 13th consecutive meeting and held its sixth consecutive opponent scoreless in the first half. Shippensburg out-gained Millersville 511-265 and rushed for 341 yards.
J.J. Paige finished 14-for-31 for 190 yards on a windy day. Ship's two quarterbacks combined to go 11-for-20 with 170 yards.
ABOUT THE SERIES
• Shippensburg and Millersville first met in 1916 and the Raiders went 9-1-1 in the first 11 meetings and were 18-3-1 by 1939. Millersville controlled the series from 1969 until 2000, going 16-3-1 in that span. But 2000 marked Millersville's last win in the series. Shippensburg has won 13 in a row, meaning the last Millersville coach other than Gene Carpenter to beat Shippensburg was George Katchmer in his final season of 1969.
• It has been all Shippensburg of late. In the last eight meetings, Shippensburg has scored at least 40 points seven times and has topped the 60-point mark four times. Shippensburg has averaged 50.8 points per game against Millersville since 2009 while Millersville has averaged 10.8 points per game.
• Since home/road records started being kept in 1968, Millersville is 9-6 at Shippensburg. In the last two trips to Seth Grove Stadium, however, the Marauders have been outscored 124-13.
QB PRESSURE
• One game after recording a season-high in sacks against Bloomsburg, the Marauders dialed up the pass rush and totaled a season-high five sacks against East Stroudsburg. Millersville has 16 sacks on the season and 11 in the last three games, which is exactly the same number the Marauders produced in all of 2016. The Marauders have climbed to fifth in the PSAC in sacks, and the 106 lost yards is third-most.Â
•
Tommy Halloway in particular has been a menace of late. The redshirt sophomore has six sacks for a total of 33 lost yards. Halloway was shutout in the first two games but has all six sacks in the last five games and has at least one in four of the last five. He has 1 1/2 sacks in each of his last two outings.
Morgan Faughnan has also had 2 1/2 sacks in the last two games.
TAKE IT AWAY
• After not forcing a turnover at Pace, the Millersville defense has generated 13 takeaways in the last six weeks. Millersville picked off Seton Hill three times in week two, recorded two INTs and two fumbles forced and recovered against California, forced and recovered a fumble against Kutztown, forced and recovered two fumbles against Bloomsburg, intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble against East Stroudsburg and forced two fumbles, recovering one against Lock Haven. Millersville has successfully recovered six of the last seven fumbles it has forced and has seven fumble recoveries in the last five weeks.
•
Brendan Sherman's interception return for touchdown against Seton Hill was his first career INT and first career touchdown. All six of Millersville's interceptions have been made by different players.
MINIMIZE THE MISCUES
• After committing nine turnovers in the first three games, Millersville has gone four games with just four turnovers total and did not commit a turnover against Kutztown. Since 2013, Millersville is 8-11 when not throwing an interception. In that span, Millersville has won only one game in which it did not throw an interception. Millersville is even in turnover margin through seven games but is plus-two over the last four games.
BREAKING IT UP
• Millersville has broken up 29 passes in seven games and has 32 passes defended. The team broke up a season-high nine passes against Lock Haven with
Marcel Mingo totaling a career-high three. The Marauders also broke up seven passes against Kutztown.
Brendan Sherman recorded three of those break ups himself. It has been a full team effort with 13 different players defending a pass.
DUGAN ON DEFENSE
• Dugan opened his 2017 season right where he left off in 2016, totaling 10 tackles against Pace and following that effort with a career-high 21 tackles against Seton Hill. In his last 17 games, Dugan has recorded double-digit tackles 10 times including four times this season. Dugan has also recorded at least one TFL in nine of the last 12 games, and he has 33 TFL in his last 32 games played.
• Dugan now ranks 10th in Division II and first in the PSAC in tackles with 75, and he has at least eight tackles in six of seven games this season.
• With 164 career solo tackles, Dugan ranks seventh in Millersville history.
• Dugan was named PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week following the Seton Hill game. It was the second time in his career he won the award. Both awards came after playing Seton Hill.
• In 2016, Dugan's 19 tackles against Seton Hill were the most tackles by a Marauder in the Statcrew Era dating back to 2002. He topped that mark with 21 in week two of 2017.
• Dugan's 111 tackles were the most by a Marauder since 1999 and his 69 solo tackles were the most since 1996.
WIGGINS WATCH
•
Kevin Wiggins has caught a pass in 39 consecutive games dating back to the start of his freshman season. Now with 179 career grabs in 39 games, Wiggins moved into third place in career receptions, fifth in touchdowns (22) and fourth in career yards (2,210). He is one of just six Marauders to ever eclipse the 2,000-yard mark. He is one touchdown catches shy of Kevin Gannon for fourth and six shy of Sean Scott's school record.
• With 46 catches, Wiggins is third in the PSAC in receptions. If he maintains his current pace of 6.5 catches per game, he will finish the season with 72 catches which would rank fifth all-time in a single season and would put him close to becoming the third Millersville player ever to reach 200 career catches.
• Wiggins was named All-PSAC East Second Team in 2016, becoming Millersville's first all-conference wide receiver since Jamal Smith in 2010.
• Wiggins is the first Marauder since hall of famer Mike McFetridge (1996-98) to lead the team in receiving in three consecutive seasons and one of only two players ever to record 40-plus catches in each of his first three seasons.
• Wiggins has ranked in the top 25 in the PSAC in catches each of his three seasons.
RELIABILITY
• Since making his debut in week one of the 2014 season,
Drew Seaburg has started 40 consecutive games on the defensive line. Only eight players in the PSAC entered 2017 with 30 career starts, and only Slippery Rock's Marcus Martin has more (44) career starts than Seaburg.
Kevin Wiggins, with 39 career starts, is fourth. Wiggins and Seaburg are two of the five PSAC players with 38 or more starts. Wiggins is the only non-lineman in the group.
EXPERIENCE UP FRONT
• There is no shortage of game experience for the Marauders on the defensive line. Among returning players listed on the depth chart,
Logan Kinser (40),
Drew Seaburg (40),
Tanner Dean (39),
Morgan Faughnan (29) and
Tommy Halloway (18) have combined for 166 games played.
