THE MATCH-UP
• Millersville enters Homecoming Saturday winners of its last two games and facing a Shippensburg team that has lost four in a row after a 2-0 start. Shippensburg has not lost five games in a season since 2010, and has not lost five in a row since the start of the 2007 season. Millersville has won back-to-back games for just the third time since 2006 and has not won three in a row since September 2006.
• Millersville's coaching staff has plenty of familiarity with this Shippensburg team. Saturday marks the first time that first-year Millersville head coach
J.C. Morgan faces off against his former team. Morgan coach at Shippensburg for 13 seasons prior to his arrival at Millersville. Additionally, Millersville offensive coordinator
Jeff Tomasetti is a 2013 graduate of Ship and coached five seasons there. Millersville special teams coordinator
Dan Beard coached two seasons as a graduate assistant at Shippensburg, and tight ends coach
Ron Kerr spent six season as an assistant at Shippensburg.
• Over the last two games, Millersville's defense has allowed just 16 total points (10 vs. East Stroudsburg, 6 vs. Lock Haven), and went a stretch of 77:42 (more than five quarters) without allowing a point. The 16 points allowed were the fewest in a two-game stretch since September of 2007.
• Millersville and Shippensburg sport identical 2-4 records and have common opponents in Slippery Rock and West Chester. Shippensburg beat Slippery Rock 25-21 on a fumble recovery in the end zone with 56 seconds left in the game. Ship is accustomed to close games. Four of the last five games have been decided by seven points or fewer.
• Millersville has won its last two games with different starting quarterbacks.
Tony Staffieri started in the East Stroudsburg win but exited late with an injury.
Collin Shank, who started the first four games of the season, returned to the lineup against Lock Haven. Shank has completed 62.5 percent of his passes, a mark that ranks third in the PSAC. In the three games in which Shank played every snap, he has completed at least 21 passes, thrown a touchdown and averaged 274 yards passing.
• Shippensburg's first-year starting quarterback Brycen Mussina leads the PSAC and ranks third in Division II in passing yards with 1,906 (317.7). He has thrown for over 300 yards in three-straight games and four times total. He has also thrown a TD pass in every game with four touchdowns on three occasions. While he leads the PSAC and ranks seventh nationally in touchdowns, he also leads the league in interceptions with 13. He has thrown at least one INT in each of the last five games and threw four against West Chester and California (Pa.).
• Mussina's recent track record makes for an intriguing match-up against a Millersville pass defense that leads the PSAC and ranks 24th nationally. Millersville is coming off a four-interception game against Lock Haven and has eight interceptions in the last three games.
• Shippensburg's top receiving threat is Josh Gontarek, who ranks 14th in Division II in receiving yards. Charles Headen leads the team in touchdowns with five, and Winston Eubanks is coming off a two-touchdown, 115-yard day vs. LIU Post. Eubanks was All-PSAC East First Team last season.
• Millersville's defense has been outstanding at getting off the field on third down. The Marauders have limited opponents to a 30.7 percent conversion rate (23 for 75)--a number that ranks second in the PSAC, trailing only West Chester's 22.9 percent. By comparison, Shippensburg's defense has faced the most third down conversions (101) and is allowing opponents to convert on 45.5 percent of opportunities. Millersville has also held on seven of 12 fourth down conversion chances.
LAST WEEK
•
Shippensburg (at LIU Post (L, 39-41)): LIU Post kicked the go-ahead field goal with 1.4 seconds remaining. The lead changed hands five times in the fourth quarter alone. The teams combined for 18 plays of 15-yards or longer. Shippensburg scored three of six touchdowns on the first play of the drive. Brycen Mussina threw for 393 yards and four touchdowns.
•
Millersville (at Lock Haven (W, 24-6)): Millersville intercepted four passes and forced five turnovers in its PSAC East road win. Including a turnover on downs, Millersville took the ball from Lock Haven five times in Millersville territory. After throwing interceptions on the first two series, Shank threw for 241 yards.
SERIES HISTORY
Series: 23-45-2
Series Streak: Ship, 14
First Meeting: L, 0-16 (1916)
Last Meeting: L, 14-51 (2017)
Largest Margin of Victory: 29 (1973)
Largest Margin of Defeat: 71 (1924)
Record at home (since 1968): 7-11-1
Most Millersville Points: 56 (1973)
Most points allowed: 71 (1924)
• Since 2001, no team in the PSAC has given Millersville more problems. Shippensburg has won each of the last 14 meetings, holding Millersville to no more than 27 points in all of them while scoring more than 40 points 10 times. Shippensburg has scored 40 or more in seven consecutive match-ups and in eight of the last nine.
• In its current winning streak, Ship has outscored Millersville by an average of 42.5-12.8 per game. Millersville has not scored more than 16 points against Ship since 2009. The
• Millersville's last win over Ship came by a 27-19 score in 2000. Ship has won seven in a row at Biemesderfer Stadium.
THE LAST MEETING (Millersville 34, Lock Haven 21, Oct. 14, 2017)
• Ryan Zapoticky completed 15 of 21 passes with five touchdowns, hitting Winston Eubanks twice, while Collin McDermott and Cole Chiappialle combined for 173 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Raiders out-gained Millersville 495-213 and totaled 258 on the ground. The onslaught was overwhelming in the first half as the Raiders built a 41-0 lead by the break, piling up 292 yards of offense while limiting Millersville to 71.
NO FLY ZONE
• Millersville's PSAC-best pass defense is holding teams to just 168.7 yards per game and is one of only two teams (West Chester) holding opponents to under 200 yards passing per game. The Marauders' 49.4 completion percentage allowed also ranks first in the league. Millersville is one of only five teams in the PSAC to have equal or more interceptions than touchdown passes allowed.
RAY MAKING PLAYS
•
Ray Lopez was a Division I outfielder for the VMI baseball team before returning to Lancaster County and walking on to the football team in 2017. Lopez is putting his ball-tracking skills into effect this season, intercepting four passes in the last three games.
• Lopez picked off two passes against Lock Haven and was named the PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.
• Lopez' four picks have come in just four games played as he missed the first two games with an injury. He is one INT away from tying for the most by a Marauder since 2007. No Marauder has had more than six picks since Dale Reed's eight in 1995.
TURNOVER-VILLE
• Millersville forced a season-high five turnovers against Lock Haven, and it has generated 11 turnovers in the last three games after totaling just two in the first three. Millersville has picked off eight passes and forced three fumbles in that span.
• Five different Marauders have at least one interception and three others have fumble recoveries.
GETTING IT GOING
• Millersville's running game has totaled 354 yards (177 per game) in the last two games after totaling just 11 yards and rushing for positive numbers twice in the first four games. Millersville rushed for 218 against East Stroudsburg and 136 against Lock Haven.
Tyrone Gibson rushed for a season-high 73 yards last week.
FLAGS NOT FLYING
• Millersville has been flagged for penalties just 36 times for 304 yards (50.7 per game). That is the fewest penalties and fewest penalty yards per game in the PSAC. IUP ranks second with 38 penalties for 403 yards. Only two teams have committed fewer than 40 penalties. Millersville has committed 30 fewer than 16th-ranked Clarion.
HEAR COMES HALLOWAY
• Millersville did not record a sack in the first three games but but the pass rush has been ramped up in the last three weeks as Millersville has recorded eight sacks in that span. Three of those have come from
Tommy Halloway, who has a sack in each of the last three games.
ZAC ATTACK
•
Zac Button played in 21 games at Lock Haven before transferring to Millersville, and in his six games as a Marauder, he has recorded his first career interception (at IUP) and his first career sack (at West Chester).
• Button has since totaled two interceptions, two sacks and forced a fumble. He has a tackle for loss in five of six games and in four in a row. He has matched a career high of nine tackles twice.
CATCHING ON
• Redshirt freshman
Chris Dolan is making an impact early in his Millersville career. He ranks fourth in the PSAC in catches with 33 for 422 yards.
• In weeks two and three, he totaled 19 receptions against top PSAC West competition (Slippery Rock and IUP). At IUP, Dolan made 10 catches for 137, becoming the first Millersville freshman since 2014 with 100 yards receiving. Both marks were career highs, and his yardage total was the most by a Marauder since
Kevin Wiggins totaled 144 yards on Oct. 8, 2016. Dolan also made his first career touchdown catch. Against The Rock, Dolan totaled nine catches for 97 yards, giving him the highest back-to-back reception total by a Marauder since Andy Neupauer's 21 catches against Bloomsburg (9) and Slippery Rock (12) in weeks six and seven of 2003.
• Dolan is trending toward becoming just the second Millersville freshman (
Kevin Wiggins (2014)) to lead the team in receptions and the first to ever lead the team in receptions and yards.
SAFETY STOPPER
•
Trejon Dinkins has made double-digit tackles in four of the team's six games, ranking him second in the PSAC and tied for 47th nationally in tackles per game. His 12 in week one against Pace were the most by any player in the PSAC that week, and he matched that total in week two. He added 10 tackles in week three and week five.
TWO SPORTS, NO PROBLEM
•
Evan Morrill continues to make an impact on the football field, starting every game at wide receiver and serving as the team's long snapper. Morrill has caught a pass in 13 consecutive games dating back to last season, and his four against IUP and West Chester were the second-most of his career.
• Morrill is also the starting 184-pounder for the Millersville wrestling team. Morrill went 13-13 with an 8-5 dual meet record in 2017-18. He won two matches at the NCAA Super Region 1 Championships as well.
CAPTAINS
• Millersville's players voted seniors
Brett Harris and
Trejon Dinkins and junior
Tommy Halloway as the team's captains for 2018. Dinkins in his second season with the Marauders. Harris is the team's second-most experienced offensive player with 25 starts. Halloway is just the 11th junior since 1956 to earn a captaincy.
GOING FOR 44
•
Morgan Faughnan has been the model of consistency for the Marauders. He has started 39 consecutive games--every game the Marauders have played over the last three-plus years. Faughnan entered the season No. 2 in the PSAC in consecutive starts, trailing only Alec Petrillo of Shippensburg, who started the season with 34. Only three players in the entire league had consecutive start streaks of 30 games or more. In 2017, he set career highs with 48 tackles, 3 1/2 sacks and 4 1/2 tackles for loss. He has made 11 tackles through three games in 2018.
TWO-WAY PLAYER
•
Joey Farley's PSAC-best streak of six consecutive field goals made came to an end when his attempt at IUP was blocked, but he has bounced back by making 5 of 7 this season with his only two misses being blocked. He has connected on 10 of his last 12 tries dating back to last season. He is also a perfect 41 for 41 in PAT attempts in his career.
• Farley, however, is not just a kicker. Farley led the team with six catches and 62 yards receiving in week one. In week three against Slippery Rock, he made the longest catch of his career (43 yards) and scored his first career touchdown.
• Farley was named PSAC East Special Teams Athlete of the Week once in 2017.
NEW LEADERSHIP
• Millersville's staff is almost entirely brand new.
J.C. Morgan was named Millersville's head coach on April 30. Morgan hired eight new assistant coaches, with only Millersville alum and defensive coordinator
Matt Sutjak returning from last year's staff. Morgan is the 22nd head coach in the 123-year history of Millersville football. Of that long list, only John Pucillo (1925-29, 33-36), George Katchmer (1954-69) and Dr. Gene Carpenter (1970-2000) coached for more than five seasons. The last time a Millersville first-year head coach posted a winning record in his first season was John Pucillo in 1933, going 4-2.
• Unlike Millersville's previous three head coaches, Morgan is coming to Millersville from another Division II program, and a PSAC program at that. Morgan started at Shippensburg in 2005 and spent the last three as offensive coordinator. Morgan's staff is loaded with PSAC experience. Both coordinators--Sutjak and
Jeff Tomasetti--played and coached in the league. Special teams coordinator
Dan Beard and tight ends coach
Ron Kerr also coached at Shippensburg.
Tim Tobin was the defensive line coach for a PSAC Championship at Kutztown. Running backs coach
Chris Palubinsky was the starting quarterback at Bloomsburg just last season.
Be the first to know what's going on with the Marauders -- Follow @VilleMarauders on Twitter and Instagram, become a fan of Millersville Athletics on Facebook, visit our Social Media page and download our mobile app from the Apple Store and Google Play! To support the Marauders, join the Black & Gold Club.
