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Shippensburg has no letdown against James Buchanan


SHIPPENSBURG >> Coming into Friday night's game against James Buchanan, Shippensburg's football team had one big focus: Don't have a letdown game.

"I'd say we talked about that a couple times this week," Ship coach Eric Foust said.

The Greyhounds put that idea to rest quickly.

Ship scored a touchdown on each of its first three drives and went on to hand the Rockets a 49-0 Mid Penn Colonial Division defeat at Veteran's Stadium.

"Anything can happen on any Friday, and that happened last year when we lost 14-0 to (JB)," said Wade Mills, who was named Shippensburg's Offensive Player of the Game with four catches, 68 yards and a touchdown. "We just wanted to come in and take care of business, and we executed all night."

On its opening drive, Shippensburg (6-3, 3-2 MPC) drove right down the field, and Zion Ware capped off the drive with a five-yard touchdown run. After a three-and-out by the Rockets (0-9, 0-6 MPC), Ware capped off another touchdown drive with a three-yard run. Shippensburg then blocked a punt and needed just two plays to go ahead 22-0 after a touchdown run by Cole Friese.

"They have some tough players, and they really packed the box and made things tough at times," Foust said. "We just were able to execute all night and play well."

The Rockets couldn't get anything going on the offensive side. They managed just 48 total yards, 50 by Seth Carbaugh, and drove into Greyhound territory just twice. James Buchanan dressed just 21 players.

JB coach Andy Stoner said, "We have 28 guys, and seven of them were out for various reasons. We just wanted to give our best effort, and we did move the ball at times. We just couldn't execute consistently, and we have to be able to do that to score points."

Shippensburg's defense allowed just 34 yards on the ground and was constantly in the James Buchanan backfield.

Shippensburg Defensive Player of the Game, Cameron Tinner, who had a sack and an interception, said, "Seth (Carbaugh) is one of the toughest runners we've faced all season. Every time he hits a hole, he just lowers his shoulder. But we were able to make enough plays and stop the run."

Ware finished with 73 yards on 10 carries, and Friese added 49 yards on seven carries with two touchdowns, and also had a 51-yard punt return for a touchdown. Quarterback Tyler Gustafson was 11-for-17 for 160 yards and one touchdown, and Cody Gustafson had three catches for 60 yards.

Shippensburg 49

James Buchanan 0

J. Buchanan0000—0Shippensburg221377—49

First Quarter

S — Zion Ware 5 run (Jackson VanHorne kick), 9:23

S — Ware 3 run (Wade Mills pass from Cameron Tinner), 6:06

S — Cole Friese 13 run (VanHorne kick), 2:02

Second Quarter

S — Friese 51 punt return (kick failed), 4:32

S — Mills 6 pass from Tyler Gustafson (VanHorne kick), 0:15

Third Quarter

S — Friese 10 run (VanHorne kick), 6:05

Fourth Quarter

S — Clayton Stine 5 pass from Carter Van Scyoc (VanHorne kick), 5:47

JBShipFirst downs416Rushes-yards20-3430-184Passing4-19-212-19-0Passing yards14165Total yards48349Punts4-28.50-0Fumbles-lost0-00-0Penalties-yards3-253-31
Individual statistics

Rushing — JB, Seth Carbaugh 15-50, Caden Ficks 3-5, Clay Sanders 2-(-21). Ship, Ware 10-73, Friese 7-49, Noah Chavez 5-33, Dylan Jumper 3-15, Adam Houser 3-12, Tyler Gustafson 2-2.

Passing — JB, Sanders 4-17-2-14, Carbaugh 0-2-0-0. Ship, T.Gustafson 11-17-0-160, Van Scyoc 1-2-0-5.

Receiving — JB, Dillon Sanders 1-13, Clay Ziemba 1-3, Carbaugh 1-0, Ficks 1-(-2). Ship, Mills 4-68, Cody Gustafson 3-60, Friese 2-20, Stine 1-5, Houser 1-2.

Interceptions — Ship, Tinner, Cain Fridinger.