With a fantastic defensive effort that limited the nation’s No. 1 offense to just 10 points, 13th-ranked IUP defeated seventh-ranked Shippensburg 41-10 in the 2012 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Football Championship on Saturday afternoon at George P. Miller Stadium.
For his performance on the defensive side of the ball, linebacker Carl Fleming (Reisterstown, MD/Franklin) was named the PSAC Championship Most Valuable Player. Fleming had a game-high 12 tackles, battled down two passes, and returned a fourth quarter interception 40 yards for a touchdown.
The Crimson Hawks (10-1) held a Shippensburg team that entered the game averaging over 566 yards and 53 points to just 271 yards of total offense. Harlon Hill candidate Zach Zulli, Division II’s leading passer, completed just 17-of-42 for 205 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
Conversely, IUP quarterback Mike Box (Lawrenceville, GA/Collins Hill) completed 11-of-16 passes for 178 and a career-high three touchdowns, all to wide receiver Terrill Barnes (Gettysburg/Gettysburg). Barnes finished with seven catches for 124 yards.
The Crimson Hawks defense, ranked No. 1 in the nation heading into the weekend, was on display early, forcing Shippensburg into a three-and-out on its opening drive. Zulli was sacked once and completed one of his two passes for just one yard.
The IUP offense came right out of the gate with a play action jet sweep, as Box found Anthony Meriwether (Brook Park, OH/Midpark) down the left sideline for 28 yards down to the Shippensburg 25 yard line. Three plays later, Brett Ullman (Baltimore, MD/Perry Hall) stepped up and drilled a 48-yard field goal, his career long, giving IUP a 3-0 lead with 10:28 to go in the first.
Shippensburg started driving on its next possession, as a third-and-six play turned into a 41-yard catch-and-run from Zulli to Trevor Harman down to the IUP 30. A personal foul tacked on another 15 yards as the Red Raiders threatened. Two plays later on third and 14, Zulli looked to the end zone but Alexander Berdahl (Ashburn, VA/Bishop O’Connell) leaped and picked off his attempt at the goal line, ending the drive
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It wouldn’t take long for the Crimson Hawks to gain even more momentum on the ensuing possession, as De’Antwan Williams (Woodbridge, VA/Woodbridge) sprinted 59 yards on the fourth play to help extend the early lead to 10-0. The touchdown run followed runs of six and four yards by Williams and an 11-yard pass from Box to Barnes.
The Red Raiders answered with a long drive, going 48 yards in 14 plays, converting a pair of third downs along the way. They would get as far as the IUP 16-yard line, with Fleming batting down a third-and-nine pass, and settled for a Michael Lloyd 33-yard field goal.
The Crimson Hawks offense did not let up, as Box found Barnes on a post route for 48 yards and another touchdown just six plays into their next drive to head into the second quarter ahead 17-3.
Both offenses would stall in the second quarter, with IUP’s best chance to score ruined on a failed fourth-and-one play. Shippensburg took advantage, and with 4:29 left on the clock in the half drove right down and field as Zulli connected with Harman for a 28-yard touchdown pass to cut its deficit to 17-10.
However the Red Raiders gave IUP too much time, leaving 2:18 on the clock. Box went to work, hitting Barnes for 24 yards on the first play before connecting with Salath Williams (Harrisburg/Bishop McDevitt) for nine. A penatly on Shippensburg put the ball at the Red Raiders 17 and two plays later, with 23 seconds left on the clock, Box found Barnes in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown to give IUP a commanding 27-10 lead.
The third quarter would end scoreless, but on the second play of the fourth Box again found Barnes for the final time as the wide out snagged the pass out of the air for an 11-yard touchdown that put the game out of reach at 34-10.
The next Shippensburg possession ended in another punt and with 5:49 left on the clock, Fleming put the cherry on top as he picked off Zulli in the flat and raced down the right sideline 40 yards for a touchdown.
The loss was the first on the year for the Red Raiders, as they now stand at 10-1 after sweeping through the PSAC East with a 7-0 mark.
The high-paced Shippensburg offense did manage 71 plays, but averaged just 3.8 yards per snap and finished with three turnovers. IUP owned a 36:43-23:17 time of possession and allowed the Red Raiders to convert just 6-of-17 third down and 0-2 fourth down conversions.
IUP finished with 465 yards of total offense, including 287 on the ground. Filling in for an injured Harvie Tuck (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary), Williams ran 30 times for 129 yards and that long score while Montay Green (Pittsburgh/Fox Chapel) ate up some clock in the second half with 13 carries for 89 yards. Barnes added rushing yards on a pair of reverses to total 183 yards on the day.
Berdahl finished with eight tackles while Johnny Franco (Altoona/Tyrone) had six and broke up two passes. Chris Brown (Altoona/Bishop Guilfoyle), Jerrel McFadden, Marvens Toussaint (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Port Charlotte), Terrell Holloway (Penn Hills/Penn Hills) and James Griffin (Wallingford/Strath Haven) also came up with big plays in the defensive secondary with pass breakups.
Prior to the game, IUP’s Anthony DiPasquale (Pittsburgh/Pine-Richland) was named the PSAC’s Champion Scholar-Athlete, an award given to the student-athlete at each of the conference’s 23 championships with the highest grade point average. DiPasquale, a graduate student in business, owns a 3.74 GPA.
This is IUP’s first PSAC title since 1987, beating West Chester 21-9 in that year’s “State Game.”
Both IUP and Shippensburg will now await word from the NCAA on the playoff seedings. The top six teams in each region advance to the postseason, with the top two seeds getting automatic byes and the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds hosting the first round. Heading into this weekend, IUP was ranked fifth in Super Region One while Shippensburg was No. 1. Winston-Salem, New Haven and Bloomsburg, all ahead of IUP in the region, each won on Saturday.
The announcement will come from the NCAA on NCAA.com at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday with the first round of games on Saturday, November 17.
