2022 Football Seniors
Bryce Dolak
35
Winner Shippensburg SHIP 5-6
28
Gannon GAN 8-3
Winner
Shippensburg SHIP
5-6
35
Final
28
Gannon GAN
8-3
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT F
SHIP Shippensburg 7 7 7 7 7 35
GAN Gannon 0 14 7 7 0 28

Game Recap: Football | | Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Gannon's Playoff Hopes Dealt a Blow with 35-28 Loss to Shippensburg in Overtime on Senior Day

THE GAME FACTS
Score: Shippensburg 35, Gannon 28 ot
Records: Gannon (8-3, 6-1 PSAC West), Shippensburg (5-6, 3-4 PSAC East)
Date: Saturday, November 12, 2022
Location: Erie, Pa. – McConnell Family Stadium
 
ERIE, Pa. – What began as a memorable day with Gannon looking to clinch its first-ever NCAA Playoff berth took an ugly turn as the Golden Knights may well have seen their playoff hopes dashed with a 35-28 overtime loss to Shippensburg. A dark and cold day began with Senior Day ceremonies, and Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast) took center stage as the GU quarterback proposed to his girlfriend, Andrea Watson, with his cheering teammates looking on. Curtis would go on to throw for 387 yards and 4 TDs, but the Golden Knights were done in by a long touchdown pass with one second remaining in the half and a short punt that bounced into a Gannon blocker in the fourth quarter, leading to a short Shippensburg scoring drive.  The Raiders scored on a 22-yard run on their first overtime possession, then stopped Gannon at the three-yard line as the game ended. The Golden Knights are 8-3, just the fourth time a Gannon team has won eight-or-more games.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
 
Box Score:  Click Here
 
THE PLAYOFF PICTURE

Gannon entered Saturday's games ranked seventh in the NCAA's latest Super Region One rankings. The NCAA will announce the field for the Division II Playoffs on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. A win would have likely a assured the Golden Knights of a first-ever playoff berth. Saturday's loss likely leaves Gannon in a precarious spot, with Concord, New Haven and Kutztown looking to pass the Golden Knights.

SENIOR DAY WITH A PROPOSING TWIST

Gannon recognized 11 players on Senior Day in pregame ceremonies. They included Melvin Blanks (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills), MaLik Bridgeman (Washington, D.C./Gonzaga College HS), Ga'Von Burks (St. Louis, Mo./Christian Brothers College), Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast), Moses Juah (Los Angeles, Calif./Elwa Academy (West Africa)), Montana Nietert (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora), Keith Thompson (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge), Alex Whittaker (Medina, Ohio/Medina), Matt Wiitanen (Renton, Wash./Pioneer), Malachi Woody (Lynchburg, Va./Liberty Christian Academy), and Jacob Yost (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield). Curtis would steal the show, however, as the native of Florida was escorted by his girlfriend Andrea Watson. After joining the rest of the seniors on the field, Curtis turned to Watson, got down on one knee, and proposed. She of course said yes!

Kory Curtis Proposal

HOW IT HAPPENED

Gannon had scored first in nine of ten games. The only game the Golden Knights did not score first they lost. In what might have been an ominous omen, Shippensburg put the first points on the scoreboard on their first possession after a Gannon punt. The Raiders drove 87 yards on 11 plays while eating up 5 minutes, 40 seconds. Evan Falco completed a 15-yard scoring pass to Ian Sheehan for a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

After failing to move the ball in its first three possessions, the Gannon offense finally got going early in the second quarter. The Golden Knights would march 73 yards on seven plays buoyed by a 16-yard sliding catch by Jonathan Bowden (Palm Bay, Fla./Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy) from Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast) on a 3rd-and-9 play, followed by a 29-yard hookup between the pair two plays later. Melvin Blanks (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) followed with a 26-yard run before the senior was knocked out of bounds at the Ship 6. Two plays later Damerisse Freeman Jr. (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Edward) hauled in an eight-yard TD pass from Curtis in traffic in the left corner for a 7-7 tie with 8:46 left in the half.

Two possessions later Gannon put together another long drive, this one covering 80 yards in 13 players and lasting 4 minutes, 19 seconds. Curtis completed seven passes on the drive for 70 yards, the last a 16-yard pass to Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington) in the back of the end zone that somehow got over a Shippensburg defenders' outstretched hands. With just 50 second remaining in the half Gannon had come back and appeared set to take a 14-7 lead into halftime.

Shippensburg, however, used a 55-yard kickoff return by Redd Douglas to get into Gannon territory at the 45. With a 3rd-and-7 at the GU 42 and just 12 seconds remaining, Falco scrambled to his left and found Douglas behind the Gannon secondary. Douglas dragged a Gannon defender into the end zone with one second remaining and the Raiders had knotted the score at 14-14.

The Raiders regained the lead at 21-14 midway through the third period on a 10-play, 50-yard drive in which every play was a run. They twice converted on 3rd-and-1, with the drive ending with a six-yard TD run by Khalid Dorsey.

The Gannon offense had a three-and-out on its next series, but the defense came alive after that. The unit forced back-to-back three-and-outs, with three of the plays resulting in losses.

In between, Gannon struck in lightning fashion to forge a 21-21 tie. After a five-yard run to start the 78-yard drive, Bowden was wide open down the sideline and caught a 73-yard touchdown pass from Curtis. Eric Scarpino's (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) extra point tied the game with 2:56 left in the third quarter.

The game turned on an unfortunate bounce for Gannon early in the fourth quarter. The GU defense allowed one first down but then forced a punt. The short punt hit a Gannon blocker and the Raiders recovered at the Gannon 36. The defense was almost up to the task, but on 4th-and-9 from the 35, Falco hit Douglas for 27 yards on a deep slant for a first down at the GU 8. On 3rd-and-goal from the one Dorsey scored to give Shippensburg a 28-21 lead with 8:22 remaining.

Two big third-down completions later and Gannon had tied the game at 28-28. A 29-yard Bransen Stanley (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) kickoff return with a 15-yard penalty added at the end gave Gannon the ball at the Ship 43. The first third-down conversion was an 11-yard catch by Batiste as he tip-toed the sideline at the SU 15. Three plays later and facing a 3rd-and-15, the Curtis-Batiste combination struck again. This time the redshirt junior was well-defended but was able to snag a 20-yard TD pass from Curtis. It was Curtis' fourth of the day and tied the game with 5:52 remaining.

The Gannon defense forced a pair of three-and-outs on Shippensburg's next two possessions. The offense had its own three-and-out before taking over again with just over two minutes remaining. The Golden Knights reached the SU 31 but ultimately had to punt with just over 20 seconds left.

Shippensburg had the first possession in overtime and used a Gannon pass interference penalty to keep the drive alive. With a 4th-and-2 at the 17, Falco's pass fell incomplete but the pass interference gave the Raiders new life at the 12. They appeared to score on the next play but a holding penalty negated that score and moved the ball back to the 22. It didn't matter. On the next play Bill Williams scooted 22 yards for what would be the winning score.

Gannon took over at the 25 and three incompletions left the Golden Knights with a 4th-and-10. Curtis and Batiste hooked up for the ninth time on the afternoon, with the 15-yard reception giving Gannon a 1st-and-goal at the 10. Curtis was thrown a three-yard loss, and a pair of completions for a total of 10 yards left Gannon needing to score from the three on fourth down. Curtis' pass for Stanley fell incomplete to end the game.  
 
BY THE NUMBERS
 
Gannon's 8-3 record leaves the Golden Knights one win shy of the school record of nine wins set in 2003 (9-1) and 2014 (9-2). The 1949 Gannon edition finished at 8-0.

The overtime game was the first for Gannon since a 28-21 win over Mercyhurst in the 2020 season, a game that was actually played on April 24, 2021.
Shippensburg took a 3-2 lead in the series which bears an odd twist. After the Raiders won 35-28 in overtime at McConnell Family Stadium, the visiting team has now won all five games.

After a sluggish start Gannon ended the day with 473 yards in total offense, the second-highest total this season. Most of that came through the air as the Golden Knights threw for 387 yards while being held to 86 yards on the ground. Shippensburg, meanwhile, ended the day with 355 total yards. The Raiders totaled 221 yards through the air and 134 on the ground. What Shippensburg id do very effectively was control the ball, showing a time of possession advantage of 34:48 to 25:12.

Gannon had not turned the ball over in three straight games but had the lost fumble on the punt and Curtis threw just his fourth interception of the season. That snapped a string of 100 passes without an interception. The redshirt junior earlier this season had a string of 139 passes without an interception.   

Curtis capped a brilliant season with his fifth game of 300-or-more yards passing. He completed 30-of-51 passes, both career highs, for 387 yards with 4 TDs and an interception. He has now thrown at least one touchdown pass in 16 straight games. His best completion, however, came before the game as he proposed to his girlfriend Andrea Watson during the senior day festivities.

For the fourth time this year Gannon had a pair of receivers go over 100 yards. Jonathan Bowden (Palm Bay, Fla./Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy), a redshirt freshman, had a monster game with seven receptions for 158 yards, both career highs and a yardage record for Gannon tight ends. He caught one touchdown pass. Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington) led Gannon with nine receptions, a career-best, good for 112 yards with 2 TDs. It was Batiste's five 100-yard game of the season.

With injuries greatly depleting the receiving corps, Damerisse Freeman Jr. (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Edward) stepped up and caught six passes for 58 yards with a touchdown. The junior had caught just eight passes coming into the game. Bransen Stanley (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) added five receptions for 41 yards.

Melvin Blanks (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) led the ground game with 56 yards on 16 carries. Antonio Wright (Palm Bay, Fla./Melbourne) added 27 yards on five totes but missed the second half and overtime with an injury.

Senior linebacker Keith Thompson (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge) paced the defense with nine tackles, including three of Gannon's five sacks. Nick White (Randallstown, Md./Milford Mill Academy) had a sack and MaLik Bridgeman (Washington, D.C./Gonzaga College HS) and Malachi Woody (Lynchburg, Va./Liberty Christian Academy) combined on a sack.

Shippensburg's Evan Falco gave the Gannon defense fits all afternoon long with his arm and his feet. He completed 16-of-32 passes for 221 yards with 2 TDs and had 26 yards rushing despite being sacked five times. Redd Douglas caught seven passes for 109 yards and a score, and also had 74 yards on two kickoff returns. Khalid Dorsey finished with 54 yards rushing and 2 TDs on 16 carries.
 
THE RECORD BOOK
Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast) set the school record for touchdown passes on Saturday as the redshirt junior threw four to give him 27 on the season. That breaks Liam Nadler's record of 24 set in 2015. He set career-highs with 30 completions in 51 attempts and had his fifth game with 300-or-more yards as he threw for 387 yards. Curtis threw four TD passes, the third time in the last four games he has done that. He has now thrown a touchdown pass in 16 straight games. On the season Curtis has completed 213-of-340 passes fore 2,879 yards with 27 TDs and 4 INTs. He also ran for four scores to account for 31 touchdowns, along with kicking six extra points. His 2,879 yards passing is the second-highest total at Gannon, bettered by Liam Nadler's 2,910 yards in 2012.

Melvin Blanks (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) was looking to become the fourth Gannon ballcarrier with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons after rushing for 1,187 yards a year ago. The senior is currently at 886 yards after carrying 16 times for 56 yards against Shippensburg. Blanks is in fourth place in career rushing with 2,923 yards. He also ranks eighth in career rushing TDs with 24 with 11 this season.

Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington) emerged as Gannon's top receiver in 2022. After catching four passes for 72 yards a year ago, he finished with 64 receptions for 957 yards with 8 TDs. He is tied for second in receptions and set the school record for receiving yards with 957. Batiste had five games with 100-or-more yards.

UP NEXT
Gannon will have to wait until early Sunday evening to see if Saturday's loss knocks the golden Knights out of the NCAA Tournament. If not, they will be playing next Saturday, November 19. If so, they will return to the field the next time to kick off the 2023 campaign.
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