Eric Scarpino vs. Charleston
Mike Gallagher
10
Gannon GAN 5-5
17
Winner Shippensburg SHIP 2-8
Gannon GAN
5-5
10
Final
17
Shippensburg SHIP
2-8
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
GAN Gannon 0 10 0 0 10
SHIP Shippensburg 3 7 7 0 17

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

Scarpino Sets Season Field Goals Record as Golden Knights Drop Season Finale at Shippensburg

THE GAME FACTS
Score:  Shippensburg 17, Gannon 10
Records: Gannon (5-6, 5-2 PSAC West), Shippensburg (3-8, 2-5 PSAC East)
Date: Saturday, November 11, 2023
Location: Shippensburg, Pa. – Seth Grove Stadium
 
ERIE, Pa. – The home team finally won a game in the Gannon-Shippensburg series. The visiting team had won the first five meetings in the series, including a year ago when the Raiders handed Gannon a 35-28 defeat in overtime at McConnell Family Stadium. In a game that saw the defenses virtually account for all the points Shippensburg scored the winning touchdown on a three-yard drive in the final seconds of the third quarter. The defenses accounted for the other two touchdowns, with Cooper Mullins (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade Julienne) recovering a fumble and returning it 33 yards for the Gannon score. Eric Scarpino (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) accounted for the first three points with a 43-yard field goal, his 16th of the season. That set a new school record. The Gannon defense was magnificent in defeat, holding Shippensburg to 164 yards, forcing three turnovers and recording seven sacks. Gannon came up just short of tying scores in the final five minutes.
 
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Box Score:  Click Here
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Shippensburg opened the game with outstanding field position and took advantage after a punt left the Raiders with the ball at the Gannon 44. They ate up almost six minutes while driving just 30 yards. Jaxson Montross came in and made good on a 31-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 8:33 remaining in the first quarter.

Gannon's defense stopped a Shippensburg drive on downs at the GU 43 early in the second quarter and the Golden Knight offense came alive. Donny Marcus (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) started the march with a 10-yard run. Nate Mikell (Summerfield, Fla./Wildwood), who had completed just one pass for a yard up until that point, then completed passes of 24 yards to Donell "Tank" Mason and 14 yards to Marcus to reach the Ship nine yard-line. The drive stalled at that point and Eric Scarpino (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) stepped in to attempt a 29-yard field goal. The left-footer's kick was wide left, his first miss of the season after 15 successful field goals and 25 PATs. It would have been his 16th field goal, a new school record.

Six minutes later Scarpino had the record of 16 field goals in a season. The redshirt senior tied the game at 3-3 with 2:36 remaining on a 43-yard field goal. The defense set up the offense as Obi Ezeigbo (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) recorded back-to-back sacks forcing a punt. The Golden Knights took over at their own 49. Mikell scrambled twice for 15 yards and on 3rd-and-10 completed a 15-yard pass to Joshawn Lewis (Lorton, Va./South County) to set up Scarpino's record field goal.

On the very next play following the kickoff the Gannon defense gave the Golden Knights the lead. Joseph "Joe" Loiseau hit Tanner Hess and forced a fumble, with Cooper Mullins (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade Julienne) scooping up the bobble and returning it 33 yards for a touchdown. The Golden Knights scored 10 points in 17 seconds to take a 10-3 lead with 2:19 remaining.

The Shippensburg defense wasn't to be outdone. With Gannon looking to get in position for a late score, Mike Brewer intercepted a Mikell pass an returned it 59 yards for the tying touchdown with 42 seconds left on the clock. The teams went to halftime tied at 10-10.

The third quarter turned into 15 minutes that Gannon would like to have back. The Golden Knights looked poised to take the lead. On the third play of the period Sir Giles (St. Cloud, Fla./Tohopekaliga) recorded his first interception of the season giving Gannon the ball at the Ship 24. After a tough first half Mikell threaded a beautiful pass to Marcus to the one. The Raiders defense, the best in the PSAC in red zone defense, held the Gannon offense, which is third in red zone offense, out of the end on four straight plays and the score remained 10-10. 

The Gannon stopped the Raiders on downs to force a punt, but the Golden Knights were called for a personal foul to keep the drive alive. Three plays later the Raiders were punting once again. Gannon took over at the Ship 48. Three plays into the drive Mikell threw his second interception of the game. The Gannon defense held once again, but the change in field position ultimately cost Gannon. Tanner Luther's 49-yard punt was downed at the two.
In came third-string quarterback Jonathan Quinque (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan). The redshirt junior was sacked on third down and fumbled with Shippensburg recovering at the three. Three Josiah Leonard runs resulted in a one-yard touchdown run with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.  

Mikell would return at quarterback early in the fourth quarter and directed a drive later in the quarter. After a penalty to start the drive, Mikell found Braeden Soboleski (Erie, Pa./McDowell) for a 27-yard gain to the GU 46. On the next down his shovel pass to Marcus went for 23 yards and a first down at the SU 31. Two plays later Mikell and Marcus combined for a 10-yard gain to the 19. Marcus was thrown for a loss of two and on the next play Mikell was intercepted in the end zone.

Gannon would have one last gasp. The defense forced a punt and with 12 seconds remaining Gannon took over at its own 40. Mikell scrambled to his right and threw a Hail Mary to Lewis, who hauled it in at the SU 11. There were two seconds left on the clock. After Mikell clocked the ball, he looked for Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington) in the right corner of the end zone. The pass sailed over Batiste's head as the game ended. 

BY THE NUMBERS
Gannon ended up with 262 yards in offense compared to 164 for Shippensburg. The Raiders defense came in as one of the top three in the PSAC but Gannon's was every bit as good. The Golden Knights finished with 59 yards rushing and 203 through the air, while Shippensburg had 86 rushing and 78 passing. Turnovers and penalties were Gannon's undoing. The Golden Knights turned the ball over four times and had 10 penalties for 90 yards.

The longest scoring drive of the day covered 29 yards. That was a 10-play drive by Shippensburg that resulted in a 31-yard field goal for the first points of the day. Eric Scarpino's (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) 43-yard field goal was the result of a nine-play, 26-yard march. Shippensburg's winning touchdown came on a three-play, three-yard drive following a fumble recovery. The other to scores were by the defenses.

Gannon's defense recorded seven sacks, with Obi Ezeigbo (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) and Charles Calhoun (Euclid, Ohio/St. Edward) registering two apiece. Cooper Mullins (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade Julienne) returned a fumble 33 yards for Gannon's lone touchdown and Sir Giles (St. Cloud, Fla./Tohopekaliga) intercepted a pass. Hayden McDonald (Tigard, Ore./Tigard) also recovered a fumble.

Donny Marcus (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) came into the game needing 133 yards to reach 1,000 yards for the season. The redshirt sophomore was held to 65 yards on 17 carries by a stingy Shippensburg defense but caught seven passes for 83 yards to account for 148 all-purpose yards. The transfer from Ball State finishes his first season as a Golden Knight with 932 yards on 182 carries.

Mikell completed 12-of-28 passes for 196 yards.  In addition to Marcus, Donell "Tank" Mason caught three passes for 26 yards while Roshawn Lewis had two catches for 64 yards and Braeden Soboleski (Erie, Pa./McDowell) two for 30.

The defense stood tall all day. Obi Ezeigbo (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) matched his career high with eight tackles, with two sacks. Cooper Mullins (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade Julienne), forced into action when Trey Baker (Kettering, Ohio/Kettering Fairmont) was injured, had a career-high with eights stops and scored his first career touchdown on a 33-yard fumble return. The defensive line also received seven tackles from Joseph "Joe' Loiseau, with 0.5 sacks, and six stops from Charles Calhoun (Euclid, Ohio/St. Edward). That included three TFL and two sacks.
 
THE RECORD BOOK
While Eric Scarpino's (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) perfect season came to an end when he missed a 29-yard field goal in the second quarter, later in the period he made good on a 43-yarder for his 16th field goal of the season. That is a new school record. He also finished a perfect 26-of-26 on extra points while going 16-of-17 on field goals. He finishes his career with 217 points, good for fourth all-time.

Donny Marcus (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) rushed for 65 yards on 17 carries at Shippensburg to give the redshirt sophomore 932 yards rushing. That ranks 13th in a season. He caught seven passes, as well, to finish third on the team in receiving with 27 receptions.

Nate Mikell (Summerfield, Fla./Wildwood) ended the year with 1,743 yards passing after throwing for 196 yards at Shippensburg. That moves the redshirt sophomore into tenth place in passing yards in a season.


 
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