INSTITUTE, W.Va. —The Yellow Jackets opened their season once again against the Shippensburg Red Raiders, this time at Dickerson Stadium for a noon clash. The first half ended just like it had last year, with the Jackets holding a slim 10-6 lead. This year, the story proved to be much different as the Yellow Jacket defense turned up the pressure in the final 15 minutes forcing two turnovers and sacking Red Raider quarterbacks five times to come away with a 29-6 opening game victory.
The Yellow Jackets improve to 1-0 while the Red Raiders fall to 0-1 on the short season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
WVSU went three-and-out on their opening two drives. Shippensburg was forced to punt on their first drive of the game after picking up one first down. Shippensburg's second drive was stalled at the 40-yard line when Henry Houchins picked off Sam Johnson's pass. The Jackets were able to get down to the Shippensburg 8-yardline but the Red Raider defense tackled Joe Jones for a two-yard loss on third and short. WVSU settled for a Brennen Schmitt field goal from 27-yards out to take the early 3-0 lead.
It didn't take long for the Red Raiders to respond to the Yellow Jackets spot kick as Shippensburg's Redd Douglas returned the following kick-off 89 yards, practically untouched, into the end zone for the Red Raider's only score of the game. The point after attempt was muffed by the holder, freezing the Red Raiders at six.
Donovan Riddick found Javion Monroe for a 14-yard pass-and-catch on the following series, but couldn't get another first down, leading to another punt.
Shippensburg marched down the field on their next series, only for the Yellow Jackets to force another sudden change, thanks to Leyd Bayard's fumble recovery at the WVSU 16-yard line. After 15 minutes, Shippensburg held a slim 6-3 lead.
WVSU went three and-out for the third time to open the second period. The Yellow Jacket defense took down Johnson behind the line for the second time in the game to force another Red Raider punt with just under nine minutes to play in the half. The Jackets got the ball on their own 43 yard line. After four straight Joel Felder rushes the Jackets were forced into a fourth and two at the Shippensburg 39. Donovan Riddick went with the hard count and drew the Red Raiders offside. Two plays later, Riddick found Barry Hill for a 44 yard touchdown pass. Schmitt's point after was good, giving the Jackets the 10-6 lead, which stood at the gun.
Shippensburg received the second half kickoff, but the Jacket defense forced a three-and-out. WVSU put a sustained 10 play, 52 yard drive together, that stalled on downs when Riddick's pass to Quientin Williams in the end zone was broken up on fourth-and-ten from the Shippensburg 33.
The Red Raiders got close enough to the goal line on their next drive to be able to smell the hot turf. Jaxson Montross lined up for a 37-yard field goal that was blocked by Ibrahim Sesay who recovered the loose ball and scrambled the other way, but in the confusion fired a forward pass to Jy Martin who scampered into the end zone, sending the Yellow Jacket faithful into a frenzy before anyone realized what happened. The illegal forward pass penalty meant that WVSU kept the ball, but started at the Jacket 33 yard line. More importantly, it kept the score at 10-6 WVSU going into the final frame.
The fourth quarter started with a 7 play, 50 yard drive capped off by Riddick finding Keedrick Cunningham for the score from seven yards away. The extra point was muffed freezing the score at 16-6 WVSU.
On the first play for the Red Raiders, Paul Sanchez picked off Johnson at the WVSU 45 yard line. Sanchez dove for the end zone but came up two yards shy of the goal line. Three plays later, Riddick took care of business himself, giving the Jackets the 23-6 lead with just under 10 minutes to go.
Johnson was replaced at quarterback by Joey MacCracken for Shippensburg, but to no avail. 39 seconds later, Jalen Jones picked off a third Shippensburg pass. Five plays later, Joe Jones scampered into the end zone for WVSU's final touchdown of the game. Schmitt pulled the extra point attempt wide right.
Shippensburg's first play of their final drive set the tone with a 6 yard sack of MacCracken. Three plays later, with a first and 10 on the WVSU 15, the Jacket defense sacked MacCracken for a six-yard loss, then sacked Johnson for a six-yard loss, and finally sacked MacCracken again for a seven-yard loss. Facing a fourth and 34 yards to go from their own 39, the Red Raiders waved the white flag and punted with three minutes to go.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
State didn't turn the ball over once in the game, while the Red Raiders turned the ball over four times, amounting to 16 points off of turnovers. WVSU also sacked Shippensburg's quarterback eight times, while the Red Raiders got to Riddick twice. Shippensburg's offense was also held to zero points.
Riddick was 19-28 with 244 yards and two touchdowns. Monroe caught six passes for 74 yards, Cunningham caught five for 32 yards with a touchdown. Barry Hill caught four passes for 109 yards, including 70 yards after catch and a touchdown. Tavis McAdoo had four rushes for 29 yards, while Joe Jones had 11 carries for 27 yards and one score.
Sesay, Corlyn Witcher, and Jalen Jones all ended with seven tackles. AJ Joyce had six tackles, four tackles for loss and three sacks.
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets travel to Frostburg, Md. for a 1:00 pm clash against the Bobcats in the Mountain East opener for both teams. The Bobcats won their season opener against American International College. Live stats and video will be available.
