SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – It has been 41 years since Lock Haven football won five games in a single season. That all changed this Saturday with a 21-7 win over the Shippensburg Raiders (2-8). A defensive masterpiece, and an impressive performance by new starting quarterback Kyle Zajack led the Bald Eagles (5-5) to that elusive fifth win.
Going into the game the Bald Eagles made a shocking change, benching starting QB Danny Sanchez in favor of fellow graduate senior Zajack. He finished with two touchdowns and needless to say head coach Dan Mulrooney was happy with his decision.
“Game ball goes to him for sure, I thought we needed a spark offensively and I thought we needed someone who can extend the play a little bit, and Kyle is a really good player.”
The first quarter started out slow for both teams. Punts on back-to-back drives set up Shippensburg with an opportunity to take the lead. Shippensburg was led by first year QB Sam Stoner and, surprisingly, the true freshman looked very poised and comfortable in the pocket. Stoner led the Raiders all the way down to the Lock Haven 34-yard line. However, a botched snap forced a punt, and after kicker Brett Zachman had another field goal blocked, the score would remain 0-0 after one.
Another good drive by Stoner and the Raiders got them down all the way to the Haven 16, but a missed field goal kept the game scoreless. On the next drive, the Bald Eagles attempted to establish Chris Collier and the rushing attack. Collier has been a dominant force all season for the Bald Eagles, but facing the second ranked rushing defense in Shippensburg there were no lanes to run. Facing a third and nine, Zajack threw up a prayer to sophomore receiver T’iar Young who made a spectacular play in double coverage to come back to the football and take it 79-yards for a touchdown.
Young had an impressive performance on the day, catching two crucial passes and finishing with 116 yards receiving.
“T’iar is a stud,” said Mulrooney. “He was a transfer for us, he believes in our process, and he can go up and get the ball. This game was going to come down to big plays and he makes the most of them.”
After a few punts and one interception thrown by Zajack, the Bald Eagles were set up at their 35-yard line and were looking for a spark. On the second-down, Collier finally found the running lane he was looking for and burst free for a 65-yard touchdown run to put his squad up 14-0. That lead would unfortunately be short lived as on the very next play Stoner was able to connect with receiver Redd Douglas for their own 65-yard score. Then a few drives later Zajack once again looked Young’s way, who made an incredible catch on an overthrown pass, setting up Collier for a walk-in touchdown. Lock Haven would enter the half leading 21-7 and just one half away from win number five.
A second quarter of fireworks lead to a third quarter of silence. Interestingly however, midway through the third quarter, Shippensburg head coach Mark Maciejewski pulled Stoner in exchange for sophomore QB Evan Falco. The sudden change seemed unprompted as Stoner had been playing well, in fact some members of the Lock Haven bench were heard questioning the decision. None the less it was Falco’s game now and he would be asked to dig the Raiders of a 14-point hole. The third quarter ended up a snooze fest as neither team was even able to cross midfield.
In the fourth quarter Mulrooney dialed up his defense and sent them all at Falco. The Bald Eagle defense finished with five sacks, all of them coming in the first half. Those first half sacks lead to constant holding from the Shippensburg line and killed numerous drives. Falco did an admirable job in avoiding the rush but no doubt the constant pressure affected his ability to throw. The Haven offense ran the ball heavily and slowly drained the clock, every second that ticked off the clock seemed to dash any hopes of a Raider comeback. And with just 40 seconds to go Falco fumbled a snap and was hounded by a sea of crimson and white, as the Bald Eagles would hold on to win 21-7 and finally get that fifth win.
“It’s unbelievable,” Mulrooney said, emotionally. “Breaking a curse is something people told me we couldn’t do, it’s impossible, my mentors told me ‘why would you go to Lock Haven, it’s impossible,’ ‘don’t ruin your career, it’s a graveyard for coaches.’ But The Haven is awake, The Haven is awake baby.”
UP NEXT:
Next Saturday (Nov. 11) the reawakened Haven will look to take on the Edinboro Fighting Scots in the season finale at Hubert Jack Stadium at 1 p.m.
Ryan States is in his 3rd year at Lock Haven University, and his second with the Eagle Eye. He is a Journalism major with intentions to minor in Sports Management. With his never-ending passion for all things sports, he wishes to pursue a career as a sports writer for a major outlet. When not watching sports, he can be found playing video games, hanging out with friends at the REC. Or you can find him helping out in the booth during LHU sporting events. His biggest hope while at Lock Haven is to be able to positively contribute to LHU sports in any way he can.
