LH football tops Ship; Bald Eagles one win from first winning season since 1981
SHIPPENSBURG, PA – The Lock Haven football team downed host Shippensburg (2-8, 2-5), 21-7, Saturday in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division action.
Behind a dominating effort, the Bald Eagles moved back to .500 on the season at 5-5 (3-4 PSAC East).
With the victory in hand, Lock Haven secured its first five-win since 1982. Next week at home, The Haven will look to clinch the program’s first winning season in 42 years.
Saturday’s win also marked the first over Shippensburg since 2002 and snapped an 18-game losing streak to the Red Raiders.
The Bald Eagles offense scored all 21 points in the second quarter.
Quarterback Kyle Zajack (Middletown, Conn./Middletown (Stonehill)) got the start and made the most of the opportunity. He threw for 238 yards and two touchdowns.
Running back Chris Collier (Lawrence, N.Y./Lawrence (Wagner College)) powered his way to 130 yards on 23 carries. He rushed for a score and he hauled in a TD-catch.
T-iar Young (Philadelphia/Northeast (Millersville) added a touchdown-reception. He racked up 116 yards on just two catches including an electrifying 79-yard catch-and-run touchdown-play in the early in the second quarter.
Leading 7-0, Lock Haven broke off another long and explosive scoring play as Collier bolted 65-yards for a score to make it 14-0.
With just over a minute to play in the first half, Collier hauled in a 10-yard pass from Zajack to make it 21-7.
Once again, the Bald Eagle defensive unit stood strong and it was Cody Romano (Newton, N.J./Blair Academy (Penn State)), who stood out with 10 tackles including a sack.
Davien Vernon (Florence, N.J./Bergen Catholic) and Isiah Gonzalez (Philadelphia/Olney (Alvernia)) each finished with six tackles.
Jyair Thomas (Owings Mills, Md./Boys Latin (Monmouth)) recorded an interception and the Bald Eagles finished with five sacks.
Collier, the PSAC’s leading rusher and Lock Haven’s first 1,000-yard rusher since 1981, now has 1,233 yards on the season.
Collier’s 1,233 yards are now the third-most ever in a single-season for the Bald Eagles. He’s 36 yards away from Ron Puhl’s No. 2 mark of 1,269 yards in 1960, and Collier would need 89 yards to break Joe Speese’s single-season rushing record of 1,321 yards set back in 1979.
At 5-5, Lock Haven has clinched its first five-win season since the Bald Eagles finished the 1982 season at 5-5 overall.
The Bald Eagles now eye a chance to secure the program’s first winning-season in 42 years. Lock Haven’s last winning season was in 1981 when the team finished 6-4 overall.
The Bald Eagles will close the 2023 season next week at home on Saturday, Nov. 11 vs. Edinboro at 1 p.m.
