Ilio DiPaolo led the LHU offense against Ship with 78 yards through the air during one half of action.

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Lock Haven University Football team (0-9, 0-4 PSAC West) fell on the road to Shippensburg University (3-6, 2-2 PSAC West) by a 56-10 score at Seth Grove Stadium.

The loss saw Shippensburg racking up record numbers offensively as they used a balanced offensive attack to thwart the Bald Eagle’s attempt to pick up their first win of the season.

Ship got the scoring started early as their first drive found the end zone three minutes into the first quarter, breaking the early deadlock to give them a 7-0 lead.

The Haven would go three and out on the ensuing drive and punter Brendon Pickel (Easton, Pa./Easton) would pin Ship deep at their own four for their next turn on offense.

The long field ahead of them wouldn’t bother the Red Raider offense as they would go 96 yards in 14 plays, to extend their lead to 14-0 following a Jamie Reder PAT.

LHU would quickly give the ball back to Shippensburg following another three and out. Ship would again drive down field to the Haven 20 yard line, but a Gabe Maiocco pass would be intercepted by junior linebacker Shawn Crebs (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewistown) and he would return it 70 yards to the Shippensburg one.

Following an offsides penalty, freshman running back Ibrahim Smith (New Bloomfield, Pa./West Perry) would barrel into the end zone from six yards out to get LHU on the board and cut the Red Raider lead in half at 14-7.

The first frame would end that way but Ship would be ready to tack on more points in the second quarter. With 8:55 left in the second quarter, fullback Dave Wilkerson would rumble 16 yards and cross the plane of the end zone to build a 21-7 lead.

Lock Haven would fail to move the ball again on their following two drives and would give the Red Raider offense the ball back with 5:11 left in the first half.

It would only take Shippensburg 1:33 to score as Maiocco would hit Kyle Fogarty on a 75 yard pattern to extend their lead to 21 over the Bald Eagles at 28-7.

The ensuing kickoff was returned 72 yards by Segun Mallard (Brooklyn, N.Y./Carson Long Military Institute) to the Red Raider nine, and three plays later kicker Marc Domonkos (Windber, Pa./Bishop McCort) would kick a 30 yard field goal through the up rights to cut the lead to 28-10.

Ship would have one more opportunity to score at the end of the first half but Reder’s 33 yard attempt hit the cross bar and fell to the turf as the clock expired, keeping the score at 28-10.

LHU received the ball to begin the third quarter and ran off a 10 play drive that chewed up over five minutes of game clock, but the Ship defense stiffened and forced Pickel into one of his eight punts on the day.

The Red Raiders wouldn’t have the ball for long as they went 90 yards in 64 seconds to extend their lead to a comfortable 35-10, as the drive was capped off by a 42 yard scamper by fullback Aaron Dykes.

Following another pair of three and outs by LHU and a stalled Ship drive, Shippensburg would get the ball back and Maiocco would throw his third touchdown of the afternoon on a 78 yard slant route to Tim Devanney, to put the Red Raiders up 42-10 at the end of the third quarter.

It was the eighth time this season LHU was held scoreless in the third quarter.

Shippensburg would tack on two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to finalize the scoring at 56-10.

The Red Raider offense racked up 709 total yards on the afternoon, which set a new school record. LHU’s offense was shutout in the second half for the seventh time this season.

Leading the LHU ground attack was Smith who ran the ball six times for 17 yards.

Through the air LHU was led by sophomore quarterback Ilio DiPaolo (Orchard Park, N.Y./St. Francis), who in two quarters of work was 8-16 for 78 yards and an interception.

Leading the receiving core was junior DeMar Dowell (Buffalo, N.Y./Erie Community College) with three catches for 31 yards.

Defensively LHU was led by a 12 tackle performance by senior linebacker Corey Gildea (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg)

Leading the Ship rushing attack was Kevin Marshall who ran the ball 15 times for 135 yards and a touchdown.

Through the air Maiocco was 13-20 for 369 yards, three touchdowns and two picks.

The leading receiver for Ship was Devanney who hauled in five balls for 182 yards and a TD.

Defensively the Red Raiders were led by Josh Oswalt who had nine tackles, four and a half for a loss and also one and a half sacks.

The Bald Eagles will next be back in action on Thursday November 1, 2007 at home in their home finale against Slippery Rock. Kickoff is slated for 5:30 at Hubert Jack Stadium.