Shippensburg University’s football team fell to 0-1 on the season after a home loss to Bowie State on Saturday. The Raiders kept it close throughout the first half, only down six at the break, but fell 23-7 in the end.

SU named the game as the “Live Like Levi” game, holding pregame ceremonies to honor the life of Levi Maciejewski. This was Mark Maciejewski’ the first game back as head coach since the passing of Levi. A moment of silence was observed at the beginning of the game, along with the playing of Amazing Grace.

Bowie State scored a touchdown on the first drive of the game, going ahead 7-0 just two minutes in. Neither team scored for the rest of the first quarter, with each team committing a turnover in opponent territory.

The Raiders missed a field goal early in the second quarter, keeping the game at 7-0. Their next drive saw the Bulldogs defense force a fumble, which was returned 53 yards for a Bowie State touchdown. This made the score 13-0 after a missed extra point.

Shippensburg then put their best drive of the day together, finishing a nine-play, 65-yard series with a touchdown pass from redshirt sophomore Riley Gunnels to redshirt sophomore Jaevon Parker, making the juggling catch to make it a 13-7 game.

Bowie State had the ball most of the third quarter, putting together a 16-play drive that took place for over eight and a half minutes. They scored their third touchdown of the day on the drive to make it 20-7. SU then marched to the redzone, but Bowie State stopped them on the fourth and second to force a turnover on downs.

The teams traded punts to open the fourth quarter before Bowie put together another long drive, taking 5:57 off the clock to score a field goal. The Raiders ran a strong two-minute drill to reach the Bowie three-yard line but couldn’t get a score before the game ended.

Gunnels had a career day as a quarterback, racking up 272 passing yards on 25/38 passing, with one touchdown and one interception. Parker led the receivers with 74 yards on nine catches, and redshirt freshman Derek Guzman following close behind at 62 yards. Sophomore Ethan Arneson was the top runner for SU, gaining 32 yards on eight carries.

Redshirt sophomore Nate Myers had a phenomenal performance on defense, collecting 13 tackles and a sack. Redshirt sophomore Gabe Benjamin and redshirt senior Terrance Peterson Jr. each had seven tackles. Sophomore Ty Millhimes also had a sack, and sophomore Peyton Sadler and redshirt freshman Eli Rodriguez each had half a sack.

SU outgained Bowie State 322-285 on offense but only went 2/9 on third down conversions and 0/2 on fourth down, compared to 6/15 and 2.3 for the Bulldogs. 

The Raiders will return to action next Saturday for a road game against Clarion, with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m.

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