Finally Shepherd plays at home!

[jrshooter]

I was in Shippensburg tonight for their high school game, can't quite justify the 50-mile trip on consecutive days. I'm going to get out to see Ship U. either at Shepherd or at Kutztown, haven't decided which. They're about equal driving time for me.

[Monte's Catering Co.]

I've got to hand it to Kutztown. They flat out outplayed us from the start of the game. I truly felt this would be an extremely tough game for us, but I did not think we would play that terrible. Way toooooooooo many mistakes in this game and I do feel like we got outcoached in this one as well. But Kudos to Kutztown on executing. Time to recoup for Ship which is shaping up to be a shootout.

[ShepFan1]

I totally agree, we got out played. I hate to admit it. Third down defense was horrible. We would stop them on first and second down but on third down they got us.

Going into this year I thought our defense would be tough to score on, and after last week, I thought we were heading in the right direction, but it looks like we will have lean on the offense more than I thought we would. Not liking the match up next week with Ship. Definitely going to take the over in that one

[Ship69]

I was in Shippensburg tonight for their high school game, can't quite justify the 50-mile trip on consecutive days. I'm going to get out to see Ship U. either at Shepherd or at Kutztown, haven't decided which. They're about equal driving time for me.

Ship must have a nice HS team this season. Waynesboro was playing pretty well going into that game, and they clocked us.

[CALUPA69]

I totally agree, we got out played. I hate to admit it. Third down defense was horrible. We would stop them on first and second down but on third down they got us.

Going into this year I thought our defense would be tough to score on, and after last week, I thought we were heading in the right direction, but it looks like we will have lean on the offense more than I thought we would. Not liking the match up next week with Ship. Definitely going to take the over in that one

A battle of possibly the two best QBs in SR1. Though I like Mussina a lot, I have to believe SHEP will be breathing fire after this week's defensive let down. D gave up 37 points to an offense that SHU held to 14 last weekend. Someone may have read too much into that score.

[Ram040506]

[Ship69]

A battle of possibly the two best QBs in SR1. Though I like Mussina a lot, I have to believe SHEP will be breathing fire after this week's defensive let down. D gave up 37 points to an offense that SHU held to 14 last weekend. Someone may have read too much into that score.

Bloomsburg, which has young QBs and some issues on offense, did not give Ship good preparation for Shepherd. It's a huge step up from playing a frosh QB with a deer in headlights mentality at times to defending a guy such as Bagent. Shepherd has faced much the better opposing teams to this point. Ship will have to mix its plays well and keep Mussina's jersey clean.

[jrshooter]

Ship must have a nice HS team this season. Waynesboro was playing pretty well going into that game, and they clocked us.

They just didn't give the 'Boro a chance to breathe, and I didn't see that coming. We've had some classic matchups in recent years.

After Friday night, the Hounds have every chance of going through the regular season unscathed, but their division schedule doesn't get them battle-ready for the 5A districts. Waynesboro knows that all too well, drawing the Harrisburgs of the world in the first round after feasting on West Perry and Greencastle in the regular season.

They do have one of the better HS coaching staffs around -- Eric Foust can coach, and both of his coordinators are former HS head coaches. Old IUP folks might recall his defensive coordinator; it's Foust's dad Rick, the longtime Homer-Center coach.

Ship also has a Minnesota verbal, a 6-7, 260-pound defensive end named Anthony Smith. Very athletic; he has shattered backboards in hoops.

As for the Raiders, their defense has been so suspect in recent years that I might not be giving them enough credit now. And I don't think we were expecting to be in a situation where the receivers' room is as strong now as it was in the Eubanks/Headen era. (Hey, Winston caught a pass for the Nits yesterday!)

If there's one thing we're learning, it's that a 20-month hiatus can scramble the power structure of a football conference. Ship just hasn't done a whole lot wrong the past two weeks, regardless of the opponent. And Mussina is putting everything on the numbers.

[Monte's Catering Co.]

Shepherd had 11 carries for 72 yards so it wasn't like Kutztown was stopping the run. We got outcoached. There were several 3rd and shorts that we passed on. Crazy!

[ShepAlum]

Shepherd had 11 carries for 72 yards so it wasn't like Kutztown was stopping the run. We got outcoached. There were several 3rd and shorts that we passed on. Crazy!

[Ship69]

They just didn't give the 'Boro a chance to breathe, and I didn't see that coming. We've had some classic matchups in recent years.

After Friday night, the Hounds have every chance of going through the regular season unscathed, but their division schedule doesn't get them battle-ready for the 5A districts. Waynesboro knows that all too well, drawing the Harrisburgs of the world in the first round after feasting on West Perry and Greencastle in the regular season.

They do have one of the better HS coaching staffs around -- Eric Foust can coach, and both of his coordinators are former HS head coaches. Old IUP folks might recall his defensive coordinator; it's Foust's dad Rick, the longtime Homer-Center coach.

Ship also has a Minnesota verbal, a 6-7, 260-pound defensive end named Anthony Smith. Very athletic; he has shattered backboards in hoops.

As for the Raiders, their defense has been so suspect in recent years that I might not be giving them enough credit now. And I don't think we were expecting to be in a situation where the receivers' room is as strong now as it was in the Eubanks/Headen era. (Hey, Winston caught a pass for the Nits yesterday!)

If there's one thing we're learning, it's that a 20-month hiatus can scramble the power structure of a football conference. Ship just hasn't done a whole lot wrong the past two weeks, regardless of the opponent. And Mussina is putting everything on the numbers.

Well, I wish Shippensburg HS the best if they make the playoffs. I remember they got a decent seed with Van Scyoc a couple of years back and knocked off Bishop McDevitt. I think our division might be a little stronger than usual this year. Waynesboro played an unbeaten Spring Grove team to the wire, routed Red Lion (finally caught them down a little), beat Gettysburg in OT and easily handled a West Perry team that had beaten Mechanicsburg before we lost to Ship. A D1-level athlete is always a difference-maker in our division. Former Waynesboro linebacker Forrest Rhyne apparently had a good game for Villanova against Penn State Saturday. He was credited with 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks. My brother, who attended the game, said he was all over the field. That Governor Mifflin team that has a Penn State commit at running back must be a tough outfit. They routed a pretty good Harrisburg team.

[ShoNuff]

Do you think the three straight road games played a part in Shepherd's play?

[Ram040506]

Do you think the three straight road games played a part in Shepherd's play?

yes and no. It's been 2 years since they had a home game, so I think they were getting comfortable with the road routine. The different routine of being at home was probably a new feeling, but a bad excuse for a poor performance.

Ultimately, I think Shepherd ran into their 2021 kryptonite of an opponent. A balanced well coached team with an offense that can control the clock. A disciplined defense that is sound in tackling, forcing long drives for a team used to making quick strikes. I hate to admit it, but Kutztown has our number. Their style of play just seems to be a great matchup against Shepherd. Very impressed with the physicality of their OL. They absolutely owned Shepherd last week and left no question as to who is the better team in that matchup. I would not feel great about our chances having to play them again. Our DL and LB's would need to up the physicality considerably for us to turn the tide in this matchup.