Published: November 17, 2009 11:30 pm      

Local athletes help Shippensburg win PSAC title

Shippensburg captured its first outright football championship in 28 years this season, and a quartet of local athletes contributed to that success.

The Red Raiders defeated California (Pa.) 42-35 on Nov. 7, earning them the PSAC title and a bye in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs last weekend.

Shippensburg is ranked 17th in the American Football Coaches Association poll and 16th in the D2football.com poll.

The positive part of this accomplishment for the Red Raiders players was that they were not given much respect in the preseason, when the PSAC coaches selected Shippensburg, now 9-2, to finish fifth in the East.

The players attribute much of this success to their work after last season.

“We worked very hard in the off-season,” said Mark Rossi, a senior tight end who played at Westmont Hilltop High School. “Our team is a very close group of players and coaches who pride ourselves on hard work and persistence. We were very close to having a season like this in the previous years that I was here, but we always came up a few points shy. This year, we were able to finally finish games as a team, and that led to a great season.”

Rossi, who is listed at 6 feet, 5 inches and 250 pounds, has pulled in 20 passes for 248 yards and eight touchdowns.

The other area players on coach Rocky Rees’ squad include senior punter and place-kicker Kyler Ford, a former Bedford Bison; senior linebacker Josh Simmons, a Somerset graduate; and Luke Grata, an offensive lineman who played for Central Cambria High School.

While defeating Cal (8-3) for the PSAC title was a great accomplishment since the Vulcans were selected by the conference coaches in the preseason to finish first in the PSAC West, Shippensburg must host the Vulcans again Saturday at noon in a second-round game at Seth Grove Stadium.

Shippensburg was seeded second in the Super Region 1, with West Liberty (10-1) the top seed. California was third in the region and overwhelmed Fayetteville State 42-13 last weekend. Four PSAC teams reached the regional playoffs, with Edinboro (8-3) and East Stroudsburg (8-3) joining Cal and Shippensburg in the field. Edinboro defeated East Stroudsburg 31-16 last Saturday and will face West Liberty on Saturday.

The Red Raiders are optimistic about their opportunity in the Division II postseason.

“I believe that our chances are very good in the playoffs,” Simmons said. “We play in one of the toughest, if not the toughest, conferences in the nation. Either Ship or Cal has a great chance of making it to the national championship.”

Ford earned first-team all PSAC-East postseason honors for his punting for the second time in his career, and he is among the leaders in the Division II national rankings. He averaged 41.9 yards per punt, and his 70 kickoffs averaged 52.7 yards. He led the conference in scoring with 76 points, connecting on 46 of 47 points after touchdown and 10 of 14 field goals.

Ford’s 41.9 yards per punt average is second in the nation.

“I’ve had the best season of my career this past year,” Ford said. “I had been disappointed in the past three years because at the beginning of each season, I was atop the country in punting averages, but it seemed like as the season progressed and the team’s success diminished, so did my own personal success. Right now, and in probably the last five games, I’ve really felt great punting the ball, as well as kicking. My four misses on field goals this season were basically scraping the upright just merely on the wrong side. I feel confident that when called on, I can help my team both with the field-position battle and with putting points on the board.”

Ford was selected as All PSAC-West first-team punter in 2006 and second-teamer in 2007.

In addition to his contributions to the football team, Ford has demonstrated leadership on campus, currently serving as president of the 2010 class at Shippensburg.

Winning both the PSAC East and the overall conference titles mean a great deal to the seniors.

“It means a lot. I’ve been here for five years, and for the first four, we weren’t a winning team,” Grata, a 6-2, 296-pound lineman, said. “Now, the fact that it’s my senior year and we will forever be known as champions – words are hard to describe the sense of accomplishment. Everyone says it’s best to go out on top, and that is exactly what myself and all the other seniors are doing. We are champions, and no one can take that away, ever.”

Ford is the son of Cyndee Ford, Rossi the son of John and Marcia Rossi, Grata the son of Monica Grata, and Simmons the son of William and Melody Simmons.