SHIPPENSBURG >> Shippensburg coach Eric Foust keeps four quarters in his pockets every game.

It’s a reminder of his constant message to play hard for the entire 60 minutes. But the Greyhounds needed a little more than four quarters Friday night against Waynesboro, and they used it to pull out a 28-20 overtime win.

“It’s a home game against Waynesboro, what can I say?” Foust said.

Said Ship running back Adam Houser, “Coach preaches to us all the time to play four quarters, and we did that and then some tonight. It was a great team win.”

The Hounds (4-0, 1-0 Mid Penn Colonial Division) went to their version of the wildcat (termed the “duck”) in overtime, and Houser ran a keeper on the second play for an eight-yard score. Alex Sharrow punched in the two-point conversion, which Ship decided to do because its two previous point-after-tries on the night failed.

Waynesboro (2-2, 0-1 MPC) faced a fourth and goal on the one-yard line in its overtime possession, but quarterback Jay Alvarez was stuffed at the goal line to seal Ship’s victory.

Said Ship linebacker Ethan Stouffer, who had an interception in the game, “We knew Alvarez was going to keep it, so I pinched both of our tackles in, and we just went after it.”

The end of regulation brought fireworks of its own.

After a clean first half led to two turnovers by each team in the third quarter, Ship was pinned on its own six-yard line midway through the fourth. On the third play of the series, Houser busted off a 62-yard run to get the Hounds to the Waynesboro 26. Then on a 3^rd &10, quarterback Zack Manning threw for a first down to Sharrow, who made a great play to come back to the rolling Manning. On the next play, Houser ran 11 yards for the go-ahead score.

“Waynesboro has a good defense, and they bring so many guys after you,” Foust said. “We couldn’t get much going through the air tonight, but we made a couple of big plays and did enough to win.”

With 3:30 left in the game, Waynesboro got the ball and quickly faced a 4^th & 9 right outside of midfield, but wide receiver Johnny Hoffman got behind the defense on a streak down the sideline for a big gain before he was tackled at the 5. After a false start and a run for no gain, Alvarez hit Hoffman again on a slant to the three. The Indians then hurried to the line for what appeared to be a spike, but Alvarez kept it and hit Hoffman for a touchdown in the back corner of the end zone to tie the game at 20.

Stouffer said, “When they hit the big play, we were disappointed, but Adam came up to me and said that we’re going to still win this game.”

And it was Houser who made sure the Greyhounds would get to overtime. He timed the snap on the extra point perfectly, burst through the A gap and blocked the kick to keep the score all level.

Said Houser, “I just told the guys that we had to block this kick. We just had to keep fighting and play four quarters.”

Houser got the scoring started for the Hounds in the first quarter, catching a ball in the flat from Manning and running 61 yards for the score. He finished with 224 total yards (163 rushing, 61 receiving), scored two touchdowns and also converted a two-point conversion.

Waynesboro answered early in the second quarter when Alvarez rolled to his right and hit a wide-open Adam Wertz for a 43-yard touchdown.

Later in the second, Ship grabbed the lead back on a 15-yard pass from Manning to Nick Gustafson, but Waynesboro leveled it up right before halftime on a nine-yard run by Quentin Gaskill.

Manning finished 3 of 9 for 90 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Alex Sharrow added two carries for 20 yards and one catch for 14. Houser and Stouffer each had one interception on the defensive side.

“We played four quarters and won,” said Foust. “We talk about it every day. It was a fun game. Coming out with a win is always fun.”

For Waynesboro, Alvarez finished 6-for-13 for 122 yards and two scores. He also added 19 carries for 72 yards. Gaskill ran eight times for 67 yards, and Hoffman caught six passes for 86 yards.

SHIPPENSBURG 28, WAYNESBORO 20

Overtime

Waynesboro   7 – 7 – 0 – 6 – 0   —   20

Shippensburg   6 – 8 – 0 – 6 – 8   —   28

First Quarter

S — Adam Houser 61 pass from Zack Manning, (Kick failed), 3:43

Second Quarter

W — Adam Wertz 43 pass from Jay Alvarez (Trenton Shetler kick), 11:29

S — Nick Gustafson 15 pass from Manning (Houser run), 4:02

W — Quentin Gaskill 9 run (Shetler kick), 0:40

Fourth Quarter

S — Houser 11 run (kick failed), 3:30

W — Johnny Hoffman 3 pass from Alvarez (kick blocked), 0:12

Overtime

S — Houser 8 run (Sharrow run)

TEAM STATISTICS

First Downs: W 14; S 10. Rushes-yards: W 50-202; S 31-210. Passing: W 6-13-2; S 3-9-1. Passing Yards: P 122; M 90. Penalties-yards: W 8-66; S 5-35. Punts-yards: W 3-24.3; S 4-22. Fumbles-lost: W 0-0; S 2-1.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Waynesboro, Alvarez 19-72, Gaskill 8-67, Adam Wertz 10-33, Carson Mcgregor 5-17, Braden Bibbs 8-13; Shippensburg, Houser 17-163, Sharrow 2-20, Kyler Brown 6-19, Nick Weltz 5-13, Maning 1-(-5).

Passing: Waynesboro, Alvarez 6-13-2, 122 yards; Shippensburg, Manning 3-9-1, 90 yards.

Receiving: Waynesboro, Hoffman 6-86, Wertz 1-43, Gaskill 1-5; Shippensburg, Houser 1-61, Gustafson 1-15, Sharrow 1-14