SHIPPENSBURG — The one thing Greencastle-Antrim did not want to do against Shippensburg was let the Greyhounds get ahead early.

Austin Wyand

Yet that’s exactly what Ship was able to do Thursday night at Memorial Park in its regular season finale, and handed the Blue Devils a 27-6 defeat in a Mid Penn Colonial football game.

The Hounds (10-0, 7-0 and Colonial champions) will now prepare for the District 3 Class 5A playoffs as the No. 2 seed. Greencastle finishes the season with a 4-6 record and 2-5 in the Colonial.

The Blue Devils forced a turnover on a fumble in the game’s first series.

But G-A handed the ball right back on a fumble and Shippensburg turned it into points when QB Tucker Chamberlin found Erby Weller for a 28-yard touchdown strike. Greencastle’s next possession ended in an interception by Blake Orndorff, and when Amari Kerr scored on a 35-yard run, Greencastle was right where it didn’t want to be — down 14-0.

G-A coach Devin McCauley said, “We had those two turnovers in the first half, and that’s exactly what we couldn’t afford to do. We got behind early, and they play very good defense and run the ball well, and it makes it hard to come back.”

In the second quarter, Traevon Kater shook loose for a 45-yard scoring run for Shippensburg, then Kerr finished off his team’s scoring with a 5-yard TD run late in the fourth period.

Greencastle’s Austin Wyand ended the shutout when he returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown.

“It was a testament to the whole season,” McCauley said. “We were down 21-0 at halftime and we kept it there until late. Our kids believed they could win and they did not back down.

“But Ship is a good football team. They got the turnovers and got points off them — they do what they do and do it well.”

Kerr (123 yards) and Kater (109)  each went over 100 yards rushing for the Hounds, whose defense held Greencastle to 136 yards. David Niebauer was G-A’s top rusher with 59 yards on 14 carries. Taylor Conrad was 7-for-13 passing for 46 yards and 2 picks and Tavon Cooper (3-16) and Ethan Shank (2-17) were the top receivers.

McCauley said, “They stuffed us pretty good with their defense and (Anthony) Smith had a big game for them. Our kids fought hard with some adversity this year. I was proud to coach this team.”

Shippensburg 27, Greencastle-Antrim 6
Greencastle             0     0     0     6     —     6
Shippensburg        14    7     0     6     —    27
First Quarter
S — Erby Weller 28 pass from Tucker Chamberlin (Noah Henry kick)
S — Amari Kerr 35 run (Henry kick)
Second Quarter
S — Traevon Kater 45 run (Henry kick)
Fourth Quarter
S — Kerr 5 run (pass failed)
G — Austin Wyand 97 kickoff return (run failed)
TEAM STATISTICS
                                                      G-A                 Ship
First downs                                  7                      16
Rushes-yards                            27-90               43-316
Passing                                      7-13-2              6-11-0
Passing yards                              46                    90
Total offense                               136                 406
Fumbles-lost                                1-1                  3-2
Punts-average                            5-42.2             3-40.7
Penalties-yards                           6-75                 5-90
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — GA, David Niebauer 14-59, Tavon Cooper 6-29, Taylor Conrad 8-2. Ship, Kerr 13-123, Kater 11-109, Nathan Beam 12-62, Diesel Koser 4-20, Anthony Smith 1-2, Chamberlin 3-1, Team 2-(-1).
Passing — GA, Conrad 7-13-2-46. Ship, Chamberlin 6-11-0-90.
Receiving — GA, Cooper 3-16, Ethan Shank 2-17, Brady Diller 1-10, Wyand 1-3. Ship, Weller 4-52, Smith 1-25, Koser 1-13.
Stats courtesy J.D. Davidson.