SHIPPENSBURG - At halftime, everyone at Seth Grove Stadium was wondering how bad it was going to get - including Rock coach George Mihalik.

His Slippery Rock University football team was trailing Shippensburg - the top-ranked team in the Northeast Region - 28-0 on the road Saturday and watched as Red Raiders chewed up 258 yards of offense.

"I challenged our team at halftime," Mihalik said. "I asked them if it was a mistake bringing them out here. I thought I had a team that was going to compete and fight."

The Rock (3-7, 1-4) did so in the second half, pulling within 28-17 with 12 minutes remaining before succumbing by a 35-17 count.

The win gave Shippensburg (9-1, 5-1) at least a share of the PSAC West title for the first time since 1988. A win at West Chester this weekend will give the Red Raiders their first Division II playoff appearance since 1991.

"This is very satisfying," Shipp coach Rocky Rees said. "This really was a bunch of guys working toward a common goal. Nobody cared about stats. These guys have been all about winning all year."

Mihalik inserted his second-team defense in the second half.

"The first unit wasn't getting it done, so we tried something else," the coach said. "We'll go back to the way we do things next week, but these other guys showed they're hungry to play.

"I know this sounds strange, but I'm pleased with the way we played in the second half. We could have gotten blown out of here pretty badly," he added.

Shippensburg rolled up 314 yards rushing on the day, but used a pass to nearly ice the victory. Three plays into the third quarter, quarterback Tony Gomez found Patrick Ferguson on a crossing pattern for 34 yards.

As Ferguson streaked toward the goal line, SRU defensive back Willie Murel knocked the ball out and recovered it at The Rock 2-yard line.

A 98-yard drive followed - highlighted by an 80-yard Josh Kniess run up the middle - to put SRU on the board. Rock quarterback Nate Crookshank tossed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Luke Wetzel.

Finger and shoulder injuries forced Crookshank from the game, however, and A.J. Ruperto took over on SRU's next possession. He directed a 10-play, 76-yard drive and threw an eight-yard TD pass to Corey Manfull to cut the gap to 28-14 with 3:30 left in the third quarter.

The Red Raiders went three-and-out on their next possession and SRU pressured punter Denver Brydon. Unable to get away a kick, Brydon fumbled and The Rock gained possession at Shipp's 28-yard line.

Two holding penalties, an illegal substitution call and an offensive pass interference penalty denied SRU points on its possession.

The Rock had 17 penalties for 135 yards in the contest.

"We took penalties at very critical times in this game," Mihalik said. "You can't make mistakes like that and beat good teams."

Just before Shipp's final touchdown of the first half, SRU's James Rockymore had an interception and 58-yard return wiped out by a defensive holding penalty.

Ryan Daniel's 33-yard field goal capped a 57-yard Rock drive with 12:03 left in the game.

Faced with a third-and 3 at his own 35 to maintain possession, Gomez tossed a shovel pass to Andre McLaurin for a 13-yard gain.

Walter Crump rambled 51 yards to the SRU 1-yard line on the next play and fullback John Kuhn plunged into the end zone from there to wrap up the victory.

Kuhn had 30 carries for 156 yards. Crump had eight carries for 134 and two touchdowns.

"Everybody crowds the middle to try to take away John inside and that opens things up for me," Crump said. "It wasn't hard to get to the outside."

Kuhn has put together three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. His touchdown Saturday was the 52nd rushing score of his collegiate career, 32nd in the PSAC - and first against SRU.

"The other guys did the work and I got the touchdown," Kuhn said. "This the most balanced team we've had in my career here. I've never felt this fresh this late in the season."

Notes:

Kniess rushed for 120 yards Saturday and his 80-yard burst put him over 1,000 for the year. … Field judge Kevin Hawkins suffered a broken ankle during a collision near the goal line late in the second quarter. … The Rock has lost five straight games for the first time since 1981. It will try to avoid its first six-game losing streak since 1957 when it hosts Clarion Saturday. … Shippensburg is looking for its first win 10-win season since 1991.

Slippery Rock 0 0 14 3-17Shippensburg 7 21 0 7-35First QuarterSHIP - Andre McLaurin 1 run (Jamie Reder kick), 2:19Second QuarterSHIP - Walter Crump 29 run (Reder kick), 9:10SHIP - Crump 33 run (Reder kick), 5:52SHIP - Joel Gamble 3 pass from Tony Gomez (Reder kick), :19Third QuarterSRU - Luke Wetzel 11 pass from Nate Crookshank (Ryan Daniel kick), 11:59SRU - Corey Manfull 8 pass from A.J. Ruperto (Daniel kick), 3:30Fourth QuarterSRU - Daniel 33 field goal, 12:03SHIP - John Kuhn 1 run (Reder kick), 9:57Individual StatisticsPassing: SRU, Nate Crookshank 5-13-75-1, A.J. Ruperto 4-13-56-1, Justin Fisher 0-1-0-0. Shippensburg, Tony Gomez 7-16-99-0.Rushing: SRU, Josh Kniess 10-120, Corey Manfull 13-83, Ryan Daniel 1-2, Nate Crookshank 5-0, A.J. Ruperto 4-(-26). Shippensburg, John Kuhn 30-156, Walter Crump 8-134, Andre McLaurin 7-30, Tony Gomez 6-21, David Wilkerson 2-2, Dante Poole 1-0, Mat Acri 1-(-2), Denver Brydon 1-(-27).Receiving: SRU, Brandon Richardson 3-62, Corey Manfull 3-43, Luke Wetzel 2-24, Colin Golden 1-2. Shippensburg, Pat Ferguson 2-74, Walter Crump 2-14, Andre McLaurin 2-8, Joel Gamble 1-3.