BUTLER TWP— Excuse Jonathan Aldridge if he's feeling a bit shortchanged these days.

The 2003 Seneca Valley graduate, who is entering his third season as the starting free safety for the Shippensburg University football team, ranked among the tackle leaders in the PSAC in each of the past two years.

Neither time, however, did the Red Raiders contend for the conference title. Nor did Aldridge receive any kind of all-conference recognition.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound redshirt senior believes the time is now.

"That's for the team, not for me,"Aldridge said. "The need to win is what fuels me, not the all-conference stuff. I play the game because I love it, not for the recognition."

Shippensburg is coming off a 5-6 season, tying for fourth in the PSACWest. In 2005, Aldridge's first season, the Red Raiders were 4-7 overall, fifth in the league.

"We've been mediocre the past two years,"Aldridge said. "I so badly want to see us come out of that. The difference between winning and losing is so slim sometimes."

Shippensburg returns seven defensive starters and Aldridge is one of four senior starters on that defense.

"On paper, we're in the middle of the pack,"Red Raiders coach Rocky Rees said. "We've got seven back on defense, six on offense, and that's good. But other teams in this league have 10 or 11 starters back.

"That doesn't mean we can't make a run."

If they do, Aldridge will be leading the way.

He was fourth on the team with 68 tackles last season and was among the top 25 in the PSACwith 6.8 tackles per game. He ranked sixth in the PSAC and led Shippensburg with 97 tackles in 2005, intercepting two passes as well.

That was his first year of playing defense. Aldridge was recruited as a quarterback.

"He had a bad shoulder and couldn't get a lot of zip on the ball,"Rees said. "He was our backup quarterback, we tried him a bit at wide receiver. ... He was such an athlete, we were looking for a way to get him on the field."

The following spring, Aldridge's sophomore year, he was moved to defense.

"We had a shortage of personnel at safety and Jon had the size and athleticism,"Rees said. "We decided to give it a shot.

"He looked like he'd played that position all his life."

But he never had before. Aldridge was strictly a quarterback at Seneca Valley, a two-year starter who guided the Raiders to an 8-3 record and the second round of the WPIALplayoffs his senior year.

"When the coaches asked me to switch to defense, I had no problem with it," Aldridge said. "We needed somebody back there and being a quarterback gave me a bit of an advantage.

"I know how a quarterback thinks, what he looks for. I just put myself in a position to make plays," he added.

But 167 tackles, nine tackles for loss and three interceptions over two years?

"Yeah, I'm a little surprised at that. But I've always had confidence in myself as a player,"Aldridge said.

Last season, Shippensburg cornerback James Rockymore and safety John Sharbaugh earned all-PSACWest honors. Former Red Raiders defensive backs Brent Grimes and Mike Street did so before them.

"Having talent like that around him probably caused Jon to be overlooked,"Rees said. "He's been an all-conference caliber player regardless and, hopefully, he gets his due this year."