Football ships Raiders out with huge opening win

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts – The American International College football team opened the season with a bang, smothering Shippensburg University for a 28-3 victory on Saturday, September 7.

The team is 1-0 to start the season, winning the first game of the head coaching career of Dan Chipka. 

After both teams stalled on their initial drives, the Yellow Jackets took over at their own 10-yard line. Quarterback Cephas Williams earned AIC's first first down of the game, scrambling for 14 yards on third-and-nine, before uncorking a deep ball to the left to Fatir Bell that the wideout hauled in at the 50 and dragged a defender 15 yards further. Three plays later, on a third-and-one at the 26, Williams handed the ball off to Sidiki Kone, who cut past the left side of the line and blew by the Raiders defenses all the way to the end zone for the season's first touchdown.

The Raiders seemed poised to respond as Tanner Hess turned in a 64-yard kickoff return to the AIC 28. However, the Yellow Jackets defense allowed no quarter, with Jahsiah Narcisse stuffing Tobee Stokes in the backfield on first down and Shawn Belle forcing a bad pass on third down, limiting the damage to just a field goal.

Both teams traded short drives until the midpoint of the second quarter, when the Yellow Jackets took over at the Shippensburg 46 after a three-and-out followed by a short punt. Though the Yellow Jackets were pushed back by a holding penalty, Williams found Amiyn Hanks open at the first-down marker on third-and-19, and the on the next play hit Bell over the top at the five, with the wideout strutting into the end zone to extend the AIC lead.

Three plays later, AIC had the ball back again, as William Wilson lept in front of a Sam Stoner pass at the Raiders 39, and the Yellow Jackets offense made it hurt. Kone broke off four runs totaling 26 yards to bring AIC to the 13, and Williams found Bell in the end zone once again with 45 seconds left in the half; ultimately, AIC led 21-3 at the break.

The Raiders did little in the second half as the AIC defense continued its shutdown play, and the Yellow Jackets put the cherry on top in the fourth after a muffed punt put AIC in possession at the offensive 20. Williams found Jovanny Brown open in the middle on fourth-and-10 for a first down, and three plays later hit Hanks in the end zone for the game's final touchdown.

In all, the Yellow Jackets limited the Raiders to just eight first downs and a 17.6 percent conversion rate on third and fourth downs as Shippensburg put up just 138 yards of offense. Chris Chasia and Michael Grant collected AIC's two sacks.

Bell led AIC with 89 yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns; Hanks and Deven Arthur each hauled in 25 yards. Kone tallied 82 yards on 22 carries. Williams threw for 172 total yards, going 15-of-23 with three touchdowns.

Rookie kicker Santana Fonseca impressed, connecting on all four PATs and netting 162 punt yards.

AIC's defense held the opposition out of the end zone for the first time since a 19-0 win on September 30, 2017 against Saint Anselm College. 

The Yellow Jackets will hit the road for a Friday night battle with Southern Connecticut State University in a nonconference tilt on September 13 at 7:00 p.m.