After last week's lackluster performance, West Chester came out with a lot of emotion, which is great when it pays off. But the offense was rather sluggish to open the game, totaling 21 yards in less than three minutes on their first two possessions into the wind. The field position battle was on and LIU Post leveraged a couple of first downs to pin West Chester at their own 14. That's when the Rams went on a long drive that consisted of 30 yards of LIU Post penalties and 73 yards of White rushing, including his 38-yard pinball touchdown run. Post was on the verge of tying the game on a nice lob pass to running back Anthony Brunetti, but the PAT attempt went wide left, and the Rams owned a 7-6 lead early in the second quarter.
After the Rams' next drive stalled, several key factors came into play. First punter Rich Bruno launched a 50-yard punt that rolled out of bounds at the LIU Post 3-yard line. Then the defense maintained their intensity and forced LIU Post to punt from their own 15, giving the Rams great field position at the Post 46. Finally, the offense adjusted to a struggling passing game (QB Mike Mattei was only 1 of 9 at this point), and used eight consecutive rushing attempts by White and Brandon Monk to get to the Post 7 yard line. Mattei then found Tom Shrader on a 7-yard slant for the touchdown.
Mattei got on track on the next possession, hitting White for 20 yards, Jim Kelly for 23 yards, and finally White for a 23-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 21-6 with 1:17 remaining. The defense came up big again, forcing a three and out and, with the wind at their back, the Rams decided to go for more. This time, Mattei connected with Erick Brundidge for 9 yards, White for 19 yards, and LaRonn Lee for 30 yards to setup Shawn Leo's 26-yard field goal as time expired. The Rams had a comfortable 24-6 halftime lead.
Mike Culbreath and the defense kept LIU Post wrapped all game long (Photo Geoff Ruth)West Chester kicked off to start the second half, which would give LIU Post an opportunity to get back into the game. But after Adam Dempsey poked the ball out on that opening kickoff return, the Rams pounced on it. Mattei completed two third-down passes - the first was an 18-yarder to Kelly to keep the drive alive and the second was a 22-yarder to White, who made an amazing catch for the touchdown. Instead of the Pioneers clawing their way back into the games, the Rams had extended their lead to 31-6.
Rather than relax, the Rams increased the intensity further. The defense forced another three-and-out and the WCU special teams came up with a blocked punt by Camille Max. White carried the ball three times for 23 yards to setup another Leo field goal.
Late in the third, with West Chester leading 34-6, LIU Post pinned the Rams at their own three-yard line. On third-and-two, Mattei found White on a little out pattern which was enough to pick up the first down, but White turned on the speed and raced 89 yards for the final touchdown. Although it was still the third quarter, White's day, along with anyone who had a healthy back up, was done.
Rondell White posted 167 rushing and 176 yards receiving against LIU Post (Photo Geoff Ruth)Notes - Shrader saw his first game action since breaking his collarbone against Delaware in week one...WR Tim Keyser, who missed the Kutztown and California games, saw his season come to an end with an ankle injury in the third quarter...Although Ronell Williams led the Rams with 14 tackles, can anyone but Matt Carroll be the defensive player of the game? Carroll moved from quarterback to rover to start the season, but due to injuries to Carl Barnes and Mike Lonergan, played strong safety against LIU Post. He finished the game with seven tackles, two pass break-ups and recovered a fumble on special teams...For the second time this season, the offensive line did not yield a sack in the game... Bruno landed three of his five punts inside the 20
West Chester Athletic Site - Rondell White Carries The Load In 41-6 Win Over LIU Post
LIU Post Athletic Site - High Offense Powers West Chester To 41-6 Win Over Football
Daily Local News - White’s 4 TDs help Golden Rams get back on track
Long Island Newsday - West Chester romps past Post
Bert Garbutt - Photo Collage
D2football - PSAC Columnist - PSAC Week Seven Headlines
