Teams News - 2012 Season Review - Defense

In 2009, the Golden Rams fielded one of the best defensive squads in team history as they ranked 38th against the pass (182 yards per game), fifth against the rush (78 yards per game) and fifth overall (260 yards per game). In the subsequent two seasons, while the passing yardage surrendered remained relatively constant, opponents rushing yardage ballooned to 197 yards per game in 2010 and 180 yards per game in 2011. So for 2012, the defense changed from a three-man front to the more traditional four down linemen.

Defensive Line

This posed a dilemma for defensive coordinator Mike Furlong since for several years, West Chester had recruited on defense with the thought of only playing three men up front. To help solve this, and as was discussed in the season preview, linebacker Anthony McCloskey moved to defensive tackle. He had no trouble adjusting as he was named second team All-PSAC East at that position. But compounding the trouble with the lack of linemen was the fact that two guys that were expected to play a significant role in the new alignment - Mike Martin and Tylor Unger - were lost for the season before the opening kickoff at Delaware.

Anthony McCloskey made the switch from linebacker to defensive line (Photo Ray Doyle)

So the defensive ends consisted of a three-man rotation of Eric Edwers (44 total tackles, 1 pass breakup, 5 quarterback hurries, 6.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks), Chris DiValentino (20 total tackles, 0.5 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 quarterback hurry) and Lew Esposito (18 total tackles, 2 pass breakups, 2 quarterback hurries, 4.5 tackles for loss) which earned Esposito second team All-PSAC East honors. The tackles were also limited to a three-man rotation - McCloskey (28 total tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss, 1 quarterback hurry, 1 fumble return), big Demrick Cook (41 total tackles, 1 sack, 1 quarterback hurry, 1 pass breakup) and true freshman Andrew Cohen (33 total tackles, 2 pass breakups, 1 quarterback hurry, and a team leading 7.5 tackles for loss).

Lew Esposito earned PSAC East honors this year at defensive end (Photo Ray Doyle)

Chris DiValentino was a force at defensive end this season (Photo Ray Doyle)

Eric Edwers filled the stat sheet at defensive end (Photo Ray Doyle)

True freshman Andrew Cohen had a big impact this year (Photo Geoff Ruth)

Linebackers

Entering the season, although young, the linebacker position seemed to be in good shape with plenty of talent. Mike Labor and Ronell Williams were tabbed as the starters, with Mike Culbreath and Drew Persa serving as backups. But Labor got hurt at California, missed several games in the middle of the season and played sparingly in the final two contests. Despite his limited number of games, Labor tallied 48 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2 pass breakups and a forced fumble. Persa got injured at East Stroudsburg and missed the remainder of the season. Culbreath (47 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2 pass breakups) incurred an injury at East Stroudsburg, but played through it, including a huge 14 tackle effort against Shippensburg, and only missed the final contest at Clarion. Williams managed to play every game and registered one of the best seasons ever for a West Chester linebacker. His 119 total tackles was 14th best in Division II, best in the PSAC, and most by a West Chester player since Lee Woodall's 140 in 1993. His 80 assisted tackles is second best in a West Chester season (Bill Edgar had 87 in 1973) and he also had three interceptions, 7.0 tackles for loss, a pass breakup, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry. For his stat packing season, Williams was named first-team All-PSAC East.

Ronnell Williams was named All-PSAC East first team at linebacker (Photo Ray Doyle)

Drew Persa had an injury shortened season (Photo Ray Doyle)

Secondary

The secondary was the most experienced unit coming into the season, but they were playing in a slightly new alignment and had their own injury issues. Ironically, senior co-captain John O'Donnell was not among the injured. O'Donnell, who had suffered game-missing injuries over the past two seasons, had a tremendous season from his safety position - 59 total tackles, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries, two pass breakups and three defensive touchdowns. O'Donnell's season was good enough to garner second team All-PSAC East honors. Joining O'Donnell at safety was his fellow classmate and co-captain Carl Barnes (58 total tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups and 1 quarterback hurry). Playing in the newly created rover position was former quarterback Matt Carroll (37 total tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble and 1 quarterback hurry). Carroll also moved to safety for the couple of games that Barnes missed due to injury. Backup rover Shawn Krautzel (62 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 3 pass breakups and 1 forced fumble) earned All-PSAC East honors as a defensive back. Senior safety Mike Lonergan (8 total tackles, 1 interception for a touchdown) incurred a season-ending injury in the fourth game of the season.

John O'Donnell had three defensive touchdowns this season (Photo Ray Doyle)

Shawn Krautzel earned All-PSAC East honors as a defensive back this year (Photo Geoff Ruth)

Mike Lonergan scored a touchdown in an injury shortened season (Photo Ray Doyle)

Matt Carroll moved to the defensive secondary this season (Photo Ray Doyle)

As expected, the corners were anchored by senior Bob Sabol (48 total tackles, 1 interception, a team-leading 12 pass breakups and 1 blocked kick) and sophomore Al-Hajj Shabazz (38 total tackles, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble and 1 pass breakup), although sophomore Dante Devine (38 total tackles, 4 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles) saw significant playing time as well.

Overall

The new 4-2-5 defensive alignment was installed to improve the team's performance against the run and it did just that. The Golden Rams went from yielding 180 yards per game on the ground last year (107th in Division II) to just 126 yards per game (35th in Division II). The price that was paid was passing yards which increased from 190 yards per game (46th in Division II) to 249 yards per game (125th in Division II). However, that five defensive back umbrella surrendered only six passing plays of 35 yards or more, three of which came in the first two games when the team was still adjusting to the defense and one which came in the final quarter at Clarion, and only one rushing play of 35 yards or more all season. And scoring defense, which is what really matters, improved from 26 points per game (71st in Division II) to 24 points per game (53rd in Division II). The defensive sack number did not change significantly as the Golden Rams still rank 89th in Division II in this category with 1.9 sacks per game.

Al-Hajj Shabazz, Carl Barnes, Demrick Cook, and Mike Culbreath show the team aspect of the West Chester defense (Photo Ray Doyle)

Ronnell Williams led the PSAC in tackles, while Mike Labor and Bob Sabol were also instrumental in the Golden Ram defense (Photo Ray Doyle)