Game Report - West Chester 56 - Gannon 41

“It’s a win.” “It sure wasn’t pretty.” “We’re 2-0.” Those were the sentiments among most of the WCU faithful that made the trek to the northwest corner of the commonwealth to witness the Golden Rams (2-0) dispatch the Golden Knights (1-1) 56-41 on Saturday afternoon.

“It’s a win.” The Golden Rams scored in every quarter and put up 612 yards of total offense. Erick Brundidge had seven catches for 87 yards and three touchdowns. Reigning PSAC-East Offensive Player of the Week Rondell White had another eye-popping performance: 245 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, 87 yards through the air and he hurled one of Brundidge’s touchdowns. Quarterback Sean McCartney outdueled his redheaded counterpart by throwing for 305 yards and five touchdowns, completing 66% of his passes and showing composure under pressure. The WCU defense sacked Gannon QB Liam Nadler four times and forced two turnovers one of which led to a Golden Ram touchdown.

“It sure wasn’t pretty.” The two teams combined for 23 penalties for 208 yards with West Chester accounting for 113 of those yards. The Golden Knights racked up 469 offensive yards, 371 of those through the air. Going into the game, the known most dangerous part of the Gannon game was their kick returns and they averaged, AVERAGED, over 37 yards per return. And Gannon was 10-18 or 56% on third down conversions.

“We’re 2-0.” Bottom line, the Golden Rams are undefeated after two games for the first time since 2003. To have that many penalties and to relinquish so many yards on defense and kick returns and still come out with a win, well, it will make learning from those mistakes this week that much easier.

The Golden Ram defense prepares to take on Gannon's offense

After each team possessed the ball three times, the Golden Rams had 202 yards and 21 points while the Golden Knights managed only 18 yards and one first down. West Chester was dominating on both sides of the ball. But the next three possessions for each team were a mirror image as West Chester managed only 41 yards and Gannon had 138 yards. When McCartney tried to squeeze a screen pass into traffic and it got tipped, intercepted, and returned for a touchdown, Gannon closed the score to 21-20. The frenetic second quarter saw 41 total points scored, including 21 in the last two minutes. With West Chester clinging to a 28-27 lead, McCartney led the Golden Rams on a 9-play, 67-yards touchdown drive in 79 seconds to extend the lead to eight points with just 20 seconds left in the half. It would seem that Gannon would be willing to run out the half, but after Quad Law returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards to the Golden Ram 40, the Golden Knights ran one play and were in position to attempt a 49-yard field goal which went just wide left.

The third quarter turned into a flag fest. West Chester had a 45-yard pass completion called back due to a holding call. Fortunately Justin Caliste tried running prior to catching Rich Bruno’s punt and fumbled it back to the Rams’ Drew Formica. That set up White’s first collegiate pass which found Brundidge in the back of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown. Gannon punted on their next possession and West Chester committed an illegal block on the return. The ensuing drive saw two more holding penalties against the Golden Rams setting up a third and 22 when McCartney threw his second pick of the day. This turnover was not as disastrous since on Gannon’s third play, Andrew Cohen was in the process of sacking Nadler when Ronell Williams ripped the ball out of the quarterback’s arms. Five plays later, White was crossing the goal line for the second time on the afternoon.

Brandon Monk returns a kick against Gannon

Although Gannon’s Jansen Jones amassed 91 yards on the ground, the Golden Knights abandoned the run game as 36 of their final 37 plays were pass attempts. On the other side of the ball, after Gannon closed the score to 49-34, West Chester gave White the ball for five straight carries. Then on third and six, under a heavy blitz, McCartney lofted a 49-yard catch and run touchdown to Adam Dempsey for his second score of the day. But Gannon was not done as the problem that plagued the Rams all day returned again. A 57-yard kickoff return gave the Golden Knights a short field. The WCU defense apparently stopped the drive after a fourth and goal pass completion was stopped on the two, but a pass interference penalty kept the drive alive. The Knights scored on the next play. With only a minute left, Gannon attempted the onsides kick which was recovered by White, but not without another Golden Ram penalty, this time a personal foul as the pile got untangled. But Gannon’s timeouts were no match for White’s running and the game ended quietly.

Golden Rams fans that made the trip to Erie for the game

Notes - Shawn Leo was perfect on his eight PAT attempts. Maybe Alex Walsh’s career record is within reach?...White had a wicked spin move on a 22-yard run midway through the third quarter that brought the crowd to its feet…The Golden Rams sacked Nadler four times…West Chester’s offensive line has yet to yield a sack this season…LaRonn Lee (1 rush for 11 yards, 1 catch for 25 yards) and Eddie Elliott (1 rush for 7 yards) left the game with injuries and did not return...R-Fr defensive back Blaise Schieler led the Rams with nine tackles while Williams, Shawn Krautzel and Mike Labor each had eight.

Sortable Box Score    Coaches Box Score

West Chester Athletic Site - West Chester Out Guns Gannon, 56-41

Gannon Athletic Site - Gannon Football Team Drops Shoot-Out to No. 23 West Chester in Home Opener

GoErie.com - West Chester too much for Gannon

Bert Garbutt - Photo Collage WCU Football vs Gannon

D2football - PSAC Columnist - Reactions from Week 2 in the PSAC