The Golden Rams' special teams had special players in 2013. Kicker
Shawn Leo and punter
Rich Bruno received postseason accolades and return man
Brandon Monk certainly was worthy. Here's a more detailed look at the special teams units.
Punts and Coverage
Rich Bruno did not receive PSAC honors mainly due to the fact that he did not punt enough times to qualify being listed in the individual rankings, however, he had an incredibly effective season. West Chester was among the top teams in the country in net punting average and finished the season ranked #19 in that category with a 36.7 yards average. With seven punts against Shepherd and five against Lenoir-Rhyne, Bruno finished with 54 punts on the season which met the minimum requirement of 3.6 punts per game to be listed among the individual leaders. Unfortunately, his final two punts of the year in the slop in North Carolina were only 26 and 10 yards and his average fell to 39.5 yards per punt which landed him #44 in the nation. Of those 54 punts, only five were returned for positive yards, seven went 50 yards or more, only five made their way into the end zone and 12 were fair caught. Also, 15 landed inside the opponents 20 yards line, none more memorable than his final boot at Shepherd that pinned the Rams on their own one-yard line. Bruno was named second team Daktronics All-Super Region 1.
Kickoffs and Coverage
Kickoff coverage was an area of concern in 2013. Because West Chester scored so much and went so deep in the playoffs, the Golden Rams kicked off 105 times this season, and often it left fans holding their breath. The actual kickoff task was shared by Bruno (40 kickoffs) and Leo (65 kickoffs). Although opponents averaged less that 20 yards per return on the season, many times shorter returns or even fair catches were due to West Chester employing short, high kickoffs which hastened possible returns. The most notable plays were California's kickoff return for touchdown and American International's return to the Golden Ram 11 which setup their only score of the game. And Gannon had kickoff returns of 61 and 57 yards in the shootout in Erie in September.
Kick and Punt Returns
As a team, West Chester was ranked among the best in the country in both kickoff returns (#29 with a 22.4 yards average) and punt returns (#26 with a 13.3 yard average).
Brandon Monk handled a majority of the return duties for West Chester in 2013 and finished ninth in the nation in kickoff returns with a 29.7 yard average. The most significant one was his kickoff return for touchdown against California which provided an immediate and stunning answer to the Vulcans' kickoff return for touchdown which happened on the previous play. While Monk averaged 12.4 yards per punt return, he only had 16 returns which was not enough to get him list among the national leaders. One area that could use improvement is ensuring that more punts are fielded as too many were left to roll which cost the Golden Rams valuable field position.
Kick Scoring
It's somewhat ironic that kicker
Shawn Leo had his worst season from a field goal percentage perspective, but was arguably the best kicker in the PSAC this year. Leo was 16 of 24 on field goals and his 66.7% conversion rate was good for 31st in the nation. Leo only missed one PAT and his 70 PAT's made is the second best season ever in the PSAC. Only two kickers in the country had more than his 70 successful PAT's this year. His 7.9 kicking points per game was best in the conference and his 118 kicking points this season is tied for the most ever in one season in the PSAC. Leo was named second team All-PSAC east and set many
school records, although he'll most likely be remembered for his game winning 26-yard field goal into the wind with one second left at Shippensburg.
One final special note is for long snapper
Charles Kuklinski and Bruno who served as Leo's holder this season. Unfortunately these tasks are often taken for granted, but think back to the California game when the Vulcans' punt snap went over the punter's head resulting in a fumble that was recovered by
Kayo Bakare. Or how about at Shepherd when their holder got a case of the yips and failed to cleanly place the ball on a 25-yard field goal attempt. The Golden Rams had no such issues in the kicking game which certainly played a part in the success of the season.
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