The categories are:
- Best offensive performance by the Golden Rams - Gannon.
While the Golden Ram offense churned out 624 yards at Millersville, that was a 48-3 game against a team that finished the season 1-10. But at Gannon, every one of the 612 yards of offense was necessary. The effort included 289 yards and two touchdowns rushing and 323 yards and six touchdowns passing. Only two plays went for negative yards and the loss totaled five yards on the afternoon. The eight touchdowns and 56 points were the most scored against a school not named Cheyney, Millersville or Mansfield since the 62-3 drubbing of Glenville St in 2004. - Best offensive performance by an individual Golden Ram - Rondell White at Gannon.
In West Chester's 56-41 win in Erie, White carried the ball 32 times for 245 yards and two touchdowns. He also led the Golden Rams with seven catches for 87 yards. And for good measure, he completed his only pass of the season, an 18-yard touchdown to Erick Brundidge. White's 338 all-purpose yards were good for the fifth best single game in West Chester history. - Best offensive performance by an opposing team - Bloomsburg regular season.
Everyone most likely remembers the 451 yards on 70 plays that Lenoir-Rhyne posted without throwing a pass, but Bloomsburg put up 572 yards on an eye popping 84 plays at Farrell Stadium. The Huskies rushed 57 times for 310 yards and three touchdowns and completed 16 passes for another 262 yards. Their 28 first downs led to them holding the ball for over 37 minutes in the game. - Best offensive performance by an opposing individual - Liam Nadler - Gannon.
While Bloomsburg's Franklyn Quiteh rushed for 208 yards and two touchdowns in the second round of the playoffs, 94 of those came on just two plays. But in Gannon's 56-41 loss to the Golden Rams, Nadler threw the ball 55 times, completing 34 of those attempts for 371 yards and five touchdowns. All of those were season highs for a West Chester opponent. And despite being sacked five times, Nadler still had seven yards rushing. - Best defensive performance by the Golden Rams - American International.
Defending Northeast-10 champion New Haven had this honor for the regular season, as the Golden Ram defense held the Chargers to 295 yards of total offense and 14 points with their second touchdown coming with 32 seconds left in the game. But the current Northeast-10 champions snatched this award in the playoffs. American International was held to just 13 first downs and 218 yards in the game. And the Yellow Jackets' only touchdown in the contest came on their first possession which required only 11 yards after a long kickoff return. AIC averaged just 1.7 yards per carry and were forced to punt seven times in the game. - Best defensive performance by an individual Golden Ram - Ronell Williams against Kutztown.
Against the Golden Bears, Williams had a season high 15 total tackles, which included seven solo stops. He also notched half a sack, a quarterback hurry and two pass breakups from his linebacker position. A key play was when he and safety Brandon Pepper combined on a tackle at the West Chester two-yard line which later forced a field goal attempt which was blocked. Williams also had another tackle for loss negated by a Kutztown penalty. - Best defensive performance by an opposing team - Shepherd.
Kutztown would have received this honor if games were only three quarters long. But the Shepherd Rams held the Golden Rams to 304 total yards, 19 first downs and 14 points. And after the Golden Rams' first four possessions, West Chester only had 91 total yards, 44 of which came on the last possession after Shepherd threw three consecutive interceptions. - Best defensive performance by an opposing individual - Javier Garcia of Cheyney.
Garcia led his team with six solo, nine assists and 15 total tackles in their 66-14 setback to the Golden Rams. Two of his tackles went for a loss of eight yards. He also forced a fumble and broke up a pass from his linebacker position. - Most memorable game - Shepherd.
The spotlight of a regional final gave the nod to Shepherd over Shippensburg in this category. In a game that was billed as a matchup between Shepherd's defense against West Chester's offense, the Golden Rams took a 14-7 edge early in the second quarter. While the West Chester defense played very well all game, their performance came to light as the game went on. They forced five three-and-outs and two turnovers on downs with one coming on a fumbled field goal attempt. And to top it off, they finished with three consecutive interceptions to advance the Golden Rams to the national semi-finals. - Most memorable single offensive play - Eddie Elliott spin move TD run.
With Harlon Hill finalist Rondell White getting 406 carries this season, sophomore Elliott only had 14 carries this year. So with West Chester up 59-14 at winless Cheyney, and with Brandon Monk having already gotten his touches, Elliott made the most of his opportunity. With four minutes left in the game, Elliott took the hand off on what looked like a simple run-into-the-line-until-the-clock-expires play, but he did a wicked spin move and raced 59 yards to the end zone for his second rushing touchdown of the season. Special mention to the ten-yard pass completion to Camille Max on third and one in the fourth quarter against California. - Most memorable single defensive play - Al-Hajj Shabazz interception.
This is an easy one - Shabazz's interception. But not the one you're thinking of. Yes, his "pick six" at Shepherd sealed the Golden Ram victory in that game, but keep in mind that West Chester was already winning 14-7 and it was a fourth and six play for a Shepherd offense that had been shutdown in the second half. No it was Shabazz's first interception against Kutztown that resurrected a West Chester team in that game and possibly the season. The Golden Rams were trailing 21-10 and had just fumbled the ball to Kutztown at midfield with ten minutes left in the game. But Shabazz's interception gave the ball right back to West Chester which swiftly scored a touchdown to start the comeback in the 22-21 victory. - Most memorable single special teams play - Shawn Leo game-winning field goal.
At Shippensburg, West Chester had come back from an eight point deficit to tie the game at 29. And with just four seconds left, Leo, having already missed two field goal attempts, was called on to attempt another field goal from 26 yards into a stiff wind. Leo converted it with one second left and the Golden Rams remained undefeated on the season. Consideration was also given to Byron Cooper's blocked punt against New Haven and Brandon Monk's kickoff return for touchdown against California. - Most frustrating moment - late interception against Bloomsburg.
This would have gone to the fumbled punt late in the fourth quarter against Kutztown, but that was negated by a kick catching interference penalty against the Golden Bears. So this recognition goes to the fourth quarter pick six in the regular season loss to Bloomsburg. Trailing by ten points, West Chester moved the ball from their own one yard line out to the 44. But on fourth and one, Sean McCartney's pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown which extended Bloomsburg's lead to 31-14. The Golden Rams would go on to lose that game 31-28. Consideration also went to Brandon Monk's fumbled punt in the fourth quarter at Shippensburg after the defense had just forced a three and out with the scored tied. - Best coaching decision - Andrew Derr at QB at Shippensburg
After starting quarterback Sean McCartney got hurt in the first quarter of the Shippensburg game, the coaches turned to Drew Loughery. Loughery's performance started great as he went 4 of 5 for 94 yards. But he then went 5 of 14 for 42 yards with an interception. Derr was brought in with ten minutes left in the game and went 7 of 9 for 105 yards and a 29-yard touchdown to Adam Dempsey. - Worst coaching decision - Not running at Shippensburg
Midway through the fourth quarter at Shippensburg, the Golden Rams had just tied the score at 29 with a two-point conversion pass from Shannon Mayer to Jared Bonacquisti. On the second play of the Raiders' next possession, Brandon Pepper picked off a pass and returned it 34 yards to the Shippensburg 31 yard line. The Raiders had shown little capability of stopping Rondell White as he had already rushed for 157 yards and three touchdowns to that point. But West Chester elected to throw on all three downs - the first resulting in a sack for a two-yard loss, the second being a completion for eight yards and, on third and four, an incomplete pass. This forced a 42-yard into the wind field goal attempt which fell short. - Unsung Offensive Golden Ram - Adam Dempsey
Dempsey's only a sophomore and only 5'9", but he made at least one catch in 14 of West Chester's 15 games this season. His two standout games were a three catch, 93-yard, two touchdown effort in the shootout at Gannon and his six catches for 65 yards performance against East Stroudsburg. For the season, Dempsey logged 37 catches for 526 yards with his longest catch going for 49 yards. Also memorable was his tip drill catch against Clarion. Dempsey also notched 15 tackles on the season. - Unsung defensive Golden Ram - Eric Edwers
Edwers wasn't one of the big names on the Golden Rams' defense, but he was quietly the team's sack leader and fourth best tackler on the team. He and his gold shoes had 26 solo and 49 assists for 75 total tackles this season. That includes 11.5 tackles for loss of which 7.0 were quarterback sacks. Three of those TFL's came in the postseason. Edwers also logged a pass breakup, two quarterback hurries and recovered a fumble. He was named All-PSAC East for his season's performance. - Most impactful newcomer - Tim Brown
Tight end Brown opened the season with a catch at Gannon, three catches against Millersville and a catch against Kutztown. Then he was shelved for five games with a lacerated kidney. So while the Golden Rams were 9-0, Brown had a modest season of five catches for 111 yards and a touchdown. But he was a dominant force in the final six games which included four playoff contests. In the second round playoff game alone, Brown eclipsed his early season total as he had five catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns at Bloomsburg. He finished the season with 20 catches for 495 yards and five touchdowns. Special consideration to Andrew Derr for how he responded when thrown into a tough situation at Shippensburg. - Offensive MVP - Rondell White
White's season and career accolades are well reported, but the one item that stands out the most is the fact that as the leading rusher and receiver on the team, he accounted for 41% of the Golden Ram offense this year with 1,989 yards rushing and 843 yards receiving. He set single season school records for rushing yards (1,989), rushing touchdowns (21), all-purpose yards (3,107), total touchdowns (24), and points (144). - Defensive MVP - Ronell Williams and Mike Labor
Responses poured in for both of these players and it was hard to untangle them. Williams was the team's top tackler in 2013, finishing with 60 solo stops and 50 assists for 110 total tackles. Besides his 15 tackle game against Kutztown, he also logged double digit tackles against California, Shippensburg and in both Bloomsburg games. Williams also had 9.5 tackles for loss including 3.5 sacks. Most memorable were his two interceptions against East Stroudsburg, when the intended receiver was clearly past him, and his leaping pick the following week at Lock Haven.
Meanwhile Labor had 52 solo tackles and 53 assists for 105 total tackles despite sitting out the Cheyney game. He led the team in tackles for loss with 13.0, four of which came in the playoffs. Labor notched a pass breakup, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble. His marquee performance came on homecoming when he had eight total tackles, two sacks and an interception that led to the go ahead touchdown.
Thanks to everyone that participated and for following Golden Ram football in 2013. See you at the banquet on February 1 when the real team awards will be presented.
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