Game Report - West Chester 41 - Lock Haven 16

After beating Lock Haven 41-16, the Golden Rams have completed the soft stretch in their schedule and remain undefeated after five games. Once again the offense got off to a fast start, scoring 24 points and amassing 334 yards on their five first half possessions. Meanwhile, the defense was more in a “bend but don’t’ break” mode as, although they only yielded one touchdown in the first half, they surrendered 212 yards.

Mike Doty leaps for a second quarter pass (Photo Frank Labor)

Even with the lopsided final score, the final two minutes of the first half could have made it worse. Two big completions took Lock Haven to a first down at the West Chester 21. After an incomplete pass and a stop for no gain, West Chester took a timeout. It was a gutsy move with the opponent deep into Golden Ram territory, but head coach Bill Zwaan obviously had thoughts of another WCU score. Defensive end Andrew Cohen did his part with quarterback hurries on both third and fourth down to force incompletions and give West Chester the ball with 80 seconds to go 80 yards. Sean McCartney completed passes to Jim Hurley, Mike Doty, Tim Brown and Brandon Monk to get to the Lock Haven 11 with 40 seconds left. But after four straight hurry up plays, West Chester called time out to give the offensive line a breather. Unfortunately, it cost the Golden Rams the momentum as three incomplete passes and a holding call set up a fourth and 20 from the Lock Haven 21. When Rich Bruno’s 38-yard field goal sailed wide right, the entire effort was all for naught.

Andrew Cohen drags down the Lock Haven running back (Photo Frank Labor)

McCartney had another big game, tossing for 403 yards and five touchdowns, as did Monk who had 133 yards on just 14 carries and 38 yards on two catches. Eight different West Chester receivers had a catch of at least 20 yards, so it was a big play kind of day. Shannon Mayer and Brown each had five catches and two touchdowns. The defense was led by the usual stars - Mike Labor with 8 tackles, 1.4 TFL, 1 pass breakup, Cohen with 5 tackles, 1 TFL and 3 quarterback hurries, and Al-Hajj Shabazz with 4 tackles and 3 pass breakups. Stepping up nicely were safety Kevin Malone with 7 tackles and Shaquil Ryder with 6 tackles and a sack.

Penalties were a problem for both teams, and many of them were major infractions. Of the ten flags thrown against the Golden Rams, five were of the 15-yard variety and three were for holding. Four of Lock Haven’s first downs were due to penalty and flags played a significant role in the Bald Eagles’ first touchdown.

The Golden Ram defense forces a Lock Haven pass (Photo Frank Labor)

Notes – Farrell Stadium fell silent early in the third quarter when Antoine Bland suffered an apparent head/neck injury and had to be wheeled from the field…Bruno connected on field goals of 43 and 45 yards…Hurley had five catches for 67 yards before leaving the game with an injury…Ted Patton had an interception at the goal line in the fourth quarter…Lock Haven played until the end - trailing 41-9 with under three minutes left in the game, they called timeout when West Chester was faced with a fourth and six… Kevin Duggan saw his first collegiate action and registered a tackle for loss on the last play of the game.

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West Chester Athletic Site - No. 9 West Chester Tops Lock Haven, 41-16

Lock Haven Athletic Site - Football drops PSAC East battle at #9 West Chester