Taking advantage of a couple of extra days of preparation as well as Shippensburg’s poor pass defense, the Golden Ram offense opened up with a 90-yard touchdown pass from Sean McCartney to tight end Tim Brown. Shippensburg tried to answer with some razzle dazzle as their opening play was a flea flicker which resulted in Sheldon Mayer making a great diving catch on quarterback Ryan Zapoticky ‘s 47-yard pass. However, the Golden Ram defense kept the Raiders off the board on Drew Formica’s fourth-down sack. Shippensburg made short work of getting to the end zone on their next possession with runs of 42 and 25 yards from Blair Brooks.
With West Chester scoring so quickly and Shippensburg showing that they still had the ability to also do so even without starting quarterback Chris Lawshe, the Golden Rams went on a more deliberate 93-yard, 12-play, 4:23 touchdown drive. The Golden Ram defense had been expecting to be facing one of the best quarterbacks in the PSAC in Lawshe and spent the first half in nickel and dime packages. Every defensive back in uniform received significant playing time and with few targets available, Zapoticky was sacked five times in the first half and managed to escape several close calls. Zapoticky would only complete one of his five pass attempts in the third quarter before he was lifted due to an unknown injury. Shippensburg then ran almost exclusively out of the wildcat on one drive. Finally, Lawshe was inserted into the game but did not attempt a pass. As a result, the Raiders rushed 57 times instead of their normal 42 attempts and it took West Chester a little while to adjust defensively to the one-dimensional nature of the Shippensburg offense.
Meanwhile McCartney and the offense picked apart the Shippensburg secondary as he threw for 259 yards and four touchdowns in the first half. Brandon Monk (84 yards) , Eddie Elliott (63 yards), and Jarel Elder (41 yards) all had rushing touchdowns to go along with their yards. Elliott also had three catches for 65 yards and a touchdown. Brown got key blocks from James Colivas and Antoine Bland on a little backside screen that turned into a 21-yard touchdown.
Defensive end Andrew Cohen had another monster game leading the Golden Rams with eight tackles, three tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries. Linebacker Ronell Williams returned to action after missing the last three games due to a knee injury suffered at Seton Hill and logged seven tackles and a sack. Dan Sherry had six tackles and his first collegiate sack to thwart Shippensburg’s late first-half drive.
Special teams didn’t have a particularly good game. Kicker Rich Bruno missed a PAT and a 35-yard field goal attempt. Elder fumbled a fourth quarter punt giving Shippensburg the ball at the West Chester 11-yard line which set up the Raiders’ third touchdown. And Pat McCabe had a rough first quarter as he was flagged for holding on West Chester’s first two kickoff returns and roughing the kicker on Shippensburg’s first punt.
Ultimately it was a big win by a big margin in front of a big crowd and West Chester remains undefeated on the season. But the game also shows how some teams are vulnerable when one key player gets hurt. Think back to last year's game at Shippensburg. And if this year's West Chester team was without McCartney and Derr for some reason, they would surely have Moriarty throw the ball rather than run wildcat or hand off for the better part of the second half.
West Chester Athletic Site - No. 10 West Chester Defeats Ship 55-28 On Homecoming
Shippensburg Athletic Site - Football Rushes For Most Yards in Three Years But Comes Up Short at West Chester
D2football - PSAC Columnist - PSAC Week 7 Headlines
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