West Chester did their usual big first play of the game, this time a 44-yard pass from Sean McCartney to Erick Brundidge. The offense mowed down the field on their opening possession like they have seven times this season with Monk scoring the touchdown on a seven-yard run. However Rich Bruno would miss the ensuing PAT. It was the first of three PAT’s Bruno missed on the day which equals the number he has missed this entire season.
Indiana picked up 32 yards on the ground until the Golden Ram defense forced the Hawks to settle for a field goal. On West Chester’s next possession, they were moving the ball again using a 20-yard completion to Shannon Mayer and a 19-yarder to Eddie Elliott. But then the Golden Rams were hit with a holding and two personal foul penalties on the same play, setting up a first and 50. McCartney got half of it back with a pass to Brundidge, but Bruno would be forced to punt. The Indiana offense would run six more times with one big gain of 30 yards, but eventually the defense would stiffen again.
On West Chester’s next possession, tight end Tim Brown somehow made an incredible one-handed catch on a ball which appeared to be overthrown. The offense fought through another holding penalty and a sack and got down to the three on a Mike Doty reception. But West Chester’s often ineffective short game showed again and they settled for a Bruno field goal to make the score 9-3 in favor of the Golden Rams.
Indiana employed their ground game once again, running the ball ten consecutive times, until they took advantage of their 6’5” tight end over West Chester’s 5’10” Kyle Keyser for a 32-yard touchdown. With the extra point, Indiana took their only lead of the game at 10-9. The Golden Rams promptly moved down the field using Elliot on the ground and a 13-yard pass to Monk for the touchdown. When Indiana’s final 42-yard field goal attempt missed wide right, West Chester would go into halftime leading 15-10.
Indiana returned the opening kickoff of the second half 62 yards, but the West Chester defense forced their first three and out of the game and the Crimson Hawk 48-yard field goal fell short. A couple of possessions later, the yellow flags started flying Indiana’s way. First they were called for roughing McCartney after he completed an 18-yard pass to Brown. And later, after West Chester was granted a first down when Elliott appeared to be stopped short on a third-down run, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for his, well, unsportsmanlike conduct. McCartney capped off the drive with a 13-yard touchdown to Doty, but Bruno’s third missed PAT left the score at 21-10 Golden Rams.
Another defensive three-and-out set up Monk’s heroic punt return to expand the gap to 28-10. And West Chester returned to pooch kickoffs to squelch any chance of an immediate comeback. But the Golden Ram defense that held Indiana to 17 total yards on their first three possession of the second half, began yielding a lot of ground. Indiana would go 75 yards in scoring a touchdown to draw within 28-17. And their next drive went 49 yards before they failed to convert on fourth down. Fortunately the Crimson Hawks’ final two possessions were short lived when Mike Labor forced a fumble and Al-Hajj Shabazz picked off a pass. But unlike last week, West Chester’s offense, thwarted by another holding and personal foul penalty, struggled to run out the clock, gaining just one first down on their final four possessions.
In general, the Golden Ram offense had much more success in the first half than the second, and Monk’s punt return for touchdown likely muted that point. The team’s top three receivers this season were also tops for the game – Doty with four catches for 68 yards and a touchdown, Brundidge with three catches for 79 yards and Brown with three catches for 75 yards. And the running game of Monk, Elliott, Adam Dempsey, and Andrew Derr, piled up 120 yards against a defense that had been allowing only 75 yards per game.
Defensively, Shabazz was one on one with Pitt transfer wide receiver Drew Carswell and held him to just one catch for eight yards. When Carswell lined up in the slot, Cory Scott took responsibility for coverage and had one pass breakup to accompany his eight tackles. Labor had a West Chester season-high 15 tackles to go along with his forced fumble. Drew Formica recovered that fumble and logged ten total tackles. And Andrew Cohen notched his team high ninth sack of the season. Bruno dropped four of his five punts inside the Indiana 20-yard line.
West Chester Athletic Site - No. 17 West Chester Downs IUP, 28-17
Indiana Athletic Site - Crimson Hawks Fall to No. 17 West Chester on Senior Day
Daily Local News - WCU clinches playoff spot by beating IUP
Indiana Gazette - Frustration follows Hawks in finale
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