Game Preview - Millersville

The Golden Rams (1-2) look to even their record when they travel to Millersville (0-3) on Saturday. Kickoff at Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium is scheduled for 1:00pm.

Series History:
West Chester leads the overall series 65-17. Golden Ram head coach Bill Zwaan remains perfect against the Marauders in his 12 years at West Chester. Head coach Greg Breitbach (2-23) is in his third year at the helm of the Marauders. So far this season, Millersville lost to Division III Ursinus in a five overtime affair, before falling on the road to both undefeated Clarion and Slippery Rock.

Last 10 Meetings:

Year	H/A	W/L	Score	Year	H/A	W/L	Score
2005	Away	Win	27-7	2010	Home	Win	45-14
2006	Home	Win	54-27	2011	Away	Win	49-13
2007	Away	Win	42-14	2012	Home	Win	56-14
2008	Home	Win	41-10	2013	Away	Win	48-3
2009	Away	Win	63-10	2014	Home	Win	62-7

Last Meeting:

09/27/2014 West Chester 62 - Millersville 7

The Golden Rams dominated on both sides of the ball in a rout of the Marauders on Family Day in West Chester. Eddie Elliott, Brandon Monk and Jarel Elder each rushed for at least 60 yards and a touchdown. Shannon Mayer and Jim Hurley each had at least three catches for a total of 50 yards or more. Drew Formica had nine total tackles and Kevin Malone had six solo tackles. Andrew Cohen had a field day - six tackles, two sacks, one pass breakup and two quarterback hurries. The defense logged a total of ten tackles for loss.

Scouting the Opponent:

Redshirt freshman Blake Cahill started the season at quarterback, he split time with classmate J.J. Paige against Clarion, and yielded almost all of the playing time to Paige last week at Slippery Rock. In his short playing time, Paige (24 of 43 for 231 yards, 2 TD's, 2 int's) has shown to be more effective than Cahill (14 for 47 for 69 yards, 1 TD and 1 int). Sean Quarterman (9 catches for 68 yards and 1 touchdown) and Kevin Wiggins (10 catches, 64 yards) are Millersville's top receivers, although freshman running back Phil Overton (8 catches, 70 yards, 2 touchdowns, 113 yards rushing) is their go-to guy.

Millersville's defense does have five interceptions, led by safety P.J. Santos (10 tackles, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery). They also lead the PSAC in sacks with 14 as a team, led by linebackers Sene Polamalu (11 total tackles, 2.5 sacks), Sean Dugan (19 total tackles, 2.0 sacks), and Brandon Lopez (12 total tackles, 2.0 sacks). Logan Kinser (11 total tackles, 2.0 sacks) leads the defensive line. Safety Rasheed Johnson (34 total tackles) is among the conference leaders in total tackles and cornerback Joey Pham is among the PSAC leaders in passes defended with four. Punter Evan Stahl is averaging 39 yards per punt while forcing five fair catches and landing five inside the opponents' 20.

Analysis:

Millersville ranks last in the PSAC in almost every offensive category - scoring, rushing, passing, total yards, first downs, and third down conversion rate - so the Marauders appear to be just what the Golden Ram defense needs. Then again, with West Chester yielding over 38 points per game, Millersville may be thinking West Chester's defense is just what they need as well. The Marauders have a total of four touchdowns after their first three games; Elder had four touchdowns by himself against Seton Hill. Millersville also ranks last in the conference in sacks allowed with 14 through three games, so look for Cohen to extend his West Chester career record. West Chester has won the last eight meetings by an average score of 51-10 and there's no reason to think this year should be much different.

Notes - There is one change to the depth chart for the Millersville game. Cohen has been moved to defensive end, the position that he played last year. This has likely been done to improve the thus far anemic pass rush, as West Chester has registered only three sacks this season, which is near the bottom of the conference. This is bad news for sophomore John Dubyk and redshirt freshman Ch'aim Smith who will drop down on the rotation. The beneficiary of the move will be sophomore tackle Josh Ganzelli who will assume Cohen's position in the middle. Despite seeing limited minutes through the first three games, the 300lb Ganzelli is seventh on the team in tackles with 11, including two tackles for loss.

Game Coverage:

Live Stats   Audio  

PSAC Site - Football - Week 4 Notes

Millersville Athletic Site - Marauders Return Home to Host West Chester

philly.com - Withler Marcelin chose football, and that's good for Rowan

KYW Newsradio - West Chester Visits Millersville Saturday

Daily Local News - Millersville comes at the right time for WCU

D2football - PSAC Columnist - Previewing Week 4 in the PSAC