Golden Ram Football Club: Game Report - West Chester 33

The Golden Rams overcame a mistake riddled first half to top the Lock Haven Bald Eagles 33-9 in front of almost 300 fans in Hubert Jack Stadium. The weather wasn't nearly as bad as the play during the first 30 minutes as West Chester trailed 9-6 with less than a minute left to play in the first half.

Some of the miscues in the first 30 minutes? The offense had a three-and-out to open the game, a lost fumble on the ten yard line, 127 yards of offense, 1 of 11 on third down and a slew of dropped passes. The defense gave up 257 yards of offense, a 4-play, 56-yard touchdown drive immediately followed by an 81-yard drive that resulted in a field goal, and 12 first downs. Special teams missed a PAT which invoked a fear to attempt a chip shot field goal, and a shanked 28-yard punt. Fortunately, Lock Haven matched West Chester’s level of incompetency in the first half.

After Lock Haven scored what turned out to be their only touchdown of the game on their first possession, they converted the PAT but it was negated by a false start penalty. Pushed back five yards and attempting the try again, the holder couldn’t handle the snap and the conversion failed. Brandon Monk took the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, aided by Jarel Elder’s block of two players. When the PAT sailed wide, the game was tied at six.

Brandon Monk returned a kickoff 96 yards for a TD (Photo Ron Hockman)

West Chester had a couple of opportunities to gain some momentum when Pete Galiano’s interception and Mike Catalano’s blocked punt gave the Golden Rams good field position, but the former ended in a three-and-out and the latter drive stalled at the three-yard line.

Mike Catalano blocked this Lock Haven punt (Photo Ron Hockman)

A turning point came midway through the second quarter when Lock Haven faced a fourth-and-five from midfield. Rather than punt, the Bald Eagles elected to go for it and their pass fell incomplete. After an exchange of possessions that netted zero yards, Brendan Paulison dropped a 46-yard punt on the Lock Haven two-yard line. West Chester stuffed the drive and called timeouts to preserve some time for the offense. It looked like Lock Haven was going to get out of it when Drew Formica was called for defensive holding, giving the Bald Eagles a first down. But rather than run out the final minute, Lock Haven elected to throw the ball and Formica redeemed himself with an interception at the West Chester 41.

Drew Formica's interception setup a field goal (Photo Ron Hockman)

A 25-yard completion to Jim Hurley and a nine-yarder to tight end Tim Brown sandwiched a Lock Haven unsportsmanlike penalty and got the Golden Rams into field goal range. When several attempts to the end zone proved unproductive, Paulison nailed the 32-yard field goal to knot the score at nine at the half.

While both teams desperately needed to clean-up their play in the second half, those cries went unheeded by Lock Haven. The Bald Eagles fumbled on the second play after intermission and George Shipp recovered it. After three Monk carries, Pat Moriarty completed an 18-yard score to Adam Dempsey. A defensive three-and-out set up another Paulison field goal, this time from 31 yards to make the score 19-9.

The West Chester defense continued to clamp down, allowing only two first downs and 38 yards in the entire second half. Andrew Cohen, John Dubyk and Zack Hockman each registered solo sacks. Meanwhile, Moriarty was 10-13 for 160 yards in the second half including touchdowns to Shannon Mayer and Brown, the latter which was set up by a Nydair Rouse interception.