The game opened as it has so often this season. For the fifth time in six games, West Chester received the opening kickoff and for the fifth time, the Golden Rams went three-and-out. Brendan Paulison was called on to punt and landed a 49-yard kick at the Kutztown 12. Three of Paulison’s punts landed inside the Golden Bear 20 on the day. Andrew Cohen set the tone for the defense with a tackle for loss and a shared sack with Josh Ganzelli to force a Kutztown three-and-out. After a couple of changes in possession, West Chester would see their luck change.
A couple of Jarel Elder (8 carries, 38 yards) runs and a Tim Brown (8 catches, 99 yards) catch got West Chester two first downs. On the next play, Moriarty bobbled the snap, and threw a quick out, but it was batted high in the air. However it dropped right into Jim Hurley’s hands who rocketed up the left side for a 62-yard touchdown to put West Chester up 7-0. Kutztown pulled off two big runs, but their drive stalled and their 35-yard field goal attempt sailed wide.
After the missed field goal, West Chester’s offense opened the second quarter with a long field ahead of them. The drive moved steadily and got down to the Kutztown 11 before Moriarty got sacked which was one of four on the day. Paulison missed the 22-yard field goal attempt, but the play got wiped due to a roughing the kicker penalty. With new life, Moriarty hit a diving Bill Ford with the three-yard touchdown. Paulison’s PAT attempt also sailed wide, so West Chester led 13-0.
Once again, Kutztown moved quickly down the field, but fumbled on the 25-yard line and Barry Lyons recovered it. Three big plays – a 22-yard pass to Eddie Elliott, a 26-yard pass to A.J. DePietro on a diving one-handed catch, and a 29-yard run by Brandon Monk put West Chester at the Kutztown 8. Two plays later, Monk extended the lead to 20-0.
After another exchange of possessions, another Paulison punt pinned Kutztown deep in their own zone with just under two minutes left. The defense did their job and forced a three-and-out, including an open field tackle by Pete Galiano on third down. The Golden Rams used all of their timeouts during the sequence which only consumed 30 seconds, but more importantly, preserved 73 seconds for the West Chester offense. On this possession, it was Shannon Mayer’s turn as he had a 27-yard reception and then a five-yard touchdown catch to make the halftime lead 27-0.
The West Chester defense kept one of the best offenses in the division in check when they opened the second half with another three-and-out. And the good fortunes for the offense continued. Moriarty read a third-down blitz and completed a dump-and-run to Adam Dempsey for the first down. On a third-and-8, Moriarty got flushed out of the pocket and scrambled for the first down. And the drive ended with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Karpinski for his first collegiate score. It looked like the game was going into shootout mode when Kutztown responded with a touchdown in just five plays and 93 seconds, since it was immediately followed by a West Chester touchdown in just four plays and 62 seconds. But the Golden Ram defense stiffened and West Chester took a 41-7 lead into the fourth quarter.
The final period didn’t start so well as West Chester’s punt was blocked and Kutztown returned it for a touchdown. But it was too little too late for the Golden Bears. Paulison tacked on a 23-yard field goal and Eerin Young (5 carries, 58 yards) ran out the clock.
Moriarty sparkled as he finished 30 of 40 for 437 yards and five touchdowns with at least three of those incompletions being intentional when no receiver was open. He completed passes to ten different receivers including himself on a batted ball. Last week’s dropped passes were this week’s great catches. Seven receivers had at least 40 yards on the day led by Brown’s 99 yards and Karpinski’s two touchdowns. Kutztown had ten tackles for loss which makes the 591 yards of total offense more amazing.
The defense was led by Ralph Reeves who had nine total tackles including 1.0 tackle for loss and Cohen who had five total tackles including another sack to extend his school record. The Kutztown passing offense, which came into the game gaining 289 yards per game, was held to just 173 yards. It was the first time this season that Kutztown has been held to under 30 points. And not to be overlooked was Connor Foley’s effort on the day. Foley handled the kickoff chores and lofted them high and deep giving Kutztown an average starting field position after kickoffs on the 25-yard line.
The victory did not come without a price however as injuries were many. Center Devan LaBau and safety Kevin Malone were hurt in the first half and returned from the locker room in street clothes. The second half knocked out both guards - Vince Lostracco and Tyler Drob. The extent of the injuries isn’t known, but a young offensive might also now be thin going into Shippensburg and Bloomsburg.
West Chester Athletic Site - Moriarty's Career Day Propels West Chester To 44-14 Win Over Kutztown
Kutztown Athletic Site - Football Falls on the Road at West Chester
philly.com - West Chester romps behind Moriarty
Allentown Morning Call - West Chester 44, Kutztown 14
Reading Eagle - Kutztown routed by West Chester
No comments:
Post a Comment