It started out well enough. Slippery Rock opened the game on their own 23 yard line. Aided by an illegal procedure penalty and an Andrew Cohen sack, the Golden Ram defense forced a quick three-and-out. And a short 21-yard punt gave West Chester great field position at the Rock 40. A 29-yard screen pass from Pat Moriarty to Brandon Monk gave the Golden Rams a first down at the 11 yard line. But West Chester would not get a first down or a touchdown on this possession. And when Brendan Paulison’s field goal sailed wide right, West Chester’s chances for any points were dashed…as was the team’s confidence.
Slippery Rock made quick work of the 80 yards ahead of them, scoring in just seven plays and two minutes. For most of the game, West Chester’s defense was just not ready for the Rock’s hurry up offense, as many plays were run with 25 seconds remaining on the play clock. Fortunately, West Chester answered back, using a personal foul, and catches by Tyler Karpinski and A.J. DePietro, the latter a 23-yard touchdown, to get into the end zone. But the PAT failed and West Chester remained at a 7-6 deficit.
A.J. DePietro with a TD catch from Pat Moriarty (Photo Ron Hockman)The Rock’s next three possessions each resulted in touchdowns. Two came on 41-yard touchdown passes while the third was setup by a short field after a West Chester interception. In that time, the Golden Rams mustered only one first down on offense. Trailing 35-6, West Chester moved the ball well in its two minute drill, including tight end Connor McGrath’s first collegiate catch which went for 19 yards. However, the drive would stall as the game moved to halftime. Besides the score, the most telling halftime statistic was West Chester rushing yardage - which was net -4 yards.
Corey Kelley and Drew Formica make a tackle (Photo Ron Hockman)Not much changed in the third quarter as the Rock defense forced three three-and-outs while their offense tacked on two more touchdowns. Trailing 48-6 with four minutes left in the third quarter, the Golden Ram offense had their most productive drive of the game. But even it was not without a gaff. The quarter closed after Jarel Elder converted a key fourth down run to the Rock 26. But after the extended media time out as the teams changed sides, for whatever reason, West Chester was forced to call a time out of their own. At least it paid off as one play later, Moriarty completed a 17-yard touchdown to Eddie Elliott.
Eddie Elliott hauls in a touchdown pass (Photo Ron Hockman)For the game, the Rock dialed up 557 yards of offense while holding West Chester to just 245 yards. In their final games for the Golden Rams, Monk had 173 all-purpose yards, while Elliot and Adam Dempsey had one catch each. Linebacker Ralph Reeves had a game-high 12 tackles. Seniors Barry Lyons and Drew Formica had six and four tackles respectively. And in his final collegiate game, defensive end Cohen notched nine tackles including two sacks to set the school single season record for sacks at 13.5 and the PSAC career sack record at 33.5.
Andrew Cohen with one of his two sacks (Photo Ron Hockman)West Chester Athletic Site - No. 9 Slippery Rock Captures PSAC Championship Game
Slippery Rock Athletic Site - #9 Rock rolls to PSAC title at WCU
post-gazette.com - Slippery Rock repeats as PSAC champ
York Daily Record - Slippery Rock repeats as PSAC football champion
D2football - PSAC Columnist - Slippery Rock Wins PSAC Title
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