2016 Spring Game Report - Purple 26 - Gold 20

Some observations from today's Purple-Gold game which was won by Purple 26-20:

• Everyone who was interested to see Andrew Derr at quarterback will have to wait until the fall. The signal caller was wearing a boot on his right leg. Pat Moriarty led the Purple in the first half while Alec Werner ran the Gold in the second half. Those two split time with Paul Dooley who played for Gold in the first half and Purple in the second half.
• All three quarterbacks showed they had the ability to scramble. And they needed to as, much like last week's scrimmage, the defensive pass rush had it going on in this game.
• It's always fun to watch 5'7" Jarel Elder run over a defender, even when it's a teammate.
• ECAC Defensive Rookie of the Year Shaquil James was shaken up on the first play and did not return. Offensive lineman Shareef Clinton did not dress and was in a sling.
• A couple of first half PAT's were missed, but it looked like it wasn't Brendan Paulison's fault. This is the first time Charles Kuklinski hasn't long snapped for the Golden Rams in four seasons.
• It seems Eerin Young is full time at wide receiver as he made several nice catches on the afternoon. And tight end Connor McGrath continued to make tough catches and pickup extra yards. With Tim Brown now departed, expect McGrath to see the field more. Tyler Karpinski tallied 147 yards and two touchdowns receiving.
• Mike Catalano applied pressure on a blitz and forced Werner into a throw he should not have made. Jaishan Thornton was the beneficiary of the play and made the open interception.
• In the two-minute drill before halftime, McGrath and Jim Hurley had catches on consecutive plays. Each were on a route that led to the sideline and the pass was on target, but neither made it out of bounds which cost time on one and a timeout on the other.
• A third-and-goal situation required a timeout, but it paid off when Mark Dukes ran it in. A Werner to Dukes pass made up for Gold's missed PAT.
• The passing game opened up in the second half. Moriarty hit Shannon Mayer for 58 yards and on the very next play, Elder pranced into the end zone from 11 yards out. On the ensuing possession, Werner hit Young for 36 yards. On the next play, the two connected for 16 more yards. The third time was not a charm as Ryan Pannella stepped in for the interception.
• California transfer Quintin Smith, who was previously reported as part of this year's recruiting class, is actually already in school at West Chester and saw plenty of time at cornerback with his gold shoes.

Tyler Karpinski with one of his six catches (Photo Ron Hockman)

Mike Catalano pressures Paul Dooley (Photo Ron Hockman)

Mark Dukes gets around Corey Kelley (Photo Ron Hockman)

Gang tackling was the order of the day (Photo Ron Hockman)

Jarel Elder picks up the edge pass rush (Photo Ron Hockman)

The 2016 recruiting class was introduced at halftime (Photo Ron Hockman)

Purple Zone Pictures has two photo albums from the game, one for the first half and one for the second half.

West Chester Athletic Site - Purple Tops Gold In Spring Game By A Touchdown, 26-20

CBS Philly.com- Spring Practice In The Books For WCU Football