Golden Ram Football Club: Game Preview

West Chester University (2-3, 1-1) celebrates Community Day when it welcomes Shippensburg (4-1, 2-0) to John A. Farrell Stadium. Kickoff for the televised game is scheduled for noon.

Series History:
West Chester leads the overall series 25-11-1. In his 13 years at West Chester, Bill Zwaan is 10-4 against the Raiders. Shippensburg head coach Mark Maciejewski is in his sixth season and holds a 43-19 record.

In the final regular season game of the 2004 season, Shippensburg knocked off the Golden Rams at Farrell Stadium in overtime. But two weeks later in the second round of the NCAA playoffs, West Chester avenged that loss in Shippensburg. West Chester took the next four contests during the Golden Rams' run of qualifying for the NCAA playoffs from 2005-2008. Shippensburg won in 2009 and went on to win the PSAC championship that season.

In one of the most memorable games in West Chester football history, Golden Ram quarterback Sean McCartney made his first collegiate start and threw for 444 yards and five touchdowns to lead West Chester to a 44-43 victory in two overtimes in a nationally televised Thursday night game in 2010. The following year, West Chester laid a 52-17 loss on the Raiders, but Shippensburg returned the favor in 2012, beating West Chester 42-24 on homecoming at Farrell Stadium and continued on to the PSAC championship game and the NCAA playoffs that year. In 2013, Shawn Leo booted a 26-yard field goal with one second left to give West Chester the thrilling victory.

Last 10 Meetings:

Year	H/A	W/L	Score	Year	H/A	W/L	Score
2006	Home	Win	24-0	2011	Away	Win	52-17
2007	Away	Win	34-29	2012	Home	Loss	42-24
2008	Home	Win	25-7	2013	Away	Win	32-29
2009	Away	Loss	24-19	2014	Home	Win	55-28
2010	Home	Win	44-43 2OT	2015	Away	Loss	27-11

Last Meeting:

10/17/2015 Shippensburg 27 - West Chester 11

The Golden Rams dominated the game on both sides of the ball in every category but two: turnovers and score. In front of almost 8,000 people in Shippensburg, the defense held the Raiders to 275 total yards and just 12 first downs. Conversely, the Golden Ram offense ran up 402 yards and 23 first downs. But due to interceptions and special teams, all of Shippensburg's five scoring drives started in Golden Ram territory.

Pete Galiano led the defense with eight tackles while Ralph Reeves had seven tackles and a sack. For the offense, Tyler Karpinski had six catches for 63 yards. Pat Moriarty (19 of 38 for 244 yards, 1 TD, 3 int) played most of the game while Alec Werner (5 of 9 for 43 yards) played in three series in the third and fourth quarter.

Scouting the Opponent:

Quarterback Ryan Zapoticky (96 of 146, 1,159 yards, 4 TD's, 4 int's) is one of the top signal callers in the league, but left last week's game at Lock Haven with an injury. His replacement last week, Chase Yocum (3 of 6, 41 yards) only threw the ball five times in that game, but the Raiders scored 28 of their 38 points off Lock Haven turnovers. If Zapoticky can't go, expect to see a lot of running backs Justin Pyle (76 carries, 366 yards, 2 TD's) and Penn State transfer Cole Chiappialle (64 carries, 268 yards, 6 TD's). Pyle (26 catches, 230 yards) leads the team in receptions while Chiappialle (12 catches, 110 yards) is fourth. The top wide receivers are Seton Hill transfer Erik Kerns (21 catches, 318 yards, 2 TD's) and Mike Brown (12 catches, 120 yards). Right guard Hayden Rigo and left tackle Schuyler Harting were All-PSAC East a season ago.

All-PSAC East kicker Billy Deane handles all of the legwork for the Raiders. He's perfect on 17 PAT's this season and 9 of 13 on field goals with a long of 43. Deane averages 36 yards per punt, forcing 10 fair catches and landing seven inside the opponent 20. Chiappialle averages over 10 yards per punt return and also handles kickoff returns.

The Shippensburg defense is led by reigning PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week and IUP transfer, linebacker Allen Holman (36 total tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles). Pressure up front comes from All-PSAC East defensive end Richard Nase (13 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 9 QB hurries). The secondary is stocked with cornerback Kevin Taylor II (25 total tackles, 1 int, 6 pass breakups, 1 fumble recovery for TD) and free safety D.J. Burkey (26 total tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, 4 pass breakups).

Analysis:

When two teams are so evenly matched offensively and defensively, outcomes are often determined by three other factors: turnovers, penalties, and special teams. These do not bode well for the Golden Rams.

West Chester has yet to lose a fumble this season, but has thrown 13 interceptions. Meanwhile, West Chester has managed to generate nine takeaways - four interceptions and five fumbles. On the other hand, Shippensburg has thrown only four interceptions and lost one fumble while defensively causing six interceptions and recovering five fumbles. So in the turnover department, West Chester is -4 and Shippensburg is +6.

In the area of penalties, West Chester has the fourth most yards in the PSAC with almost 85 yards per game while Shippensburg is at the very bottom of the list at 46.6 yards per game. Compounding this is the fact that West Chester's opponents are only flagged for 45 yards per game, least in the conference while the Raiders' opponents are penalized 60 yards per game.

Finally, Shippensburg's special teams is better than West Chester's in the area of kick off coverage (Deane has seven touchbacks), field goals (Deane is 9 of 13 with a long of 43) and punting (Shippensburg has allowed seven total return yards this year to West Chester's 81).

The one wild card is the status of Shippensburg starting quarterback Zapoticky. Although he only had 67 yards passing in the first half last week against Lock Haven, the Raiders only threw the ball fives times the entire second half with Yocum under center.

Atomic Football gives Shippensburg a one-point edge while Massey Ratings favors the Raiders by three.

Notes:
The depth chart shows that captain Ralph Reeves is still out and will be replaced again by linebacker Steven Denby, but left tackle Doug Gilbert, who left the Kutztown game early with a leg injury, is expected to start.