Golden Ram Football Club: Game Preview

The Golden Rams (6-2, 4-1) welcome the East Stroudsburg Warriors (2-6, 1-4) for homecoming at John A. Farrell Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 pm on Saturday.

Series History:
West Chester leads the overall series 60-22 and Golden Ram head coach Bill Zwaan is 12-3 against the Warriors, including two wins in the Poconos in 2004. In the first matchup that season, the Golden Rams blocked a PAT in overtime, then scored a touchdown and won the game on Dan Wilbourne’s converted PAT to hand then #7 East Stroudsburg their first loss of the season in front of a homecoming crowd of almost 6,000. The second game came on a frigid and blustery November afternoon in the NCAA regional finals. With a crowd of over 7,200 on hand, current West Chester running backs coach Osagie Osunde ran for 144 yards and three touchdowns as the Golden Rams handed East Stroudsburg their second loss of the season.

The following year, West Chester tipped the #6 ranked Warriors, 18-17, in muddy Farrell Stadium. 2005 was the last season that Farrell Stadium had natural grass. In 2009, East Stroudsburg ruined West Chester’s homecoming 21-20. The Golden Rams failed to convert a PAT early in the game and a 35-yard field goal late in the game. It's the only time that East Stroudsburg has won at West Chester in the past dozen years. The Warriors are led by head coach Denny Douds who is in his 44th season at the helm.

Last 10 Meetings:

Year	H/A	W/L	Score	Year	H/A	W/L	Score
2007	Home	Win	30-15	2012	Away	Loss	35-28
2008	Away	Win	34-24	2013	Home	Win	34-20
2009	Home	Loss	21-20	2014	Away	Win	35-24
2010	Away	Win	35-31	2015	Home	Win	41-27
2011	Home	Win	37-26	2016	Away	Win	41-14

Last Meeting:

10/30/2016 West Chester 41 - East Stroudsburg 14

The Warriors scored a touchdown on their opening possession, but the Golden Rams answered right back to knot the score in the first six minutes. Tyler Karpinski caught a touchdown pass from Pat Moriarty just before halftime to give West Chester a lead they would not relinquish. But it wasn't until the fourth quarter that West Chester pulled away, outscoring East Stroudsburg 21-7 in the final period, topped by a Nydair Rouse 28-yard pick six.

As is often the case, West Chester ran the ball often against the Warriors with Jarel Elder racking up 118 yards and two touchdowns and the offense held the ball for over 36 minutes. Shaquille James led West Chester with seven tackles, while Deionte Wilson and Kevin Duggan each registered five stops.

Scouting the Opponent:

The offense is led by All-PSAC East left tackle Michael Fleming. He paves the way for the big Warrior running back Jaymar Anderson (148 carries, 715 yards, 4 TD's). At 6'1", 225 lbs, he's a powerful runner a la Minnesota Viking Chuck Foreman in the 70's and he wears #44 to boot.

The passing game is usually the strong suit for East Stroudsburg, but not so this year. They opened the season with senior quarterback Tim DiGiorgio (52 of 108, 709 yards, 4 TD's, 7 int), but switched to redshirt freshman Ben Moser (60 of 129, 765 yards, 2 TS's, 1 int) after just two games. Moser got hurt during the Millersville game, so they went back to DiGiorgio. But two weeks later, DiGiorgio got hurt against Bloomsburg and they went back to Moser. At 6'3", DiGiorgio, who is slated to start, is a prototypical pocket passer with a strong arm and more experience while the 5'11" Moser, who played in high school with current West Chester receiver Jalik Smith, will move around much more and puts a lot of air under the ball.

Their fleet of receivers are very similar - small, but fast. Top target is 5'9" Tim Wilson (42 catches, 683 yards, 3 TD's) who was All-PSAC East last season. But 5'8" Devante Robinson (11 catches, 154 yards, 1 TD), 5'9" Elijah Rehm (8 catches, 119 yards, 1 TD), 5'11" Javier Buffalo (7 catches, 95 yards), and 5'8" Jylil Reeder (10 catches, 104 yards, 1 TD) all get into the act.

Punter Sam O'Brien (38.8 avg) has forced 17 fair catches and is second in the PSAC with 16 punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line. Kicker Jordan Walters is 6 of 10 on field goals with a long of 33 yards, and has converted 14 of 15 PAT's. Marquis Fells is the primary kick and punt returner.

The linebacking corp is the strength of the Warrior defense, led by Dakota Everett (65 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 4 blocked kicks) who is fourth in the PSAC in tackles. He plays alongside Sekou Jones (65 tackles, 7.0 TFL) and Mike Wiand (57 tackles, 3.0 TFL) who was All-PSAC East a year ago. The secondary is guided by safety Justin Johnson (52 tackles, 3.0 sacks, 6 forced fumbles) and cornerback Jamal Cooley (39 tackles, 3 int, 2 forced fumbles).

Analysis:

East Stroudsburg is historically known for scoring a lot of points, but also giving up a lot of points. Well this season, they're not even scoring that much, just 15.5 points per game which is second to last in the PSAC. The offense is second to last in the PSAC in total yards and has allowed a league-worst 24 sacks. So the Golden Ram defense should be in for a big day as long as they stay honest and don't fall prey to the misdirection.

The Warrior defense is equally poor against the run and the pass, allowing 476 yards per game which is worst in the PSAC East. They've only registered ten sacks on the season, and only three have come from the defensive line. The one area where East Stroudbsurg does excel is in their 24 takeaways - 8 interceptions and 16 fumbles - which is tops in the country.

For the Golden Rams, take care of the ball, minimize penalties, and control the clock and add another win for the season.

Both Atomic Football and Massey Ratings project a 42-14 Golden Ram victory.