West Chester's Rasheem James decided to forego a fair catch of the opening kickoff at the goal line which would have given the Golden Rams the ball at its own 25-yard line. Instead he elected to return the kick, but only made it to the 16-yard line. Aggressive? Maybe. Wise? No. Then on the first play from scrimmage, quarterback A.J. Long appeared as though he was not ready for the snap from center Connor Walsh. Gannon flopped on the resulting fumble and three plays later led the game 7-0. It was certainly not the start to the 2018 home opener that everyone was anticipating. Little did we know, it was the last time that Gannon would nudge the scoreboard.
Lex Rosario shakes a tackle en route to a 33-yard touchdown (Photo Ron Hockman)James' second kickoff return made it to the 20, but then two incomplete passes and a sack forced the Golden Rams to punt. The inauspicious started continued. The exchange of punts ensued until midway through the first quarter when Long found tight end Cody Boozel on a little dump pass. However, Boozel had a lot of running room and some great downfield blocking from Lex Rosario to move the ball down to the Gannon 19. Unfortunately, Boozel was flagged for an unsportsmanlike call on the play which pushed the Golden Rams back to the 36. But four plays later, Boozel shook off a Gannon pass interference penalty to haul in Long's pass for a 15-yard touchdown.
Cody Boozel rolls up the sideline with Lex Rosario blocking (Photo Ron Hockman)West Chester scored on each of their next two possessions as well - a 28-yard Andrew Chegia field goal and a Long 7-yard touchdown run. Long would later complete a 33-yard touchdown pass to Rosario to stretch the West Chester halftime lead to 24-7.
Diquan Gilbert takes advantage of a blocked field goal to carry the ballThe final scoring play of the game happened on West Chester's first possession of the second half when Long connected with James on a 40-yard catch and run. After that, many of the disinterested fans went home. As did the Golden Ram offense. The final five possessions went for 15 yards (due to a pass interference penalty against Gannon), 1 yard, -9 yards, 8 yards and 0 yards resulting in four punts and an interception. Fortunately, the West Chester defense continued to play hard, highlighted by two interceptions by Jarey Elder and sacks by both Diquan Gilbert and David Simmons. Gilbert and Ch'aim Smith also shared in a sack.
Jarey Elder makes a leaping interception (Photo Ron Hockman)Notes - Long finished 18 of 29 for 300 yards passing and 14 carries for 47 yards rushing. He accounted for all four West Chester touchdowns - three in the air and one on the ground. James (7 catches, 121 yards, 1 TD), Rosario (5 catches, 72 yards, 1 TD) and Boozel (3 catches, 72 yards, 1 TD) all had big days receiving... Unfortunately, West Chester's three running backs managed only eight yards on 13 carries...Nate Barnes had a game-high 13 tackles while Gilbert totaled nine stops...the Golden Ram defense shut down Gannon's All-American running back Marcus Jones. Consider that last season Jones averaged 8.1 yards per carry and 111 yards per game rushing and scored a total of 29 touchdowns on the ground. On Saturday, West Chester held him to just 62 yards on 20 carries before he was disqualified from the game for a targeting call early in the fourth quarter...reigning PSAC East Special Teams Athlete of the Week Chegia was perfect on four PAT attempts and a 28-yard field goal...Jaishan Thornton blocked a Gannon 42-yard field goal attempt...cornerback Shaquille James made three pass breakups and two tackles...Zach Demarchis and Ryan George made their first career tackles...Mike Wojcik did the long snapping as Shane Griffin did not dress...Jordan Burney did not play, so Thorton moved to safety and Quintin Smith got the start at cornerback.
West Chester Athletic Site - No. 23/25 West Chester Holds Down Gannon, 31-7
Gannon Athletic Site - Gannon Football Falls In PSAC Crossover Tilt At West Chester
Daily Local News - West Chester University football shuts down Gannon for second win
GoErie.com - Long day for Gannon in blowout loss to West Chester
Ron Hockman - WCU Football vs Gannon - First Half Photos
Ron Hockman - WCU Football vs Gannon - Second Half Photos
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