Golden Ram Football Club: Game Preview

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Game Preview - Bloomsburg

The #12 Golden Rams (5-0, 2-0) host the Bloomsburg Huskies (1-4, 0-2) on Saturday in a PSAC East matchup. Kickoff for this televised game is scheduled for noon.

Series History:
West Chester leads the overall series 50-27 and these two schools often play big games. The two schools have met twice in playoffs - 2008 and again in 2013 - with both postseason games played in Bloomsburg. The Huskies took the 2008 contest while the Golden Rams won in 2013 en route to the NCAA Division II semi-finals. The last two matchup have been very close with each team winning on the other's home field. Bloomsburg head coach Paul Darragh is in his sixth season and is 3-4 against the Golden Rams.

Last 10 Meetings:

Year	H/A	W/L	Score	Year	H/A	W/L	Score
2010	Away	Loss	45-21	2014	Away	Loss	41-10
2011	Home	Loss	55-42	2015	Home	Win	33-22
2012	Away	Loss	24-23	2016	Away	Win	27-7
2013	Home	Loss	31-28	2017	Home	Loss	20-19
2013	Away	Win	40-38	2018	Away	Win	17-14

Last Meeting:

10/07/2018 West Chester 17 - Bloomsburg 14

The Golden Rams dominated all of the offensive categories, but two West Chester interceptions led to easy touchdowns as the Huskies took a 14-3 lead into halftime. In the second half, the Golden Ram defense yielded more yards, but no points. And the offense took care of the ball and scored two touchdowns. In retrospect, it was Andrew Chegia's first quarter 30-yard field goal that was the difference in the game.

Receiver Lex Rosario made eight catches for 91 yards while tight end Dan Neuhaus had three receptions for 29 yards. Defensively, Jordan Burney made five tackles and defensive end Ch'aim Smith had a sack.

Scouting the Opponent:

The Husky running game expected to rely on senior Qmac Quiteh (26 carries, 62 yards, 2 TD's), but he's been limited to just two games this seaosn due to injury. So Khalil Nelson (47 carries, 191 yards, 1 TD) and Delaware State transfer Nyfease West (28 carries, 120 yards, 1 TD) have split the running duties. West (15 catches, 103 yards) is also the second leading receiver behind only All-PSAC receiver Michael Allen (26 catches, 330 yards, 2 TD's). Receiver Duffy Gilhool (5 catches, 55 yards, 2 TD's) only has five catches, but two have been to the end zone. Redshirt freshman quarterback Logan Leiby (68 of 133, 662 yards, 4 TD's, 2 int's) leads the offense.

All-PSAC kicker Jaco Sattamini is only doing the punting this year with Cameron Shollenberger handling the place kicking. Allen returned a punt for a touchdown against Edinboro.

Top tacklers for the Huskies are linebacker Alex Annan (36 tackles, 3.0 TFL), linebacker Aaron Trumino (33 tackles, 3.5 TFL) and defensive end and Georgia State transfer Alex Findura (31 tackles, 5.5 TFL). Bloomsburg's eight sacks are distributed over nine different players and three defenders have interceptions.

Analysis:

Bloomsburg's offensive and scoring struggles continue this year, so the West Chester defense should be fine as long as they have another solid outing. Historically the Huskies have had a dominating defense, but that's not the case this season either. But both of those statements could have been said about the past two matchups between these schools, and both have been very close. Thus is the nature of a longtime rivalry like the one between Bloomsburg and West Chester.

Atomic Football projects a 21-point Golden Ram win and Massey Ratings shows a margin of 24. Expect it to be closer.