Game Report - #18/#20 Slippery Rock 35 - West Chester 14

By midway through the opening quarter, it appeared that Slippery Rock had the game in their control. Sure Ja'Den McKenzie busted a 23-yard run on the first offensive play of the game, but the next three plays for the Golden Rams totaled negative four yards. The Rock’s opening drive was a steady 89-yard march to the end zone and a 7-0 lead. But West Chester battled back.

Ja'Den McKenzie lowers his shoulder for more yards (Photo Joan Gillen)

Late in the first quarter, the Golden Rams were in Rock territory, but Shane Dooley threw an interception at the 9-yard line. It turned out to be good fortune however. Redshirt freshman defensive end David Blay registered his first career sack at the Rock one. After the quarter ended, Rock got off a poor punt which gave West Chester possession at the Rock 21. This trip into the red zone proved more fruitful as Dooley ran it into the purple turf to knot the score at 7.

The favorable momentum for the purple and gold was short lived. Starting cornerback Obi Anyatonwu was forced to leave the game with an injury, and on the very next play, Rock went after his replacement - who got no safety help – for a 69-yard touchdown pass to give Slippery Rock a 14-7 lead. That score would remain until midway through the third quarter.

D'Shaun Seals makes a leaping catch over the middle (Photo Joan Gillen)

Although a West Chester drive stalled, punter Chris Barbera pinned the Rock at their own 3-yard line. However, the Rock dutifully drove 97-yards to extend their lead to 21-7. And then, the Golden Ram offense completely shut down. The next three possessions went -2, -1 and 9 yards. The Rock tacked on another touchdown, this time consuming over seven minutes to effectively end the game.

Trailing 35-7 with under three minutes to play, Cooper Jordan took over at quarterback. Granted, Slippery Rock defense was probably playing backups, and they certainly weren’t pressuring like they had the entire game, but Jordan did what he was asked and drove the Golden Rams 73 yards for another touchdown for the purple and gold.

In general, West Chester did not perform well. Prior to Cooper’s touchdown drive, West Chester’s longest offensive possession was 35 yards and it did not result in points. Dooley only completed six passes in 18 attempts, threw two interceptions and was sacked four times. With an ineffective WCU passing game, the Rock defense was able to sell out on the running game, holding McKenzie to just 34 yards (recall he had 23 on the first play of the game) and Phil Poquie to 19 yards rushing. Defensively, the Golden Rams allowed over 400 yards and three of Slippery Rock’s five touchdowns came on drives of 75 yards or more.

Phil Poquie uses the block of Bill Martelon (Photo Joan Gillen)

Besides Cooper’s performance on the final possession, another encouraging sign was Dooley’s effective scrambling which bought him time to throw or gain some positive yards. Barbera had a nice game, averaging 44 yards on six punts and dropping two inside the 20 including one on the 3-yard line. And with the Golden Rams backed up on the one, he was able to launch a punt 58 yards. Defensively, cornerback Sterlen Barr had West Chester’s first turnover of 2022 and a key tackle on fourth down to give West Chester possession. Anyatonwu had two pass breakups and linebackers Jackson Taylor and Maurice Beverly each registered six tackles.

Sortable Box Score    Coaches Box Score

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