Golden Ram Football Club: Game Report - Millersville 23

Saturday, September 23, 2023

Game Report - Millersville 23 - West Chester 14

The Golden Rams (2-2, 0-1) were dominated on both sides on the ball early and never recovered as the Millersville Marauders (3-1, 1-0) defeated West Chester 23-14 for the first time in two decades. After the first quarter, Millersville had racked up 13 points, 155 yards of offense and 11 first downs. Meanwhile West Chester managed just one yard.

Darrell Brown makes a touchdown saving tackle (Photo Joan Gillen)

While the Golden Ram defense improved in the second and third quarters - forcing five three-and-outs, picking off a Ville pass, and holding the Marauders to just a field goal after a West Chester interception - the offensive woes for the purple and gold continued well into the second half. West Chester's first nine possessions yielded just 62 yards and no points. Then after a touchback gave West Chester possession on their own 20, Trey Blair ripped an 80-yard touchdown run. With the deficit narrowed to 16-7, momentum really seemed to go the Golden Rams' way when Sterlen Barr, Jr. picked off a Ville pass giving WCU possession in Marauder territory. But the offense sputtered once again, aided by an offensive holding penalty.

Tery Blair took this 80 yards to the house (Photo Joan Gillen)

In the fourth period, Millersville managed to chew up the clock and tacked on another touchdown on a fourth-down pass to go up 23-6. West Chester got a quick strike when on the next play from scrimmmage, Cooper Jordan connected with Rahiem Bowens on a 62-yard touchdown pass to set the score at 23-14. But the Marauders continued to run the ball at the heart of the Golden Ram defense to effectively end the game.

It usually took multiple Golden Rams to stop the run (Photo Joan Gillen)

As stated in the opening, both sides of the ball played poorly. The WCU offense managed 229 total yards, but 142 yards came on the two one-play scores and 56 came in the final possession when Millersville was in a prevent defense. Jordan (7 of 19, 85 yards, 1 TD, 2 int) looked unsure throughout the game and netted just ten yards rushing after being sacked six times. The Golden Ram defense couldn't stop the run (270 net yards), couldn't get off the field (Ville ran 87 plays and had the ball for over 36 minutes), and committed bad penalties (three face masks and a pass interference in the end zone).

Rahiem Bowens on his way to the end zone (Photo Joan Gillen)

With Millersville running so much, linebackers Connor Noble (17 TKL, 1.5 TFL, 2 PBU) and Khalib Slaughter (16 TKL) had big days. Besides the interception, Barr also had a pass breakup and an 8-yard sack on a corner blitz, but he also committed the pass interference in the end zone that led to Millersville's first touchdown and was unable to make the stop on their last score.

Other observations:

With safety Shane Mosley out with an injury, true freshman wide receiver Darrell Brown (2 TKL) got the start at strong safety.
After missing two games due to an injury, cornerback Obi Anyatonwu (1 PBU) returned to action for the Golden Rams. Tight end Thatcher Miller was also back after missing last week.
Wide receiver Seth Degree (1 catch, 2 yds) made his first appearance of the season as did Mike Gray.
Brody McAndrew continues to show his versatility. After starting at safety for the first two games, and catching a pass as a tight end last week, he had a two-yard carry today. And he's always out there on special teams.
Midway through the second quarter, offensive lineman Ethan Vargas, who was seeing his first collegiate action, suffered a horrifying injury to his right leg.