Team News - 2024 Scrimmage Report

Just a few of observations from Sunday morning's action:

• The offense is employing a lot of different formations, shifts, and motion. While this is entertaining for fans and potentially confusing for opposing defenses, there might also be some growing pains of illegal procedure penalties and busted plays.
  
• There seemed to be an emphasis on the offensive run game and both Dayshawn Jacobs and Jayden Williams had success. The question is if this was an effective offensive line or lack of improvement on a defense that allowed almost 200 yards/game last season which was 14th in the conference.
  
• Cooper Jordan remains the top quarterback and completed one long pass to Rahiem Bowens, but Ethan Kohler looked sharper and made better decisions. Jordan's elusiveness and speed are likely more valuable in this offense.
  
• There have been several roster changes, including:
  • defensive back Abdul Stewart played in 29 games for Maine making 48 tackles to go with three interceptions and five passes defended last season.
  • running back Juke Peaker replaces wide receiver Seth Degree on the roster. He had 33 carries for 184 yards and a score for Old Dominion in 2021.
  • defensive back Jamir Reyes joins the roster after spending one season at Army.
  • defensive back Zaire McLaurin joins the roster after making 25 tackles and collecting two interceptions last season at nearby Eastern.
  • defensive back Elijah Beaty spent last season at Virginia State after turning down offers to Seton Hill, Millersville, Kutztown, Lock Haven and Morehead State.
  • linebacker Johnny Pergine joins West Chester after spending a walk-on season at Temple in 2022 and seeing limited action at Robert Morris last year.
  • linebacker Khadir Rowe was first team All-Public at Northeast but did not appear in a game last season for IUP.
  • offensive lineman Charles Sheppard redshirted his freshman season last year at PSAC East rival Kutztown.
  • speedy Sy Burgos moved from running back in high school to slot receiver at IUP, but did not see game action there and expects to remain a receiver for the Golden Rams.
  • running back Kendell Cottrell no longer appears on the roster.
• With Jordan and Kohler occupying the quarterback spot, Brody McAndrew has moved to H-back where he is more likely to see the field.
• As the contest went on, the defensive pressure intensified with the most celebrated play being freshman defensive end Nicholas Rogers getting a pick six on a short dump pass.

West Chester opens the season at home against Bentley on Saturday, September 7. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.

WCU Football Family - Photo Album - Scrimmage

Golden Rams Review - Photo Album - Scrimmage

Alumni News - Lex Rosario Named First Team All-IFL

Former Golden Ram wide receiver Lex Rosario has been named first team All-IFL Offense by the Indoor Football League. He had a league-high 84 receptions for 857 yards and 22 touchdowns in his second season with the Tulsa Oilers.

In 2022, Rosario played in 11 games, making 31 catches for 330 yards and eight touhdowns for the Bismarck Bucks. He initially signed with the Tucson Sugar Skulls for the 2023 season, but ultimately signed and played with the Oilers, making 48 catches for 521 yards and 10 touchdowns.

In his four seasons at West Chester from 2016-2019, Rosario made 121 catches for 1,603 yards and 10 touchdowns. The best game of his college career came in his final game in a first-round playoff loss to Notre Dame in 2019 when he hauled in 11 catches for 163 yards and a score. Rosario earned first team All-PSAC East honors in 2018 and led the Golden Rams in receptions and receiving yards in both 2018 and 2019.

IFL - IFL Announces 2024 IFL First Team All-IFL Offense

Tulsa Oilers - Alexis Rosario Named to 2024 First Team All-IFL Offense

Team News - Golden Rams Picked To Finish Fourth in 2024

The West Chester University Golden Rams were picked to finish fourth in the division by the conference coaches at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Football Virtual Media Day. Prior to last season, the Golden Rams were predicted to finish third and actually finished in fourth place behind Kutztown, East Stroudsburg and Shepherd. This is the lowest West Chester has appeared in the preseason list since 2012 when they were selected fourth behind Kutztown, Bloomsburg and LIU Post.

Predicted order with first place votes in parentheses:

Eastern Division
1. Kutztown (6)
2. Shepherd (1)
3. East Stroudsburg (1)
4. West Chester
5. Lock Haven
6. Millersville
7. Shippensburg
8. Bloomsburg

New head coach Duke Greco comes on board to lead East No. 4 @WCUGoldenRamsFB this fall. The Golden Rams return dual threat QB Cooper Jordan, part of 9 returning starters from an offense that ranked sixth in the conference in total offense (356.5 yards per game.)@WCUAthletics pic.twitter.com/AMjFC2LMjr

— PSAC Sports (@PSACsports) August 8, 2024

PSAC Site - Kutztown voted No. 1 in 2024 PSAC Football Eastern Division Preseason Poll

West Chester Athletic Site - West Chester Picked to Finish Fourth in PSAC East Poll

Player News - Seven Golden Rams Receive D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award

Seven West Chester Golden Ram players have received honors for their performance in the classroom for the 2023-24 academic year.

Recipients of the Division 2 Athletics Directors Association Academic Achievement Award are:

• sophomore quarterback Ethan Kohler
• senior linebacker Graham Muscella
• sophomore receiver Zack Gillen
• junior offinsive lineman Luke Vereb
• junior athlete Brody McAndrew
• senior defensive back Shane Mosley
• senior tight end Stone Huffman

In order to be recognized, each player must have completed a minimum of four semesters of college work, have been an active member of an intercollegiate team during the past academic year, and have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.5.

Overall, 133 women and 43 men from West Chester University received recognition. The PSAC was the most represented conference in the country with 1,919 student-athletes honored.

National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics - 2023-24 Academic Achievement Awards

PSAC Site - 1,919 PSAC student-athletes recognized with 2023-24 Division II ADA Academic Achievement Awards

West Chester Athletic Site - West Chester Lands 176 on D2 ADA Academic Honor Roll

Team News - 2024 Roster Changes

With camp opening soon, it's worth taking a look at the latest changes to the roster.

Additions:

The only member of the 2024 unofficial recruiting class not to appear is Lackawanna transfer Roman Brown. Besides the recruiting class, other newcomers that appear on the roster are A.J. Sanders, Tristan Thomas, Collin Skeen and Troy Corson.

Sanders is a 6'2, 250lb defensive lineman who graduated from Cedar Cliff in 2022 and spent some time at Sussex Community College. Thomas may be familiar to Golden Ram basketball fans as the 6'9, 250lb forward from IMG Academy who played for Coach Damien Blair in the 2022-2023 season, although he was not listed on last year's roster. He is listed as a tight end for the football team.

Neither Corson, a 5'9, 175lb wide receiever from Wilson, nor Skeen, a 6'0, 195lb wide receiver who spent 2022 at Seton Hill, currently have a uniform number assigned. After his senior season in 2022, Corson was named the Defensive Back of the Year in Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 and was selected to the Pennsylvania Football Writers All-State Class 6A team on defense, and to the Class 6A PFN Coaches Select All-State Team as a receiver. Skeen was selected to the 2021 Class 4A PFN Coaches Select All-State Team as an offensive athlete.

Not currently appearing on the roster but having issued a commitment is Zaire McLaurin. In high school, the 6'1, 209lb safty was first team All-Catholic and third team All-City as a sophomore at LaSalle, then All-Public as a junior at Northeast. After his senior season in the spring of 2021, he was named Philadelphia Public League Player of the Year and committed to Central Michigan although he never signed with the Chippewas. McLaurin spent the 2021 season with Fort Scott Community College in Kansas and then appeared in ten games for the nearby Eastern University Eagles in 2023.

Departures:

The most notable departures from the roster are offensive tackle Quinton Derr and running back Trey Blair. Derr appeared in every game at WCU in 2019, 2021 and 2022 (2020 was cancelled due to COIVD) and started in 25 of those 34 games at offensive tackle. The team captain missed last season due to an injury. His #75 on the roster remains available. Although Blair spent three seasons at Temple before transferring to West Chester, 2021 was shown to be a redhsirt season with the Owls. Last year for the Purple and Gold, Blair played in just three games and had 18 carries for 158 yards and three touchdowns.

Other departures that appear to have playing eligibility left include offensive lineman Luke Stengel (31 games, two-year starter), defensive lineman Tom Burns (7 games, 11 tackles), defensive back Ben Marsico (2 games, 2 tackles), defensive back Alex Sciarrino (6 games, 1 tackle), freshman running back Grant Hoover, freshman offensive lineman Dylan Croner, freshman offensive lineman Chris Treshock, and freshman linebacker Kyle Schuman.