Game Report - West Chester 33 - Lock Haven 9

The Golden Rams overcame a mistake riddled first half to top the Lock Haven Bald Eagles 33-9 in front of almost 300 fans in Hubert Jack Stadium. The weather wasn't nearly as bad as the play during the first 30 minutes as West Chester trailed 9-6 with less than a minute left to play in the first half.

Some of the miscues in the first 30 minutes? The offense had a three-and-out to open the game, a lost fumble on the ten yard line, 127 yards of offense, 1 of 11 on third down and a slew of dropped passes. The defense gave up 257 yards of offense, a 4-play, 56-yard touchdown drive immediately followed by an 81-yard drive that resulted in a field goal, and 12 first downs. Special teams missed a PAT which invoked a fear to attempt a chip shot field goal, and a shanked 28-yard punt. Fortunately, Lock Haven matched West Chester’s level of incompetency in the first half.

After Lock Haven scored what turned out to be their only touchdown of the game on their first possession, they converted the PAT but it was negated by a false start penalty. Pushed back five yards and attempting the try again, the holder couldn’t handle the snap and the conversion failed. Brandon Monk took the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, aided by Jarel Elder’s block of two players. When the PAT sailed wide, the game was tied at six.

Brandon Monk returned a kickoff 96 yards for a TD (Photo Ron Hockman)

West Chester had a couple of opportunities to gain some momentum when Pete Galiano’s interception and Mike Catalano’s blocked punt gave the Golden Rams good field position, but the former ended in a three-and-out and the latter drive stalled at the three-yard line.

Mike Catalano blocked this Lock Haven punt (Photo Ron Hockman)

A turning point came midway through the second quarter when Lock Haven faced a fourth-and-five from midfield. Rather than punt, the Bald Eagles elected to go for it and their pass fell incomplete. After an exchange of possessions that netted zero yards, Brendan Paulison dropped a 46-yard punt on the Lock Haven two-yard line. West Chester stuffed the drive and called timeouts to preserve some time for the offense. It looked like Lock Haven was going to get out of it when Drew Formica was called for defensive holding, giving the Bald Eagles a first down. But rather than run out the final minute, Lock Haven elected to throw the ball and Formica redeemed himself with an interception at the West Chester 41.

Drew Formica's interception setup a field goal (Photo Ron Hockman)

A 25-yard completion to Jim Hurley and a nine-yarder to tight end Tim Brown sandwiched a Lock Haven unsportsmanlike penalty and got the Golden Rams into field goal range. When several attempts to the end zone proved unproductive, Paulison nailed the 32-yard field goal to knot the score at nine at the half.

While both teams desperately needed to clean-up their play in the second half, those cries went unheeded by Lock Haven. The Bald Eagles fumbled on the second play after intermission and George Shipp recovered it. After three Monk carries, Pat Moriarty completed an 18-yard score to Adam Dempsey. A defensive three-and-out set up another Paulison field goal, this time from 31 yards to make the score 19-9.

The West Chester defense continued to clamp down, allowing only two first downs and 38 yards in the entire second half. Andrew Cohen, John Dubyk and Zack Hockman each registered solo sacks. Meanwhile, Moriarty was 10-13 for 160 yards in the second half including touchdowns to Shannon Mayer and Brown, the latter which was set up by a Nydair Rouse interception.

Andrew Cohen with his fourth sack of the season (Photo Ron Hockman)

West Chester (3-2, 2-0) hosts Kutztown (3-2, 2-0) on Saturday at 1:00 pm at Farrell Stadium.

Sortable Box Score   

West Chester Athletic Site - West Chester Pulls It Together In Second Half For 33-9 Road Win

Lock Haven Athletic Site - LHU Football falls to West Chester

Daily Local News - WCU turns it on at Lock Haven

D2football - PSAC Columnist - News and Notes from Week 5 in the PSAC

Eastern PAFootball.com - West Chester Pulls Away from LHU in Second Half

Game Preview - Lock Haven

The Golden Rams (2-2, 1-0) look to move above .500 this season when they travel to Lock Haven to take on the Bald Eagles (0-4, 0-1). Kickoff at Hubert Jack Stadium is set for noon on Saturday.

Series History:
West Chester holds a 21-6-1 lead in the series. Current WCU head coach Bill Zwaan is undefeated in his previous four meetings with the Bald Eagles. First year head coach Dave Taynor remains in search of his first win.

Last 10 Meetings:

Year	H/A	W/L	Score	Year	H/A	W/L	Score
1951	Away	Win	35-6	1991	Home	Loss	13-7
1952	Home	Win	74-7	2008	Home	Win	37-6
1954	Home	Win	32-0	2009	Away	Win	43-0
1955	Away	Win	20-0	2013	Away	Win	34-13
1990	Away	Win	28-27	2014	Home	Win	41-16

Last Meeting:

10/04/2014 West Chester 41 - Lock Haven 16

West Chester got out to a quick 24-6 halftime lead and coasted to the 41-16 victory. Brandon Monk ran for 133 yards while Eddie Elliott and Jarel Elder picked up 37 and 30 yards on the ground respectively. Tim Brown and Shannon Mayer each had two touchdown and five total catches to pace the Golden Ram passing game. Defensively Kevin Malone had seven total tackles while Andrew Cohen had five tackles and three quarterback hurries.

Scouting the Opponent:

Defensively, Lock Haven is near the bottom of the conference in almost every category, giving up 237 yards rushing and 256 yards passing. The Bald Eagles do boast three of the PSAC's top ten tacklers in free safety Rahjeir Miles-Eubanks (44 total tackles, 1 interception), cornerback Daniel Strawbridge (39 total tackles, 5 pass breakups) and linebacker Tony Ballon (37 total tackles, 3.0 sacks). Cornerback Tyrai Anderson (17 total tackles) is among the conference leaders with two interceptions and three pass breakups.

Offensively, the ground game is led by running backs Beau Swales (56 carries, 357 yards) and Malyk Harris (25 carries, 147 yards). Quarterback Caleb Walton (38 carries, 80 yards) has their lone rushing touchdown this season. Through the air, Walton is 78 of 142 (54.9%) for 849 yards, 8 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He's also been sacked six times. Walton's top targets are 5'7" Shawn Seif (23 catches, 234 yards, 3 TD's) and David Cook (19 catches, 234 yards, 1 TD).

Kicker Alex Boumerhi is 7 of 8 on PAT's and 3 of 5 on field goals with a long of 34. Punter Bryce Stambaugh has forced nine fair catches on his 19 punts this season. Sief handles both kick and punt returns for the Bald Eagles.

Analysis:

This is the third consecutive year for this analysis "It's hard to imagine a scenario where Lock Haven can beat West Chester other than complete self-destruction by the Golden Rams. Offensively, Lock Haven ranks among the bottom in rushing, passing, and scoring in the conference." Last week, Lock Haven did score 34 points against East Stroudsburg, but that may say more about East Stroudsburg's defense than Lock Haven's offense. Lock Haven had an opportunity to extend their lead on the Warriors with three and a half minutes left, but a 30-yard field goal attempt was blocked. East Stroudsburg scored a touchdown and two-point conversion to take a three point lead with a minute and a half left. Lock Haven's 44-yard field goal attempt with four seconds left went wide left.

From last season - "Expect a big day from Brandon Monk and hopefully some additional touches for Eddie Elliott and Jarel Elder. The passing offense doesn't need to win this game, but do just enough to maintain balance. Defensively West Chester should dominate this game with a big pass rush providing some opportunities for the secondary".

Notes - It's Community Day at Lock Haven and admission to the game is free to all fans.

Game Coverage:

Live Stats   Audio  

PSAC Site - Football Notes Week 5

Lock Haven Athletic Site - Games Notes (Week 5): vs. West Chester

KYW Newsradio - West Chester Looks For Third Straight Win Saturday At Lock Haven

D2football - PSAC Columnist - Previewing Week 5 in the PSAC

Club News - October 1 Meeting

The Golden Ram Football Club will be meeting on Thursday at 7:45pm at Timothy's in the Parkway Shopping Center in West Chester. The meeting will begin immediately following the Bill Zwaan Football Show which is also held at Timothy's starting at 7:00pm. Golden Ram fans unable to attend the show can listen to it live on WCHE1520AM.COM. The meeting will not be broadcast.

According to the Bill Zwaan Football Show, senior everything back Eddie Elliott and senior long snapper Charles Kuklinski will be the special guests on Coach Zwaan's show. In West Chester's 48-3 win over Millersville, Elliott had six carries for 94 yards including a 64-yard touchdown. He also hauled in three catches for another 30 yards. Currently Elliott is second on the team in both rushing yards (202) and receiving yards (199). Kuklinski is in his fourth season as West Chester's reliable long snapper .

Come out to Timothy's at 7:00pm to participate in the show live.

Game Report - West Chester 48 - Millersville 3

Although the final score showed 48-3, it certainly didn’t feel like the Golden Rams dominated the game. West Chester led only 7-0 after the first quarter and the lead didn’t reach 27 until the final minute of the first half. But when Eddie Elliott scrambled his way 64 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second half, it was time for West Chester to run out the clock, which they proceeded to do.

The game did mark a host of “firsts” for the West Chester football team, including:

• First time this season that West Chester kicked off to start the game as they took the wind at their back and the defense forced a three-and-out.
• First touchdown of the season for tight end Tim Brown as he took a short fourth and four pass from Pat Moriarty, shook off one would-be tackler and bowled over a second on his way to the 22-yard score.
• First time West Chester has been flagged for not surrendering after losing a helmet. Everyone has seen a player’s helmet come off during a game and the rule that was instituted a few years ago in Article 9.a requires that player to leave the field for one play. But there’s another part of that rule - Article 9.c - that states that it’s a penalty if a player who loses his helmet continues to participate in the play. So when center Devan LaBau’s helmet came off on the Golden Ram’s second possession, and he continued to play to the whistle as every player is coached to do, flags rained down from three officials for the personal foul.
• First time this season that West Chester held an opponent to fewer than 375 yards of offense and 35 points.
• First collegiate reception for Marcus Sydnor when he hauled in an eight-yard toss from Alec Werner for a first down.
• First collegiate sacks for sophomore Kevin Duggan and true freshman Zack Hockman.
• First time this season that Millersville’s defense didn’t register a sack. The Marauders entered the game leading the PSAC with 14, but the West Chester offensive line kept the quarterbacks clean.
• First time Ralph Reeves’ name, which is spelled the same as the late actor Christopher Reeves, was pronounced by the stadium announcer like New York Jet’s cornerback Darrelle Revis. What made this pronunciation so noticeable is that he led the team with six tackles and a quarterback hurry, all which came in the first half.
• First touchdown for Werner in purple and gold as he scored on a six-yard scamper.

The bottom line is, after this past weekend, there were going to be four teams tied for first in the PSAC East and West Chester is one of them.

Sortable Box Score   

West Chester Athletic Site - West Chester Tops Millersville In East Opener, 48-3

Millersville Athletic Site - West Chester Defeats Millersville

Daily Local News - WCU thumps Millersville

Lancaster Online - West Chester delivers fierce blow to Millersville

Club News - September 24 Meeting

The Golden Ram Football Club will be meeting on Thursday at 7:45pm at Timothy's in the Parkway Shopping Center in West Chester. The meeting will begin immediately following the Bill Zwaan Football Show which is also held at Timothy's starting at 7:00pm. Golden Ram fans unable to attend the show can listen to it live on WCHE1520AM.COM. The meeting will not be broadcast.

According to the Bill Zwaan Football Show, sophomore running back Jarel Elder and junior cornerback Ted Patton will be the special guests on Coach Zwaan's show. In West Chester's 48-38 win over Seton Hill, Elder gained 247 yards rushing and 84 yards receiving and scored four touchdowns to earn PSAC East Offensive Player of the Week honors. In that same game, Patton had five total tackles, including two tackles for loss. His first quarter interception and 34-yard return set up West Chester's first touchdown of the game.

Come out to Timothy's at 7:00pm to participate in the show live.

Game Preview - Millersville

The Golden Rams (1-2) look to even their record when they travel to Millersville (0-3) on Saturday. Kickoff at Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium is scheduled for 1:00pm.

Series History:
West Chester leads the overall series 65-17. Golden Ram head coach Bill Zwaan remains perfect against the Marauders in his 12 years at West Chester. Head coach Greg Breitbach (2-23) is in his third year at the helm of the Marauders. So far this season, Millersville lost to Division III Ursinus in a five overtime affair, before falling on the road to both undefeated Clarion and Slippery Rock.

Last 10 Meetings:

Year	H/A	W/L	Score	Year	H/A	W/L	Score
2005	Away	Win	27-7	2010	Home	Win	45-14
2006	Home	Win	54-27	2011	Away	Win	49-13
2007	Away	Win	42-14	2012	Home	Win	56-14
2008	Home	Win	41-10	2013	Away	Win	48-3
2009	Away	Win	63-10	2014	Home	Win	62-7

Last Meeting:

09/27/2014 West Chester 62 - Millersville 7

The Golden Rams dominated on both sides of the ball in a rout of the Marauders on Family Day in West Chester. Eddie Elliott, Brandon Monk and Jarel Elder each rushed for at least 60 yards and a touchdown. Shannon Mayer and Jim Hurley each had at least three catches for a total of 50 yards or more. Drew Formica had nine total tackles and Kevin Malone had six solo tackles. Andrew Cohen had a field day - six tackles, two sacks, one pass breakup and two quarterback hurries. The defense logged a total of ten tackles for loss.

Scouting the Opponent:

Redshirt freshman Blake Cahill started the season at quarterback, he split time with classmate J.J. Paige against Clarion, and yielded almost all of the playing time to Paige last week at Slippery Rock. In his short playing time, Paige (24 of 43 for 231 yards, 2 TD's, 2 int's) has shown to be more effective than Cahill (14 for 47 for 69 yards, 1 TD and 1 int). Sean Quarterman (9 catches for 68 yards and 1 touchdown) and Kevin Wiggins (10 catches, 64 yards) are Millersville's top receivers, although freshman running back Phil Overton (8 catches, 70 yards, 2 touchdowns, 113 yards rushing) is their go-to guy.

Millersville's defense does have five interceptions, led by safety P.J. Santos (10 tackles, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery). They also lead the PSAC in sacks with 14 as a team, led by linebackers Sene Polamalu (11 total tackles, 2.5 sacks), Sean Dugan (19 total tackles, 2.0 sacks), and Brandon Lopez (12 total tackles, 2.0 sacks). Logan Kinser (11 total tackles, 2.0 sacks) leads the defensive line. Safety Rasheed Johnson (34 total tackles) is among the conference leaders in total tackles and cornerback Joey Pham is among the PSAC leaders in passes defended with four. Punter Evan Stahl is averaging 39 yards per punt while forcing five fair catches and landing five inside the opponents' 20.

Analysis:

Millersville ranks last in the PSAC in almost every offensive category - scoring, rushing, passing, total yards, first downs, and third down conversion rate - so the Marauders appear to be just what the Golden Ram defense needs. Then again, with West Chester yielding over 38 points per game, Millersville may be thinking West Chester's defense is just what they need as well. The Marauders have a total of four touchdowns after their first three games; Elder had four touchdowns by himself against Seton Hill. Millersville also ranks last in the conference in sacks allowed with 14 through three games, so look for Cohen to extend his West Chester career record. West Chester has won the last eight meetings by an average score of 51-10 and there's no reason to think this year should be much different.

Notes - There is one change to the depth chart for the Millersville game. Cohen has been moved to defensive end, the position that he played last year. This has likely been done to improve the thus far anemic pass rush, as West Chester has registered only three sacks this season, which is near the bottom of the conference. This is bad news for sophomore John Dubyk and redshirt freshman Ch'aim Smith who will drop down on the rotation. The beneficiary of the move will be sophomore tackle Josh Ganzelli who will assume Cohen's position in the middle. Despite seeing limited minutes through the first three games, the 300lb Ganzelli is seventh on the team in tackles with 11, including two tackles for loss.

Game Coverage:

Live Stats   Audio  

PSAC Site - Football - Week 4 Notes

Millersville Athletic Site - Marauders Return Home to Host West Chester

philly.com - Withler Marcelin chose football, and that's good for Rowan

KYW Newsradio - West Chester Visits Millersville Saturday

Daily Local News - Millersville comes at the right time for WCU

D2football - PSAC Columnist - Previewing Week 4 in the PSAC

Player News - Elder Named PSAC East Offensive Player of the Week

For his efforts in West Chester's 48-38 win over visiting Seton Hill, sophomore running back Jarel Elder has been named PSAC East Offensive Player of the Week. Elder had 25 carries for 247 yards and three touchdowns to go along with eight catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. He also returned two kickoffs for 34 yards to give him 365 all-purpose yards for the game. Trailing 38-34 with under three minutes to play, Elder rushed for touchdowns of 2 and 51 yards to account for the final score and the Golden Rams' first victory of the season.

Jarel Elder had 365 all-purpose yards against Seton Hill (Photo Bert Garbutt)

PSAC Site - PSAC Athletes of the Week - 9/20

West Chester Athletic Site - Jarel Elder Named PSAC East Offensive Player Of The Week

KYW Newsradio - West Chester RB Jarel Elder’s Career Day

Allentown Morning Call - Elder earns PSAC recognition after monster performance for West Chester

Game Report - West Chester 48 - Seton Hill 38

Tight end Tim Brown made his first appearance of the season, but it was Jarel Elder who accounted for over half of West Chester's 638 yards in the Golden Rams' 48-38 win over visiting Seton Hill in a hard fought battle.

It wasn't like Brown wasn't in the game plan. He was thrown to seven times in the contest including the first play from scrimmage (who coudldn't see that coming). However, Pat Moriarty's passes were out of Brown's reach except for one key 23-yard catch on a third and 20 play on West Chester's second touchdown drive. Moriarty's final numbers were not bad - 20 of 38 for 302 yards and three touchdowns - but only a handful of those completions were downfield, including a 59-yard bomb to Jim Hurley. Most of those passing yards came after the catch with Elder accounting for 84 yards on 8 catches. Even completions to Eddie Elliott (3 for 33 yards) and Eerin Young (2 for 23 yards) were short yardage in nature.

But the real spark on offense was Elder. With senior Brandon Monk not dressed due to an injury incurred last week at Mercyhurst, Elder carried the ball 25 times for 247 yards and three scores. That's the sixth best rushing game in West Chester history and his 365 all-purpose yards is third-best all time.

Cornerback Ted Patton, who had two nice tackles for loss on quick out passes, got things started when he picked off a Seton Hill pass and returned it 34 yards to the Seton Hill 10. Moriarty completed a dump off pass to Elder who raced into the end zone. Brendan Paulison converted his first of six PAT's to go along with his two field goals to give West Chester the 7-0 lead.

Seton Hill's offense was fairly well contained early on, but they started to find one-on-one match-ups and their receivers got behind the Golden Ram secondary as three of their touchdowns came on passes of 43, 52 and 37 yards. Unlike last year's contest when West Chester's defense controlled the entire contest, the Golden Ram defense didn't assert itself until West Chester reclaimed the lead 41-38 with under three minutes left in the game. Andrew Cohen had two quarterback hurries and Brandon Pepper had a pick. After Elder scooted 51 yards for his fourth score of the game, Cohen registered a sack and Nydair Rouse notched an interception to end the contest.

Notes - Besides Monk, also not dressed for the game were defensive back Blaise Schieler and linebacker Tyler Morrissey. H-back Brandon Spatz dressed but did not participate...Left tackle Doug Gilbert left the game briefly, but returned to action. Right tackle Vince Lostracco left and did not return...Former Golden Ram kicking star Shawn Leo was on the sidelines with the current kickers...Despite being converted to wide receiver, Elliott had seven carries for 85 yards, including a sparkling 26-yard run. He finished the game with 118 all-purpose yards...Besides his sack, Cohen was credited with three quarterback hurries and pass breakup...Drew Formica and Kevin Duggan were the leading tacklers with six apiece.

Sortable Box Score   

West Chester Athletic Site - Big Fourth Quarter Leads West Chester Past Seton Hill, 48-38

Seton Hill Athletic Site - Griffins Battle but Fall at West Chester, 48-38

Daily Local News - WCU calls on its Elder for win

Post-Gazette - Seton Hill loses shootout on the road