The choice is easy. Play well and lose or play poorly and win. It’s a no brainer. Isn’t it?
The latter was the choice the Golden Rams made in their 22-21 victory over the Kutztown Golden Bears. On a beautiful September night, in front of a large Family Day crowd that filled Farrell Stadium (6,354), the stage was set for a wonderful football game. The display on the field failed to live up to the billing.
Sure West Chester achieved a lot of firsts for the season, including:
- The first time West Chester trailed in a game
- The first time West Chester yielded points in the first quarter
- The first time an opponent sacked a West Chester quarterback
- The first time West Chester was held to under 100 yards rushing (previous low was 225 against New Haven)
- The first time West Chester was held to under 30 points (previous lows was 45 to New Haven)
- The first time West Chester turned it over more than their opponent (six times) including the first fumble that White lost this season
- The first time an opponent converted 12 third downs
So the “playing poorly” part was there on both sides of the ball. But it was a win in the end, and “the end” means that the winning score came with 1:05 left in the game and it still wasn’t sealed until
Al-Hajj Shabazz made his second interception of the game at the West Chester 19 with four seconds left.
The theme for the night was set on West Chester’s first drive. A manageable third and six evolved into a third and 11 after a false start. On the Golden Rams’ second possession,
Shannon Mayer notched his first collegiate reception, a 15-yarder, but coughed it up on the play giving Kutztown the ball at the WCU 29. The Golden Bears used two plays to score their first touchdown. On the first play the receiver was interfered with, and they
still caught the ball for a 22-yard gain and on the second one, the snap was fumbled, but they
still completed the pass for a 7-yards touchdown. Late in the first quarter, the Golden Rams parlayed a first and goal from the five into a third and goal from the 19 after the jumbo package failed to score and the Rams received a personal foul penalty. It was that kind of night.
West Chester got a glimmer of light in the second quarter when
Shawn Krautzel picked off a pass giving the Golden Rams possession at the 22.
Sean McCartney responded to his first sack of 2013 by tossing a 17-yard touchdown to
Rondell White and West Chester took a 10-7 lead.
But Kutztown responded with a 12-play, 73-yard touchdown drive that consumed five and a half minutes. And after a McCartney interception on the very next play, the West Chester defense was on the field for another 5:21. During the 11 minute span, Kutztown converted on six third downs, four of them were third and long situations. This time the Golden Ram defense stiffened, and Krautzel blocked the 19-yard field goal attempt, thus protecting the marching band that was warming up in front of the scoreboard. Kutztown took a 14-10 lead into the locker room.
Here was a frustrating sequence. On a second and one at the West Chester 28, White rushed for two yards to pick up the first down. But after the play,
Erick Brundidge was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The first down still stood, but the Golden Rams would have to regain those 15 yards. Later in the drive, third and two was at the Kutztown 41 and an incomplete pass resulted in a punting situation. It’s safe to say that fourth and two at the Kutztown 26 would not have been a punt. As he’s done all season,
Rich Bruno pinned the opponent deep as Kutztown took over at their own seven.
The Golden Ram defense was getting tremendous pressure on the Kutztown quarterback all night, but on one notable play, he heaved it and got a 35-yard completion. The drive would stall when
Drew Formica intercepted the ball at the eight.
West Chester would get as far as midfield, but that is where White turned the ball over. Although the third quarter remained scoreless, Kutztown made quick work of converting the fumble recovery into a touchdown converting two more third downs along the way. A 21-10 deficit with 12 minutes left seemed insurmountable for the Rams, especially when McCartney lost a fumble at midfield on the next possession. But Shabazz gave West Chester another chance when he picked off a pass on the 50.
Then the trademark Golden Ram offense came alive. After two incomplete passes, McCartney had completeions to White,
Jared Bonacquisti, and
Tim Keyser, the last one being a 30-yard touchdown despite some hard hits in the end zone during the reception. What seemed like an obvious two-point conversion situation, down 21-16, West Chester was unprepared and late getting a play executed and the conversion failed.
On the ensuing Kutztown drive, despite two more third down conversions, the defense forced a punt that was downed at the WCU 2. But McCartney’s second interception of the evening would give Kutztown the ball at their own 37 with three and half minutes left, setting up the three most important series of the game.
Kutztown picked up eight yards on first down, only one on second down and none on third down. After failing to get the West Chester defense to jump offsides, Kutztown called a timeout and punted the ball away. It was a great job by the defense.
Although Monk fumbled the punt, Kutztown was called for interference, giving West Chester the ball at its own 34. What everyone expected to see for 60 minutes was on display for only one minute. A 20-yard completion to
Adam Dempsey, a 27-yarder to Keyser, another completion to Dempsey, this time for nine yards, and a 10-yard touchdown toss to White gave the Golden Rams a 22-21 lead. The two-point conversion failed, but West Chester had the lead.
Kutztown returned the ensuing kickoff to their own 32 and after a 19-yard completion looked to be within striking distance of a field goal attempt. A fourth down completion got the Golden Bears to West Chester 38 but with the clock running. Kutztown, looking to merely spike the ball to stop the clock, botched the snap that pushed them back to the 44. On the next play, Shabazz made a leaping catch for his second interception of the game to seal the deal for a 4-0 start.
Despite White being held to his lowest yardage total for the season, he still managed to score two touchdowns and despite McCartney having his worst game this season from a quarterback rating perspective, he still threw for 383 yards and two touchdowns. Keyser (6 catches, 108 yards, 1 TD) had a great game and the speedy Brundidge (4 catches, 103 yards) had several big plays.
Defensively,
Ronell Williams (15 tackles, 2 pass breakups) and
Mike Labor (10 tackles, 3 TFL’s, 1 pass breakup) put up the biggest numbers. But it was the big plays that carried the defense – Krautzel (5 tackles, 1 interception, 1 blocked field goal),
Eric Edwers (6 tackles, 2.5 sacks), Formica (6 tackles, 1 interception),
Kayo Bakare (3 tackles, a big third down sack) and of course Shabazz (3 tackles, 2 fourth quarter interceptions).
Notes - Prior to the game, a moment of silence was held in honor of the late Dr. George Baldwin. Dr. Baldwin, who passed away in July, served as an assistant coach at West Chester for six seasons and went on to be the head coach at Kutztown. There he guided the Golden Bears to 61 victories including the 1980 PSAC East title. He was inducted into the Kutztown Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993...West Chester wide receiver
LaRonn Lee and safety
Kevin Malone did not suit up due to injuries.
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