Team News - 2013 Season Review - Overall

Other than national champion Northwest Missouri State which finished the season a perfect 15-0, no other team in the country won more games than the Golden Rams this season. West Chester set the school record for wins in a season, finishing 13-2 with their second trip ever to the national semi-finals, both coming under current head coach Bill Zwaan.

Head Coach Bill Zwaan led West Chester to the national semi-finals for the second time (Photo Bert Garbutt)

The defense was phenomenal in the first and third quarters during which they only allowed 54 and 46 points respectively on the season. However, opponents scored 131 points in the second quarter and 94 in the fourth. While it’s not clear if this was due to conditioning, loss of mental focus to play for an entire half, or the other teams’ ability to make in-game adjustments, the fourth quarter letdown was not due to playing reserves, as most of those points came in closely contested battles.

West Chester cheerleaders supported the team all season (Photo Bert Garbutt)

On the other side of the ball, the offense amazingly scored in 49 of the 60 quarters of football that were played this season. One minor concern was that of the 11 quarters in which they were shut out, nine of them came after halftime. And what do the late-game one-point win against Kutztown, the late-game three-point win at Shippensburg and the three-point loss to Bloomsburg have in common? West Chester failed to score on their opening possession of the game. The only other time that happened was at Cheyney, which was more of an anomaly. On the first offensive drive of West Chester’s 15 games, they scored touchdowns nine times and field goals twice. Getting off to a fast start on offense was an obvious key to success.

Captains Rondell White, Trey Farmer, Shawn Krautzel and Anthony McCloskey (Photo Bert Garbutt)

To advance deep in the playoffs, a team needs a few key things – balance on both sides of the ball, big plays from their big players, health, and a little luck. Overall, the team was very balanced – offensively and defensively, rushing and passing and they did a good job of controlling turnovers and penalties. On the subject of turnovers, consider Harlon Hill finalist Rondell White had almost 500 touches, fumbled only five times and lost only one. White, quarterback Sean McCartney, linebackers Mike Labor and Ronell Williams and cornerback Al-Hajj Shabazz all played consistently well. And while there were a few season ending injuries - Byron Cooper, Brandon Spatz, Kevin Malone - unlike last season, none affected the starters.

Rammy and a fan help the ref signal touchdown (Photo Bert Garbutt)

So 2013 was truly a phenomenal season. The most wins ever in a single season. The fewest losses in over 20 years. Running back Rondell White and kicker Shawn Leo each broke numerous records, some of which had stood for decades. With 6,922 yards, it was the most prolific offense in school history (second best in PSAC history). And 564 points, including one special teams and three defensive touchdowns, was also a West Chester best (fourth best in PSAC history).

The Golden Rams held their helmets high a lot this year (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Teams News - 2013 Season Review - Defense

The primary concern coming into the season was how a very young secondary would fare in defending the pass. And midway through the season, those concerns were realized as the passing defense was ranked 83rd in the country. Meanwhile, the rushing defense was sparkling, holding opponents to under 80 yards per game on the ground which was good for 6th in the nation. However, by the time the season concluded, the passing defense ranked 36th and the rushing defense was 60th. This turn of events likely had little to do with the passing getting markedly better while the run defense got significantly worse. No, it was more likely due to the schedule. The Golden Rams faced pass happy teams like Gannon, Kutztown, California, East Stroudsburg and Shippensburg early in the season, and run oriented offenses like Bloomsburg (twice), American International, Shepherd and Lenoir-Rhyne in the latter half of the season. Unfortunately, the fall of rushing defense was greater than the rise of the pass defense as the total yards surrendered increased from 309 yards per game at the midpoint to 350 yards per game by season's end. Scoring stayed fairly flat throughout the year - yielding 21 points per game and ranked 32nd in Division II in the final statistics.

Golden Ram gang tackle at Cheyney (Photo Bert Garbutt)

The defense folds the East Stroudsburg quarterback (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Defensive Line

The four down linemen had a healthy rotation to keep fresh legs on the field. Starting ends Eric Edwers (75 total tackles, team leading 7.0 sacks, 1 pass breakup, 2 QB hurries) and Chris DiValentino (48 total tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss, 1 pass breakup, 2 QB hurries) got support from Kayo Bakare (27 total tackles, 2.0 sacks) and Barry Lyons (11 total tackles). Edwers received second team All-PSAC East honors.

Eric Edwers led the team in sacks (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Chris DiValentino had nine tackles for loss (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Kayo Bakare contains the corner against Kutztown(Photo Bert Garbutt)

Barry Lyons had 11 tackles this season (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Starting tackles Anthony McCloskey (45 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss) and sophomore phenom Andrew Cohen (41 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 4 pass breakups, 4 QB hurries) were backed up by big Demrick Cook (43 total tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss, 1 interception) and R-Fr. Shaquil Ryder (10 total tackles, 2.0 sacks, 1 interception). Even Jamiel Sims (11 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss) made contributions when he wasn't a lead blocker on offense in short yardage situations. Cohen received second team All-PSAC East recognition.

Anthony McCloskey takes on a double team (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Andrew Cohen had 8.5 tackles for loss (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Demrick Cook envelopes the Cheyney quarterback (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Shaquil Ryder had an interception at Cheyney (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Jamiel Sims drags down a Gannon player (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Linebackers

It's no surprise that in this defense the two leading tacklers were the starting linebackers. But the two starting linebackers were also the best players on the Golden Ram defense. Ronell Williams (110 total tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 3 pass breakups, 4 QB hurries) led the team in tackles again this season and made plays in the opposition's backfield as well as in the passing game. Mike Labor (105 total tackles, team leading 13.0 tackles for loss, 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, 1 QB hurry) racked up huge numbers despite sitting out the Cheyney game. Williams was named first team All-PSAC East, first team Daktronics All-Super Region 1, and ECAC Defensive Player of the Year. Labor received second team All-PSAC East recognition.

Ronell Williams led the team in tackles (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Mike Labor had two sacks against East Stroudsburg (Photo Bert Garbutt)

With Williams and Labor staying healthy for the entire season, Mike Culbreath (22 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1 pass breakup, 1 QB hurry) saw most of his action in three linebacker sets against running teams and Drew Persa (5 total tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 fumble recovered for a touchdown) saw most of his action on special teams.

Mike Culbreath was primarily a run stopper (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Drew Persa returned a fumble for touchdown (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Secondary

Shawn Krautzel (86 total tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 6 pass breakups) was everything that was expected as he rotated between strong safety and rover and received second team All-PSAC East honors. Sophomore Drew Formica (63 total tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss, 1 interception, 6 pass breakups) had a very good year in his first season as a starter. Sophomore free safety Brandon Pepper (53 total tackles, team high 5 interceptions, 7 pass breakups), playing his first full season on defense, will be best remembered for his four interceptions in the playoffs including his pick six at Shepherd, but needs to improve on his tackling abilities.

Shawn Krautzel hurries the California quarterback (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Drew Formica wraps up the L-R quarterback (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Brandon Pepper with a pick six at Shepherd (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Cornerback Al-Hajj Shabazz (53 total tackles, 4 interceptions, 8 pass breakups) played at a high level and was named first team All-PSAC East, ECAC Division II All-Star and first team Daktronics All-Super Region 1. In the season preview, it was known that someone new was going to be at the other corner spot and it was R-Fr. Blaise Schieler (72 total tackles, 8 pass breakups) that was thrown into the fire. True freshman Pete Galiano (13 total tackles) and R-Fr. Nasheed Parker (13 total tackles) also saw playing time in the secondary.

Al-Hajj Shabazz was a shutdown corner for West Chester (Photo Ray Doyle)

Blaise Schieler started every game as a redshirt freshman (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Byron Cooper is a consistently hard hitter (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Teams News - 2013 Season Review - Offense

The Golden Ram offense was incredibly balanced and very prolific in 2013. While not ranking in the top 40 in the country in either rushing or passing, they did finish #32 with 461.5 yards per game and scored 70 touchdowns on the season. The rushing game posted 186.5 yards per game while the aerial attack notched 275.0 yards per contest. West Chester's 37.6 points per game were good for #30 in Division II. While the offensive rankings were on par with last season, it should be noted that those numbers this year were posted over 15 games instead of just 11 with playoff opponents having noteworthy defenses.

Offensive Line

The men up front (Photo Bert Garbutt)

With such offensive numbers, it should be no surprise that all five starting offensive linemen received conference recognition. Tackle Justin Bathurst, guard Trey Farmer and center Derek Schatz received first team honors while tackle Adam Citko and guard James Colivas were named to the second team. Farmer was also named Daktronics All-Super Region 1, Beyond Sports Network All-American and Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area.

Tackle Justin Bathurst (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Left guard Trey Farmer (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Center Derek Schatz (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Tackle Adam Citko (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Right guard James Colivas (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Going into the season, depth on the offensive line was a serious concern and these five played a majority of the snaps with Antoine Bland filling in at guard and R-Fr Doug Gilbert playing primarily in the jumbo package. Tight end Shawn Driggins was mainly used to block in the running game, but if there was a scuffle going on, he always seemed to be in the middle of it and drew too many holding and personal foul penalties. With the offense logging 445 pass attempts, this unit only allowed 15 sacks on the entire season. The average of one sack per game was good for 15th in the country. The line also only permitted 4.87 tackles for loss per game which was 19th best in the nation.

Guard Antoine Bland (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Offensive lineman Doug Gilbert (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Tight end Shawn Driggins (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Quarterback

Entering the season, there were concerns about how well Sean McCartney had recovered from the ankle injury he incurred at Delaware in the first game of 2012. McCartney calmed all of those concerns as he finished the season 242 of 384 for 3,569 yards, 34 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. His passing efficiency rating of 163.0 was good for 12th in all of Division II. McCartney's passing yards and touchdown numbers were the second best season in West Chester history. And McCartney played very composed this year, throwing the ball away when nothing was open or effectively moving the ball by running. His most notable rush was in West Chester's opening drive at Shepherd when, on third and 12, he picked up 41 yards to the Shepherd 26 which eventually led to a Golden Ram touchdown.

Quarterback Sean McCartney threw for 3,569 yards (Photo Ray Doyle)

The contributions of R-Fr Andrew Derr at the quarterback position should not be overlooked. Sure he was 13 of 23 for 293 yards and three touchdowns at Cheyney. But it was his fourth quarter play at Shippensburg that was memorable. Trailing 29-21 early in the fourth quarter, Derr entered the game and was 7 of 9 for 105 yards and a touchdown to lead West Chester to a 29-21 victory.

Quarterback Andrew Derr led the comeback at Shippensburg (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Wide Receiver

One thing that the passing offense had was ball distribution as eight players registered double digits in receptions. The speedster and scorer among the pass catchers was Erick Brundidge (46 catches, 759 yards and 10 touchdowns) who was named All-PSAC East. Senior LaRonn Lee (14 catches, 323 yards, 4 touchdowns) was hampered by injury and only played in 11 games.

Erick Brundidge had 10 touchdown receptions (Photo Bert Garbutt)

LaRonn Lee had 3 catches and a touchdown against Cal (Photo Ray Doyle)

Tim Keyser (34 catches, 561 yards, 4 touchdowns) and Adam Dempsey (37 catches, 526 yards, 4 touchdowns) proved to be the reliable possession receivers.

No one caught Tim Keyser on this 71-yard touchdown (Photo Ray Doyle)

Adam Dempsey shows off his hands (Photo Ray Doyle)

Tight end Tim Brown (20 catches, 429 yards, 5 touchdowns) missed five games in the middle of the season due to a lacerated kidney, but showed he was a serious threat as half his catches and four of his touchdowns happened in the playoffs. Although listed as a running back, Eddie Elliott (20 catches, 345 yards, 3 touchdowns) often lined up as a slot receiver where he was able to use his speed to get open. R-Fr. Shannon Mayer (14 catches, 195 yards, 1 touchdown) also chipped in.

Tight end Tim Brown provided a spark at tight end (Photo Geoff Ruth)

Eddie Elliott proved an electric receiver (Photo Ray Doyle)

Shannon Mayer had 7 catches against East Stroudsburg (Photo Geoff Ruth)

And there were players that didn't put up huge numbers, but still made significant contributions. R-Fr. Jim Hurley only had three catches on the season - a 25-yard touchdown against East Stroudsburg, a 23-yard catch that set up the fourth quarter, game tying touchdown at Shippensburg, and a 35-yard catch at Bloomsburg in the playoffs. That's an astonishing 27.7 yards per catch!! Next is tight end Shawn Driggins. As noted earlier, Driggins was primarily used as the blocking tight end, but he did have four catches on the season, and three of them were touchdowns. That's efficient. And finally is fullback Camille Max. He only had one catch on the season, but it was notable. California had just scored a fourth quarter touchdown to gain some momentum and close their deficit to 31-24 with nine minutes to play. On third and one from their own 33, the Vulcan defense was poised to stop an obvious run for which Max was apparently brought in to block. Instead, Max slipped out of the backfield and made his only catch of the season for a ten yard gain. The drive culminated in a touchdown that consumed seven minutes off the clock.

Receiver Jim Hurley (Photo Geoff Ruth)

Fullback Camille Max (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Running Back

There's no way to hide or lead up to who could arguably be the best player in Golden Ram football history. Rondell White (406 carries, 1,989 yards, 21 touchdowns; 75 catches, 843 yards, 3 touchdowns) led West Chester in both rushing and receiving and accounted for 41% of the team's yardage and 47% of the team's offensive plays this season. White ended the season with 207 all-purpose yards per game which was good for fourth in the nation. But he did that over 15 games. No other player in the top 50 in that category played more than 12 games this season. Keep in mind, the competition gets better as the playoff season continues. White finished fifth in the Harlon Hill voting, owns numerous school records, and was named first team All-PSAC East, ECAC Division II Offensive Player of the Year, first team Daktronics All-Super Region 1, first team Beyond Sports Network All-American, first team AP Little All-American and first team AFCA Coaches' All-American.

Running back Rondell White (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Monk (66 carries, 495 yards, 4 touchdowns) ripped off the second longest run in West Chester history when he went 93 yards for a touchdown at Millersville. Elliott (14 carries, 171 yards, 2 touchdowns) had an eye popping 12 yards per carry average. And not to be overlooked were the contributions of Jared Bonacquisti (4 carries, 4 yards, 1 touchdown; 5 catches, 21 yards, 1 touchdown) who was primarily used as a blocker at both fullback and tight end.

Running back Brandon Monk (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Utility back Jared Bonacquisti (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Teams News - 2013 Season Review - Special Teams

The Golden Rams' special teams had special players in 2013. Kicker Shawn Leo and punter Rich Bruno received postseason accolades and return man Brandon Monk certainly was worthy. Here's a more detailed look at the special teams units.

Punts and Coverage

Rich Bruno did not receive PSAC honors mainly due to the fact that he did not punt enough times to qualify being listed in the individual rankings, however, he had an incredibly effective season. West Chester was among the top teams in the country in net punting average and finished the season ranked #19 in that category with a 36.7 yards average. With seven punts against Shepherd and five against Lenoir-Rhyne, Bruno finished with 54 punts on the season which met the minimum requirement of 3.6 punts per game to be listed among the individual leaders. Unfortunately, his final two punts of the year in the slop in North Carolina were only 26 and 10 yards and his average fell to 39.5 yards per punt which landed him #44 in the nation. Of those 54 punts, only five were returned for positive yards, seven went 50 yards or more, only five made their way into the end zone and 12 were fair caught. Also, 15 landed inside the opponents 20 yards line, none more memorable than his final boot at Shepherd that pinned the Rams on their own one-yard line. Bruno was named second team Daktronics All-Super Region 1.

Bruno landed 15 punts inside the opponents' 20 yard line (Photo Ray Doyle)

Kickoffs and Coverage

Kickoff coverage was an area of concern in 2013. Because West Chester scored so much and went so deep in the playoffs, the Golden Rams kicked off 105 times this season, and often it left fans holding their breath. The actual kickoff task was shared by Bruno (40 kickoffs) and Leo (65 kickoffs). Although opponents averaged less that 20 yards per return on the season, many times shorter returns or even fair catches were due to West Chester employing short, high kickoffs which hastened possible returns. The most notable plays were California's kickoff return for touchdown and American International's return to the Golden Ram 11 which setup their only score of the game. And Gannon had kickoff returns of 61 and 57 yards in the shootout in Erie in September.

Leo and Bruno split the kickoff chores (Photo Ray Doyle)

Kick and Punt Returns

As a team, West Chester was ranked among the best in the country in both kickoff returns (#29 with a 22.4 yards average) and punt returns (#26 with a 13.3 yard average). Brandon Monk handled a majority of the return duties for West Chester in 2013 and finished ninth in the nation in kickoff returns with a 29.7 yard average. The most significant one was his kickoff return for touchdown against California which provided an immediate and stunning answer to the Vulcans' kickoff return for touchdown which happened on the previous play. While Monk averaged 12.4 yards per punt return, he only had 16 returns which was not enough to get him list among the national leaders. One area that could use improvement is ensuring that more punts are fielded as too many were left to roll which cost the Golden Rams valuable field position.

Brandon Monk returned a kickoff for touchdown (Photo Ray Doyle)

Kick Scoring

It's somewhat ironic that kicker Shawn Leo had his worst season from a field goal percentage perspective, but was arguably the best kicker in the PSAC this year. Leo was 16 of 24 on field goals and his 66.7% conversion rate was good for 31st in the nation. Leo only missed one PAT and his 70 PAT's made is the second best season ever in the PSAC. Only two kickers in the country had more than his 70 successful PAT's this year. His 7.9 kicking points per game was best in the conference and his 118 kicking points this season is tied for the most ever in one season in the PSAC. Leo was named second team All-PSAC east and set many school records, although he'll most likely be remembered for his game winning 26-yard field goal into the wind with one second left at Shippensburg.

Leo set several WCU kicking records (Photo Bert Garbutt)

One final special note is for long snapper Charles Kuklinski and Bruno who served as Leo's holder this season. Unfortunately these tasks are often taken for granted, but think back to the California game when the Vulcans' punt snap went over the punter's head resulting in a fumble that was recovered by Kayo Bakare. Or how about at Shepherd when their holder got a case of the yips and failed to cleanly place the ball on a 25-yard field goal attempt. The Golden Rams had no such issues in the kicking game which certainly played a part in the success of the season.

Kuklinski served as long snapper (Photo Bert Garbutt)

Bruno served as a reliable holder (Photo Bert Garbutt)