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