Game Preview - Bentley

The West Chester Golden Rams head to Waltham, MA on Saturday to face usual season-opening opponent Bentley Falcons. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00pm.

Series History:
Although the Golden Rams lead the series 5-1, three of West Chester's wins required late game heroics. The Golden Rams had dominating wins in 2017 and 2018, while the Falcons won handily in 2021 in Waltham, MA.

For the second consecutive season, Bentley will be breaking in a new head coach as Saj Thakkar has replaced Alvin Reynolds who went 7-3 last year. The Falcons were picked to finish third in the Northeast-10 Football Coaches’ Poll. Meanwhile, Golden Ram head coach Bill Zwaan starts his 21st season at West Chester with an overall record of 157-71, including 12-4 against Northeast-10 opponents and 5-1 against Bentley.

Last Meeting:

09/03/2022 West Chester 17 - Bentley 16

After a scoreless first quarter, the Golden Rams took a 14-0 lead into halftime on a pair of passing touchdowns. Unfortunately, the West Chester offense stayed in the locker room at halftime. Bentley scored on three consecutive possessions, including after two interceptions which gave the Falcons short fields and the West Chester defense little rest. Bentley carried a 16-14 lead into the final period. It wasn't until Sean Henry nailed a 34-yard field goal with under five minutes to play that West Chester regained the lead, 17-16. It was a bit of redemption for Henry who earlier in the contest missed field goals of 34 and 38 yards. But it wasn't until safety Kaleb Brown batted a pass away as time expired that Golden Ram fans could exhale.

Rahiem Bowens had three catches for 34 yards and D'Shaun Seals had two catches for 19 yards. The defense was led by Maurice Beverly who made his collegiate debut with nine tackles, a forced fumble and two quarterback hurries. Ayyub Dail and Nate Desmond each had four tackles while Sterlen Barr, Jr. and Obi Anyatonwu combined for four pass breakups.

Scouting the Opponent:

Expect Youngstown State transfer Mark Waid (93 of 190 for 1,505 yards, 15 TD's, 6 int, 714 yards and 3 TD's rushing last season) to return at quarterback. Waid accounted for 221 of Bentley's 269 yards of offense against WCU last year. Waid has plenty of passing targets including Isaiah Decias (21 catches, 378 yards), Abel Lopes Jr. (14 catches, 341 yards, 5 TD's), and tight end Nayvon Reid (11 catches, 176 yards, 2 TD's). After Waid, senior Vinnie Holmes (107 carries, 443 yards, 2 TD's) is Bentley's top returning rusher.

Mason Campbell was first team all Northeast-10 last season after converting on all 30 PAT's and 12 of 16 field goals with a long of 48 yards. Decias averaged almost 22 yards per kickoff return.

As is usual in recent years, the strength of this Bentley team lies on defense. Linebacker Salvatore Lupoli Jr. (102 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovered) is the team's top returning tackler for the second consecutive year and was first team all Northeast-10 after 2022. He's helped out in the middle by Christian Lanzalotto (54 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions). Former NE10 All-Rookie team member Herve Tshibamba (39 tackles, 1.5 sacks) continues to be a force up front. The secondary is led by cornerback Mathieu Severance (42 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 11 pass breakups) and safety Aaron Racki (30 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 4 pass breakups).

Analysis:

Quarterback Cooper Jordan returns after a pretty good freshman season. And the offensive line, although fairly young, has experience. It's a matter of where the yards and points are going to come from on this offense. The Golden Ram defense will be breaking in a scheme with a 3-3-5 approach. The secondary is very experienced so it's a matter of the front six maturing quickly. Bentley lost the best defensive player in the conference to graduation and is working with a new head coach again. So many unknowns for both teams in this game.

Versus Sports simulates a 25-17 Falcon victory while Massey Ratings projects a similar 24-17 outcome.

Game Coverage:

Live Stats   Audio   Video   Tickets  

West Chester Athletic Site - West Chester Heads to Bentley For 2023 Lid-Lifter

PSAC Site - PSAC Week 1 Football Notes

Bentley Athletic Site - Falcons kickoff 2023 season by hosting West Chester

Bentley Athletic Site - Bentley Football Voted Third in Northeast-10 Preseason Coaches’ Poll

Bentley Athletic Site - Thakkar & His Bentley Falcons Kick Off Preseason Camp Sunday

KYW Newsradio - West Chester University Golden Rams - College Football Preview

Boston Globe - Bentley names Saj Thakkar head football coach

Daily Local News- Despite loss of Taylor, WCU defense could be even better in 2023

Daily Local News- With dangerous QB, Rams’ offense looking to surprise foes

Daily Local News- Rams lose, then add, key players from transfer portal

D2football - PSAC Columnist - PSAC Week One Preview

D2football - Northeast-10 Columnist - NE10 - Week One Preview

Team News - 2023 Second Scrimmage Report

Just a couple of observations from Friday's action:

• Defensively, it's not clear if it's personnel driving the scheme or the scheme driving personnel, but the Golden Rams are sporting a 3-3-5 look this season. And one of those three linebackers is sophomore Maurice Beverly who was listed as a defensive back last season. It will be interesting to see if opposing offenses will be able to throw effectively against this defense and, if not, how quickly they can spin up a running game.
  
• Veteran offiensive tackle Quinton Derr was not dressed for either scrimmage. Maybe it's the Sirianni effect (we know he's the starter, no need to play him), precautionary (he could play if he had to), or something more serious. Answers to come next Saturday.
  
• Quarterback Cooper Jordan looked really good. Poised and confident, he knew which receiver was expected to be open and delivered the ball accurately and on time. While his favorite target appears to be D'Shaun Seals, he also connected with Julian Jordan on a long touchdown pass and Jonathan Haynes on another scoring strike. Cooper will have plenty of options.
  
• While Jordan looked sharp at quarterback, classmate Ethan Kohler did not. He was out of sorts in delivering the ball late and not making the right read on the run-pass option. Hopefully just an off day. Newcomer T.J. Pergine had some good moments.
  
• Prior to live action, kicker Sean Henry made a 57-yard field goal, after converting a 52-yard attempt on his previous kick. During the game, however, the long snapper wasn't accurate enough. It doesn't matter if the leg is there if the ball isn't. This needs to get corrected quickly to avoid the loss of points in a game.
  

West Chester opens the season on Saturday at Bentley. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm.

Team News - Golden Rams Picked To Finish Third in 2023

The West Chester University Golden Rams were picked to finish third 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, in fact, they did finish in third place behind Shepherd and Kutztown.

Predicted order with first place votes in parentheses:

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

West Chester is voted your No. 3 team in the East's 2023 PSAC Football Preseason Poll! The Golden Rams' 170.4 rushing yards per game ranked 2nd in the conference as head coach Bill Zwaan enters his 21st season in charge:#PSACFB#PSACProud@WCUAthletics @WCUGoldenRamsFB pic.twitter.com/swbXcMxNgB

— PSAC Sports (@PSACsports) August 10, 2023

PSAC Site - Shepherd voted No. 1 in 2023 PSAC Football East Division Preseason Poll

West Chester Athletic Site - West Chester Selected Third in PSAC East Preseason Poll

Team News - 2023 Roster Changes

We're four weeks out from the 2023 season opener at Bentley and the Golden Rams' official roster is posted.

On the bright side, almost all members of the 2023 recruiting class are listed, including late additions Cam McQueen and Rodney Benjamin. The only omissions are linebacker Rovny Dasilva and wide receiver Connor Becker. Becker reportedly received a full scholarship from Robert Morris, although he does not appear on their football roster.

Departures:

Over 20 players from last year's roster that had eligbility left are no longer here. In addition to previously reported departures that have landed somewhere - defensive tackle David Blay to Louisanna Tech, linebacker Jackson Taylor to Delaware, and running back Ja'Den McKenzie to Rhode Island - two other players that entered the portal are linebacker Oscar Uduma and running back Maurice Mazzccua. Among the others, linebacker Stanley Bryant (five tackles, one interception in nine games last season) made the biggest contribution last year.

Returning:

Roughly speaking, players have five years to play four seasons. There are times when a student completes his academic studies in four years, graduates, and moves on to the work force with a year of playing eligibility remaining. This has been amplified by COVID - when students had an additional year of academics that did not count towards their playing elegibility since the 2020 season was cancelled. The Golden Rams are fortunate to have several players returning this season including tight end Stone Huffman and fullback Mason Griffiths on offense. Defensively, tackle Ayyub Dail and reserve back Michael Alexander return. Maybe most importantly from a defensive unit perspective, both corners - Sterlen Barr, Jr. and Obi Anyatonwu - are back.

Transfers:

With Barr and Anyatonu returning, and safety Kaleb Brown only a sophomore, the Golden Rams had one safety spot to fill. While former New Hampshire quarterback Brody McAndrew saw a lot of time there in the spring, it is still a point of transition for him. Offering immediate help could be either Temple transfer DeJuan Dandridge or Maryland transfer Shane Mosley (12 tackles in two seasons for the Terrapins). It will be interesting to see how this shakes out in camp.

Additional incoming transfers are defensive end Connor Noble from Temple and linebacker Tyson Tate from Lackawanna College. Coincidentally, both Noble and Tate were listed as tight ends at their previous schools. Other newcomers are receiver Mike Gray (33 catches, 425 yards, 3 TD's in two seasons at Albany), receiver Julian Jordan (16 catches, 177 yards, 1 TD in two seasons at Wagner), running back Trey Blair from Temple, quarterback T.J. Pergine also from Temple and defensive tackle Debrick Johnson who redshirted last season at Slippery Rock.

Camp:

Players report tomorrow, and daily practices are set to start Monday morning with intrasquad scrimmages tentatively scheduled for Saturday August 19 and Friday August 25. West Chester will then open the season on Saturday, September 2 at Bentley in Waltham, MA.

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 2022-23 academic year.

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

• sophomore defensive back Matt Checchia
• sophomore fullback Mason Griffiths
• sophomore tight end Stone Huffman
• redshirt freshman offensive lineman Patrick Methlie
• redshirt freshman tight end Thatcher Miller
• junior linebacker Graham Muscella
• senior wide receiver Mari Wright

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, 129 women and 44 men from West Chester University received recognition. The PSAC was the most represented conference in the country with 1,923 student-athletes honored.

National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics - 2022-23 Academic Achievement Awards

PSAC Site - PSAC earns most D2ADA Academic Achievement Award honorees for fifth consecutive year

West Chester Athletic Site - West Chester Lands 173 on D2 ADA Academic Honor Roll