Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
West Chester tosses Ship in playoffs
A college football campaign that many assumed was over just a week ago is suddenly still very much alive for West Chester. A lackluster end to the season has been reversed and 2017 is now filled with new, exciting possibilities.
After receiving an unexpected berth last weekend into the NCAA Division II Playoffs, the Golden Rams turned the season’s most complete performance into a dominating 27-6 road victory on Saturday over PSAC rival Shippensburg, the nation’s 19th ranked squad. And WCU’s first round triumph came against a highly motivated opponent desperate to avenge a regular season home loss to the Rams, which just happened to be the Red Raiders’ lone regular season setback.
“It really is a good accomplishment because (Shippensburg) is a very good team, and our kids have handled them,” said WCU head coach Bill Zwaan.
“We thought the season was over, but we lucked out, got into the playoffs and our kids were fired up all week. I thought our kids played just great.”
The reward for West Chester (9-3 overall) is yet another rematch, this time a road trip to Indiana (Pa.) to take on the top-ranked, unbeaten Crimson Hawks on Saturday in round two. The Rams dropped a 24-7 decision to IUP in the PSAC Championship Game on Nov. 11th at Farrell Stadium.
“I think of it as an advantage because we know what to expect,” said West Chester cornerback Shaquille James.
“We all know what a good team (IUP) is,” Zwaan added. “We are just not going to be afraid of them. We will go out there and play the best we can and see what happens.”
To hand an opponent like Shippensburg (10-2) its only losses of a season, on its home field, may come as a surprise to some, but it probably shouldn’t. West Chester has played very well at Seth Grove Stadium, especially during the Zwaan era. Since he took over the reins in 2003, the Rams are now 7-2 at Shippensburg.
“We are hardened,” explained WCU defensive coordinator Mike Furlong. “We’ve been through a lot with injuries, but we don’t complain. We might have squeaked by East Stroudsburg and Millersville, but we learned some things, like how to win tight games. (Shippensburg) hasn’t had a lot of tight ones.
“We’re comfortable here because we’ve done it enough times. Our kids seem to get up to play these guys and we seem to play pretty well here.”
First and foremost, Saturday’s performance was a defensive masterpiece by Furlong and the Rams. The Raiders entered the game averaging 38 points per outing and had scored at least 17 points in 48 of their last 50 contests.
“That’s the way we played on defense in the first threefour weeks of the season,” Furlong said.
Played in a cold, driving rain, it became even more important to get off to a good start and establish a lead. And WCU was nearly perfect doing exactly that. The Rams opened the game pounding away on the ground, and it opened up the passing lanes.
“This was a second chance and we wanted to make it count,” said freshman wideout Rasheem James, who had three catches for 67 yards and a touchdown. “Everybody came to play and did their part.”
And even though the weather conditions were abysmal, West Chester handled it much more effectively than Shippensburg, who had a shocking number of dropped passes and never mounted much on the ground. The Rams got efficient outings from quarterbacks Paul Dooley and A.J. Long, and all-conference running back Jarel Elder was a workhorse with 110 yards on 29 carries.
“Considering the conditions and what was at stake, this was our most complete performance this season,” Zwaan said.
It was a much different style of game than the first meeting, and the conditions were a major factor. Keep in mind, however, that a bunch of key WCU players who saw action on Saturday were unavailable back on Oct. 7th including center Devan LaBau, wideout Jordan Banks, defensive end John Dubyk and Long (the reigning PSAC Offensive Player of the Week), who were all injured. In addition, tight end Dan Neuhaus was suspended and did not play, and senior offensive linemen Vince Lostracco and Evyn Stadulis went down during the clash.
“It made a difference for us,” Zwaan said. “All of those guys added a piece of excitement and enthusiasm because they got a chance to play this time.”
Much healthier for the rematch, the fifth-seeded Rams scored on three of their first four possessions and never looked back. They outgained the fourthseeded Raiders 427-300, limited Shippensburg to 4 of 18 on third downs and held onto the football.
Dooley found the end zone on a read-option keeper to open the scoring, as West Chester gained 49 of a 67 yard drive on the ground. And then early in the second quarter, Long came in and ran for 44 yards and found Rasheem James on a 37-yard scoring strike to cap a 90-yard march.
And when Dooley hit Marcus Sydnor on a 36-yarder, the Rams had a three TD lead. In the third quarter, Elder grabbed a screen pass from Long and scampered 29 yards for another score to make it 27-0.
Shippensburg quarterback Ryan Zapoticky ended the shutout bid with a scramble midway through the final period to round out the scoring.
“(Zapoticki) runs the ball well and he made some plays with his feet, but other than that, I thought we did a tremendous job on defense,” Zwaan said.
Basking in the afterglow of the program’s first NCAA Playoff road victory since 2013, when WCU advanced all the way to the semifinals, it was next to impossible not to think back just seven days, and the gloomy outlook after losing to IUP.
“It didn’t look good, but I just kept believing,” acknowledged Shaquille James, referencing the team’s playoff outlook. “When I saw our name pop up, I was surprised to be the fifth seed. My first thought was that this doesn’t come around too often, and we need to take full advantage.”
Zwaan added: “In the past, we knew we were in (to the NCAAs) and it was just a question of where we would be seeded. This year, we didn’t know. So when we got the news, it was a big bounce for our kids, and you could see it by the way we played.”