WCU’s winning streak ends at 16 games

SHEPDERSTOWN, W.VA. >> Ever since Shepherd accepted an invite in join the PSAC in 2018, filling the void after Cheyney dropped all athletics, everyone at West Chester knew it was going to be a massive upgrade on the football field.

And on WCU’s initial conference road trip to West Virginia, the Golden Rams felt the fullbrunt of the addition on Saturday. Playing shorthanded, 12thranked West Chester suffered its first regular season setback in more than two calendar years, falling 35-23 to host Shepherd at Ram Stadium.

“We shot ourselves in the foot a few times and that hurt us,” said freshman runner Ja’Den McKenzie, who ran for 179 yards and two touchdowns.

“We knew heading in that Shepherd is a good team,” added senior safety Jarey Elder. “And we also knew that we are going to get their best game.”

It put a halt to a program record-equaling 16-game regular season win streak dating back to mid-October of 2017. Now 3-1 in the PSAC East (6-1 overall), WCU falls out of a first-place tie with Kutztown, but will host the Bears Nov. 2.

Head coach Bill Zwaan spent much of the afternoon complaining bitterly about penalties. But afterwards he admitted that the biggest culprit was four turnovers, including two in the red zone, as well as an overworked defense that was gashed for a bunch of big plays and 529 yards of offense.

“What can you do?” he said. “It felt like (calls) were swinging the wrong way. But you can’t blame the referees – we lost it because we didn’t play well.”

And it certainly didn’t help that starting quarterback Paul Dooley missed the game with an injured shoulder/elbow. Sophomore fill-in Mike Piperno struggled mightily, going 11-for22 for 121 yards and two interceptions.

The bright spot offensively was the 205-pound McKenzie, who toted the football 33 times and gained an average of 5.4 yards per attempt.

“We had to change the game plan and we decided to just pound Ja’Den, and he got a lot of yardage,” Zwaan said.

“I’m a physical back and I just go head first on every down and grind,” McKenzie added.

It was undoubtedly, a big challenge. Shepherd (3-1, 5-2) wins nearly 74 percent of the time at home dating all the way back to the program’s inception in 1959.

“We knew this was going to be a dogfight and the first big test of the season,” McKenzie acknowledged.

“I give credit to Shepherd and we have to get back to playing Golden Rams football,” Elder added.

“Whether it’s good or bad, everything is a learning experience. We’ll go back to the drawing board and we are going to bounce back. We have a great coaching staff and they will get us right. I’m not worried about that.”

A poor, turnover-marred start left WCU facing its largest deficit so far this season. West Chester did fight back, cutting it to 2823 with just over nine minutes to play on McKenzie’s second short touchdown run. But when Shepherd was called for a penalty on the PAT, Zwaan decided to take the point off the scoreboard and go for two.

It didn’t work, and then Shepherd’s Deonte Glover returned the ensuing kickoff 58 yards, setting up the game’s final score. West Chester went minus-26 yards on its next possession and then Piperno threw into double coverage for an interception to end any comeback hopes.

“There were times when we looked like we were getting back into the game,” Zwaan said. “That kickoff return just crushed us. And it’s so disappointing because we had been playing really well up until then on special teams.

“It’s my job to get that done and I am very frustrated with it,” added Zwaan, who doubles as the special team’s coordinator.

In the end, WCU actually had a 4-to-5 edge in turnovers, but the early giveaways were crucial. The Golden Rams turned it over on two consecutive plays in the first quarter and Shepherd wideout Devin Phelps responded with TD catches of 25- and 50-yards to put WCU in a hole early.

The first came after McKenzie coughed up the football with West Chester in the red zone. And then Piperno was abruptly intercepted on an underthrown ball near midfield soon thereafter.

“Down 14-0 like that, then you have to play clean to comeback, and we didn’t,” Zwaan said.

The offense finally got untracked when Piperno hit Dan Neuhaus for an 18yard score, but Shepherd came right back with a 70yard swing pass that went the distance.

Transfer Phil Poquie went 70 yards on the ensuing kickoff but WCU had to settle for an Andrew Chegia field goal, to make it 21-10. West Chester then dodged a bullet in the final minutes of the first half when the offense played with little urgency, punted the ball back and Shepherd drove inside the 10 only to miss a chipshot field goal try at the buzzer.

Elder stripped the ball from an SU runner early in the second half, which led to McKenzie’s first TD run. West Chester turned it over in the red zone on its next possession, however, and Shepherd eventually made it 28-17 on a scoring drive kept alive by a questionable personal foul call on cornerback Izaiah McPherson when he attempted to avoid hitting Shepherd QB Tyson Bagent.

“That call on Izaiah, what do they expect him to do?” Zwaan complained. “He was trying to jump out of the way and it was a crucial call. And they scored on that drive.”

West Chester had the edge in rushing yards (182116) and first downs (22-18), but Bagent rolled up 413 passing yards and three for three TDs.

“(Shepherd has) a very good quarterback and he made some nice plays,” Zwaan said.

“I’m sure (our defense) was gassed at the end. That just didn’t look like us.”

Elder disagreed: “I wouldn’t say we were gassed. But whenever an opponent goes out and makes a bunch of big plays on our defense it is surprising. I’ll be honest.” TD rate of 21 percent … It was actually WCU’s second ever visit to Ram Stadium. West Chester topped Shepherd 28-7 in the 2013 NCAA Division II Playoffs.