CHEYNEY — It wasn’t pretty by any means, but the Golden Rams escaped the Wolve’s den, and officially clinched their fourth consecutive playoff appearance along with the 2007 outright PSAC eastern division championship following Saturday’s 35-13 victory at Cheyney. The Wolves had West Chester on full upset alert in the first half, trailing the Golden Rams 14-7 and moving the ball with 35 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Then, senior captain and starting free safety Mike Mignogno intercepted a Derrick Murry pass and took it 40 yards for his first career interception return for a touchdown with 49 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
West Chester’s defense accounted for 14 of the Golden Rams’ 35 points. With 6:42 remaining in the game, Murry scrambled down the sidelines where Lateef Ferguson and Tyler Downes ran right through the quarterback, forcing a fumble that linebacker Joe Cefalo returned 54 yards for the score.
“We scored two touchdowns on defense, they were huge and we needed them,” Head Coach Bill Zwaan said.
While Murry was only sacked once, West Chester was in his face all afternoon long. During a series in the fourth quarter, Brett Paterson had consecutive free shots on Murry, followed by Travis Ford-Bey landing on the quarterback after delivering a crushing blow. These plays nearly led to a brawl as Cheyney offensive lineman Darren Watson jumped Ford-Bey, and Cheyney nearly stormed the field .
“As a team its my job to keep our team composed, they [Cheyney] got out of line [today],” Ferguson said. “The coaches and I really had to restain our teammates, I don’t know what’s going on with Cheyney, it’s football and it gets emotional but that was uncalled for.”
Ferguson became the all time leading tackler in West Chester history during the second quarter, and became the first player in school history to amass 400 career tacklers.
For Cheyney, Murry notched 269 yards and one touchdown on 22 of 43 passing, including one interception.
Offensively for the Golden Rams it was once again the Osagie Osunde show, as the senior tailback gained 143 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns in the win. For Osunde, this marks the 12th time in his career topping the century mark, and the Golden Rams are undefeated in such contests.
Bill Zwaan Jr. split time with Senior backup quarterback Mike Quinn. Zwaan, the incumbent starter, played nearly two full quarters completing 5-8 passing for 184 yards including a 62-yard touchdown to Mike Washington, all while wearing a knee brace for the first time, due to the sprained MCL he suffered against California a week ago. Quinn managed the offense in the second half, going three of nine for 52 yards and an interception in the win.
“We were trying to not play Bill,” coach Zwaan said. “He’s sore, but I just wanted him getting used to his brace and I think he got used to that.”
Next up for the Golden Rams is an opoening round match up with the Indiana University (PA) Crimson Hawks. Kickoff is set for noon at Farrell Stadium. This marks the Golden Rams’ first home playoff game since 2004. IUP enters the game with a 8-2 record, and reeling from a 42-35 loss to Bloomsburg to close their season Saturday. The game can be heard live and exclusively on 91.7 FM WCUR and online at www.wcur.fm and www.redzonemedia.com
Matt Lombardo is a third-year student majoring in communication studies with a minor in journalism. He can be reached at ML606516@wcupa.edu