The West Chester football team defeated the Kutztown Golden Bears Saturday night 51-9, improving to 4-2 on the season.Last season, the Rams suffered a heartbreaking loss to Kutztown, giving up a 16-0 first quarter lead to lose 17-16 on a 38 yard field goal with 50 seconds left.
“Thatʼs why we stayed on top of it,” said head coach Bill Zwaan. “We talked about it (the loss) at halftime. They were relentless; they didnʼt give up.”
Sophomore Osagie Osunde missed his second straight game with a sprained left knee ligament sustained September 18 at the University of Delaware. Replacing Osunde, Brent Steinmatz left on West Chesterʼs first
drive with an injury to his left shoulder and never returned. Coming off the bench, redshirt freshman Dean Millard had a career game, rushing for 140 yards on 20 carries, with one touchdown.
“I was hoping not to play him as much as we did but all of the burden fell on his shoulders,” said Zwaan. “I was a little nervous at first,” said Millard, “but the Oline kept things going and we were just rolling from there.”
Junior fullback Josh Fidler also rushed for 68 yards on 12 carries with two touchdowns. West Chester was a strong six for six in the red zone and five for 11 on 3rd down conversions. Junior wide receiver Brandon Simmons had a breakout game with 187 yards on seven catches. Simmons also had 2 touchdowns, one with 43 seconds left in the fi rst half, giving the Rams a 24-0 lead and strong momentum going into the half. Simmonsʼ 187 yards were more than he had all last season.
After being shut out in the first half, Kutztown showed signs of life in the third quarter with a 27-yard fi eld goal from kicker Matt Scartozzi and a 7-yard touchdown run from fullback Stephen Gammage. The Rams
offense proved to be too poweful, though adding three more touchdowns in the fourth.
Senior quarterback Bob Findora was 9-17 with 215 yards passing and 60 rushing. The Rams dominated the Bears in total yards 540-238. Kutztown linebacker Greg Mitchell led the Golden Bears with 10 tackles. Kutztown moves to 3-2 on the season.
Next weekend is homecoming weekend and the Rams are hosting Millersville at 2 pm.