MILLERSVILLE — They say that the best defense is a great offense. Before the Golden Rams’ defense pitched a shutout in the second half at Millersville Saturday, the offense got down to business in the first half.
WCU put up 21 points by midway through the second quarter.
What’s most impressive about the club’s offensive explosion is the fact that it took just four plays to cross the goal-line three times in the first quarter and a half, and the rapid fire offense continued through two quarters of play.
Bill Zwaan, Jr. completed a 41-yard touchdown strike to Mike Washington on West Chester’s second play from scrimmage. On the Golden Rams third drive of the game, it was tight end Ryan Paulson who hauled in an 80-yard scoring strike on WCU’s first play from scrimmage. Then, two drives later, Dean Millard punched it in from the three-yard line. And finally, Steve Miller grabbed a 13-yard touchdown four plays into a West Chester second quarter drive.
Just how impressive was WCU’s rapid fire assault? The Golden Rams’ scoring drives took just 100 seconds, covered 101 yards, and racked up 28 points on a hapless Marauder squad.
That means that WCU put up four scores and traveled the length of the football field in less time then it takes the average person to tie their shoes or brush their teeth.
Wow.
“Its great, it really kills the other team when you score really fast,” sophomore receiver Steve Miller said.
Shockingly, the performance at Chryst Field was not the anomaly, but rather the trend for the Golden Rams in 2007.
In fact, WCU has put together just three scoring drives all season that took more then five minutes to complete, and none of them took place in the same game.
Having such an offense truly is a double edged sword.
On one hand, having the ability to score at will is a luxury that not many teams at the Division II level possess.
Given the weapons at his disposal, Zwaan Jr. has the opportunity to put together quick scoring drives every time he and company take the field, thus dimoralizing their opponents.
“It makes us more dangerous as an offense, we can just score on any given play, it keeps the defense on its heels, we can hit them deep, we don’t just have to grind our way through,” Miller said.
Yet as powerful and dynamic as this offense has proven to be through six weeks, they have yet to show that they have the capability to sustain long, clock eating drives to not only put points on the board, but shorten the game in the second half.
To date, that has yet to become an issue, but as WCU continues through the meat of its schedule this Saturday against Kutztown and a monumental showdown against California looming not far behind, it might become a point of conention as this team marches onward toward the post-season.
Because, like it or not, there might come a time when WCU needs to shorten a game to protect a lead, or else their opponent just might do the same to them.
Then, it won’t matter how quickly West Chester can score, because no matter how quickly you can steamroll down the field, it is impossible to score with double zero’s flashing on the scoreboard.
Matt Lombardo hosts a weekly sports talk radio show, Saturdays from noon-2 p.m. on 91.7 FM WCUR and is syndicated worldwide online at www.wcur.fm
Matt Lombrdo is a third-year student majoring in communication studies with a minor in jouralism. He can be reached at ML606516@wcupa.edu