On Saturday, the West Chester University Golden Rams hosted the Kutztown University Golden Bears in another PSAC East matchup. The Golden Rams came into the game with an overall record of 4-4 (3-2 in the PSAC east) and the Golden Bears came into the game with an overall record of 7-1 (5-1 in the PSAC east).
It was a blistering cold and windy day, with a constant snowfall at John A. Farrell Stadium. There were more fans sitting in the Kutztown bleachers than West Chester’s, making it feel like an away game.
On a better note, a memorial flag was presented before the game to honor Michael Horrocks. Horrocks, a former marine, and quarterback at WCU, was the co-pilot of the United Flight 175 that was hijacked and flown into the south tower of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
John A. Farrell stadium was a cold, wet, quiet winter wonderland and it stayed that way a majority of the game. The West Chester Golden Rams were looking to bounce back after an embarrassing loss to Bloomsburg, in which they blew a 35 point lead and lost 55-42.
The Golden Bears received the ball first and on their second play from scrimmage fumbled turning the ball over to the Rams in their own territory. Quarterback Matt Carroll got the start for the Rams for the second consecutive week, even after being benched in the third quarter last week.
Carroll looked shaky early on almost throwing an interception, and then being sacked on third down to force a punt by the Golden Rams.
The following punt on fourth down was blocked by Kutztown which led to a touchdown when Kutztown quarterback Kevin Morton, took the ball up the middle, untouched, making the score 7-0 Bears. The Rams looked like they did last week after the first quarter, very sloppy.
Turnovers, dropped passes, penalties, are things this team has been plagued by the past two weeks. Kutztown, on the other hand, was not having any trouble moving the ball with their running game. They had the ball in Rams territory and, on a third and eleven, sophomore outside linebacker Mike Labor made a terrific play, batting a pass down that would have led to another Kutztown touchdown but instead held them to just a field goal. Kutztown led the game after one quarter 10-0.
In the second quarter the rams had a little more success moving the ball led by senior runningback Jackson Fagan who converted a big fourth down play. On the very next play Fagan caught a 29 yard pass from Carroll, and what could have been a spark for the offense turned into disaster. The Rams had multiple penalties that moved them back out of Bear territory and put them out of field goal range. That momentum was as much as the Rams would get the rest of the game. The Bears got the ball back and continued to run the ball all over the Rams’ defense. The running game for the Bears set up a perfect play call when Kutztown scored another touchdown on a play action pass that was completed for 36 yards. The Bears led the Rams 17-0 going into halftime.
The second half was much of the same from the Rams. Carroll was benched once again, and was replaced by Sean McCartney. Sloppy play plagued them the entire second half. McCartney threw two interceptions in the second half, while Kutztown just kept the clock running with their rushing attack. The Rams were dominated the entire game, losing the home contest 24-0. The Bears improved their record to 8-1 overall while the Rams fell to a 4-5 record.
After the game, sophomore tight end/fullback Jared Bonaquisti commented on what was stopping the offense from moving the ball. “I would say little mistakes by us and some good game playing by them. Little mistakes hurt us the most,” Bonaquisti said. Football games come down to which team executes better, which is something the Golden Rams have been struggling with lately.
Many people expected the team to recover and come out fired up after last week’s hiccup, even the players. “I definitely was. I was expecting our team to come back and dominate,” sophomore defensive end Nick Garcia said when asked if he expected his team to come out and handle business differently this week.
The Golden Rams (4-5) travel to Millersville next week to take on the Marauders (3-6) in another PSAC East matchup.
This will be their final away game of the season as they will return home in two weeks for their season finale against Indiana University of Pa.
Sean Breen is a third-year student majoring in English. He can be reached at SB718728@wcupa.edu.