With homecoming on the horizon, West Chester’s road showdown with Cheyney University (1-7, 4-1 PSAC) could’ve been a trap game as the team looked forward to what will presumably be their most celebratory home game of the season and all the festivities that precede it, but the Golden Rams (6-2, 4-1 PSAC) remained focus as they pounded the Wolves 55-6 behind a big day from Tyler Karpinski.
Karpinski caught eight passes for 173 yards and a touchdown, amassing 62 more yards on his own than Cheyney’s offense did as a whole.
The win not only gave Cheyney their seventh straight loss, but it also put the Golden Rams in a two-way tie with Kutztown University (6-2, 4-1 PSAC), who West Chester defeated earlier in the season 27-21 for first place in the conference.
Jarel Elder was also a big contributor in the victory, finishing with two touchdowns and 106 all-purpose yards (70 rushing, 36 receiving). Both of his scores came via the ground.
Mark Dukes proved to be a key cog in WCU’s rout, finishing the game with 83 rushing yards and a touchdown on eight attempts. As a team, West Chester ran for 233 yards on 40 attempts, scoring five touchdowns across those scampers. Nafeese Nasir and quarterback Paul Dooley were the other Golden Rams to find their way to the end zone on runs.
In terms of passing, Dooley finished the afternoon with 268 yards and two touchdowns on 13-23. He also threw two interceptions.
Wolves quarterback Dominick Trautz was terrorized by a Golden Rams defense that remained on the hunt all game long, finishing the contest with five sacks.
George Shipp (one sack, five yards), Tyler Morrissey (one sack, one yard), Josh Ganzelli (one sack, 12 yards), Diquan Gilbert (one sack, nine yards) and Ben Smith (one sack, six yards) all managed to get to Trautz, who was 7-18 for 126 yards in the defeat.
A host of Golden Rams also racked up 14 tackles for losses, another indicator of how pressurized of an afternoon it was for Trautz and the Cheyney offense. Damon Williams, Cheyney’s lead rusher on the afternoon, finished with more yards lost (17) than gained (16) across nine attempts.
West Chester completely dominated the box score, besting Cheyney in first downs (21-8), passing yards (281-126), total yards (514-111), time of possession (32:11-27:49) and third down conversions (7-11, 2-12).
Next Saturday marks WCU’s homecoming game against East Stroudsburg University (2-6, 1-4 PSAC), and it’s being dubbed as “Gold Rush Saturday.” Fans and students are encouraged to wear a gold t-shirt, and t-shirts to commemorate the game can be purchased at WCU’s campus store for $5 in the days leading up to the game.
B.J. is a fourth-year student majoring in communication studies. He can be reached at WB806695@wcupa.edu.