A sunny Saturday in this rainy September allowed for a heated matchup between the Golden Rams and the Red Raiders. Despite over 100 yards in penalties, the offense arguably showed off their best performance of the season so far as they torched the Shippensburg defense with 473 yards of total offense. After a scoreless first quarter, quarterback AJ Long tossed a touchdown pass to tight end Dan Neuhaus; this was Neuhaus’ first touchdown on the season. The raiders responded right after with a touchdown of their own to tie it up. This back-and-forth battle would continue as both teams racked up a combines 39 points in the game. However, it would be the Golden Rams that came on top. With a stellar performance by Long going 27-for-36 on his passes for a whopping 356 yards and three touchdowns to his one interception. Wide receiver Lex Rosario served as Mr. Reliable for West Chester’s offense hauling in 13 catches for just below 200 yards receiving. Rasheem James, as usual, found the endzone and had five receptions for 55 yards.
The defense did bend but they certainly did not break. All-American Linebacker Tyler Morrisey had himself a day finishing as the leading tackler with ten total tackles, including a much-needed sack for the defense. While Morrisey got things done on the ground, Elder took care of things in the air, taking the game into his own hands with his second interception of the day to secure a victory and further their undefeated record. Sophomore linebacker Nate Barnes served as a nuisance for the Red Raiders all day, gathering up a total of nine tackles as well as an interception to go along with it. The defensive line played with tremendous grit as well as athleticism when defensive lineman Tyrone Barge muscled his way into the backfield for sack while his fellow lineman Diquan Gilbert achieved every lineman’s dream by reeling in an interception.
The Golden Rams will run with this momentum into next week as they face the Bloomsburg Huskies at Redman stadium on Saturday. The Golden Rams lost to the Huskies last year by one point in a tight battle and I am sure they are looking to redeem themselves with their explosive offensive and fiery defense in the future.
Juche Jackson is a third-year student majoring in communications studies. JJ844004@wcupa.edu.