West Chester Travels To Bloomsburg For Key PSAC Battle
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- West Chester University will play another big game on Saturday when the Golden Rams head up to Bloomsburg to visit the Huskies.
Last week, West Chester won a critical match-up at home against Shippensburg, improving to 3-3 (2-1 in the PSAC East) with a 31-15 victory. The Golden Rams led 31-0 at the half and then held off the Red Raiders in the second half to earn the win.
"Really, really good first half," West Chester head coach Bill Zwaan tells KYW Newsradio. "Kind of the way we can play when we don't do all the foolish things we've been doing. Stayed away from penalties, took advantage of good field position. Defense played tremendous and offensively did what we needed to do, made some big plays, had some guys make some great catches."
Junior Pat Moriarty started at quarterback against Shippensburg in place of an injured Andrew Derr (foot) and completed 20 of 29 passes for 338 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. It was his first start since the season opener.
"He really stepped up and played well," Zwaan says. "He played exactly the way we wanted him to."
Zwaan talks about where the quarterback position is heading into the Bloomsburg game.
"I'm not sure where (Derr) is physically," Zwaan says. "But we'll make that decision later in the week. It's nice having two good ones, but at the same time you hate being in a situation where you are yo-yo-ing quarterbacks."
Bloomsburg sits at 4-2 (2-1 in the PSAC East) heading into Saturday. They are coming off a 34-24 loss at Kutztown last week.
"They've had a couple of injuries that have hit them a little bit, especially on the defensive line," Zwaan says. "Really, really good running back in Lawrence Elliott and that's what they do, they run the ball. Their offensive line is experienced and pretty good, so they can run the football on you and control the clock, which is what they do. And they are always tough at home."
Elliott has rushed for 589 yards and 14 touchdowns in six games this season.
Last season, West Chester beat Bloomsburg, 33-22. The Golden Rams jumped out to a 19-0 lead after one quarter before falling behind 22-19. West Chester then scored two late touchdowns to grab the win.
Saturday's game will kickoff at 2:00pm.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.