Box Score

WEST CHESTER – Redshirt junior quarterback Matt Marshall hit redshirt freshman Jordan Hallman with a five-yard pass for the go-ahead touchdown with 6:50 left and the East Stroudsburg University defense forced two key turnovers in the fourth quarter as the Warriors ended a six-game losing streak against West Chester with a 21-20 victory on Saturday afternoon at Farrell Stadium.

The victory puts ESU (5-1, 2-1) back in the PSAC East championship picture after a 38-14 loss at Shippensburg two weeks ago. The Warriors' last win over the Golden Rams was a 28-27 victory in 2003 at Eiler-Martin Stadium when redshirt freshman quarterback Jimmy Terwilliger directed a 94-yard touchdown drive and hit classmate Evan Prall for the two-point conversion with 47 seconds left. ESU last won at Farrell Stadium in 2000, 12-6.

Saturday's win was just as dramatic as the game in 2003 and went down to the final minute, when West Chester sophomore kicker Chris Hill missed a 35-yard field goal wide left after a 55-yard drive that included a first down at the 13-yard line after a 23-yard pass from Joe Wright to Steve Miller. The Golden Rams were flagged for a false start, and Wright threw three incomplete passes before Hill's miss with exactly 1:00 remaining.

The Warriors lost 11 yards and took a delay of game to run all but the final 3.6 seconds off the clock to bring up a punting situation at the four-yard line. The snap from Dan Caffrey to freshman punter Joseph Janovic was clean, Janovic got off a 36-yard punt and redshirt sophomore cornerback Shawnte Carroll made the tackle on Jackson Fagan after a nine-yard return to seal the victory.

The ESU defense came up with a pair of huge turnovers in the fourth quarter after surrendering touchdowns on West Chester's first two possessions of the second half which gave the Golden Rams a 20-7 lead. ESU held a 7-6 advantage at halftime.

Junior outside linebacker Mark Kalo and Carroll teamed up for the first turnover, as Kalo hit DeAndre Webb after a 12-yard completion on ESU's side of midfield and Carroll fell on the football at the 45-yard line with 10:08 left.

True freshman tailback Kendrick Williams saw his first career action on the Warriors' eight play, 55-yard touchdown drive, carrying six times for 50 yards including a 30-yard run on fourth-and-one to move the ball to the five-yard line. Marshall connected with Hallman in the front right corner of the end zone for the score and redshirt junior kicker Drew Reinhard made the extra point to put ESU ahead 21-20.

Redshirt senior defensive tackle Keith Galinsky made the second big play to thwart West Chester's first attempt at a comeback. Lee Hopkins ran for 18 yards to the 45-yard line on the first snap following the kickoff, but redshirt junior defensive end Jeff Case flushed Wright out of the pocket on the next play and Galinsky hit him from behind for the sack, forcing a fumble which was recovered by redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Rudy Cerami at the 36-yard line.

The Warriors came up a half-yard short on a pass from Marshall to Hallman as they attempted to pick up a fourth-and-seven to turn the ball back over to West Chester at the 27 after taking just under two minutes off the clock.

Wright completed his first three passes on the potential go-ahead drive in the closing minutes. The Golden Rams overcame a holding penalty with the big completion to Miller, but the Warriors pressured Wright into three straight misses after the false start and Hill's kick wasn't close.

The fourth quarter, which featured plenty of action but just seven points, was preceded by a third quarter that saw the Golden Rams march 56 and 67 yards for a pair of touchdowns while the Warriors went three-and-out. Wright put WCU ahead 13-7 with a 54-yard pass to DePalma with 11:53 on the clock, and Matt McLaughlin capped a 10 play, 67-yard drive with a four-yard TD run, his second of the day, to make the score 20-7 at the 4:19 mark.

ESU got its offense back on track on its next possession, going 75 yards in just seven plays. Marshall was 5-for-5 for 56 yards and also ran twice for 29 yards on the drive, and hit redshirt junior wide receiver Jeff Giglio on a short slant that turned into a 34-yard touchdown to trim the deficit to 20-14 with 1:12 left in the quarter.

Both schools had just four possessions in a well-played first half that ended with ESU holding a 7-6 lead. The Warriors opened the scoring on their first possession of the game with a 10 play, 68-yard drive culminating in a one-yard touchdown run by redshirt junior fullback Brent Jones. Marshall threw a 39-yard screen pass to redshirt junior tailback Zach Krise for the key play on the drive. Krise ran for 42 yards on 11 carries and caught three passes for 64 yards in the first half before leaving late in the second quarter with an injury and did not return.

West Chester got on the board with 5:11 left in the first half, with McLaughlin going the final two yards for the touchdown on a 10 play, 79-yard drive, but Hill missed the extra point to keep the score 7-6. The Golden Rams gained 175 yards in the first half, but turned the ball over on downs at the ESU 32-yard line on their first possession when Kalo sacked Wright, and had another drive end inside their 20 as junior cornerback David Castillo had an interception at the one-yard line after the ball deflected off the hands of West Chester tight end Ryan Paulson.

ESU had a 16 play, 78-yard drive that erased 8:14 off the clock to move the ball off its own goal line. Reinhard missed a 37-yard field goal that would have made the score 10-0 with 10 minutes left in the second quarter, but the march helped the Warriors maintain a five-minute edge in time of possession in the first half which included a 5-for-7 effort on third down conversions.

In a match-up of the second- and third-ranked scoring offenses in the PSAC, West Chester outgained ESU 420-354, but the Warriors held a 134-97 edge on the ground and ran 15 more offensive plays (72-57) to hold the ball for more than 33 minutes.

Marshall was 21-for-32 for 220 yards and two touchdowns and ran 13 times for 43 yards for the Warriors, who did not turn the ball over for the second straight game. Williams had 10 carries for 50 yards and Krise had 106 all-purpose yards in the first half before leaving the game.

Hallman caught a career-high six passes for 42 yards and the game-winning touchdown and Giglio, the PSAC's leading receiver, had five catches for 68 yards and also returned four kickoffs for 100 yards.

Wright threw for 323 yards for West Chester, going 20-for-33, and hit DePalma five times for 122 yards. Miller caught four passes for 72 yards. The rushing attack, which was third in the PSAC with 169.4 yards per game, was held to 97 yards on 24 carries. Webb was the top rusher with nine carries for 33 yards and Hopkins carried four times for 29 yards.

Next weekend's Homecoming game vs. Bloomsburg is set for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff at Eiler-Martin Stadium and will be broadcast across the commonwealth as the PSAC Game of the Week on PA SPORTSfever TV, and carried locally by Blue Ridge TV-13.