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Ray Wagner
Al Wehrhahn
Redshirt senior Ray Wagner threw for 284 yards and two touchdowns and had 347 yards of total offense at West Chester.

West Chester Pulls Away from Warriors, 37-26

9/24/2011 12:00:00 AM

Box Score  l  Photo Gallery

WEST CHESTER – Rondell White ran for 203 yards and a touchdown and gained 299 all-purpose yards as West Chester notched a 37-26 win over visiting East Stroudsburg University in the PSAC East opener for both schools on Saturday night at Farrell Stadium.

White had 27 carries, five catches for 53 yards and two kick returns for 43 yards to lead a West Chester (2-2, 1-0) offense that accumulated 565 yards, 315 passing and 250 on the ground. Sean McCartney was 16-for-26 for 239 yards and a touchdown through the air and Matt Carroll was 4-for-8 for 76 yards and a touchdown in two series in the first half, and LaRonn Lee was the top receiver with six catches for 115 yards.

Redshirt senior quarterback Ray Wagner was 21-for-43 for 284 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, but the Warriors (1-3, 0-1) were plagued by several dropped passes and untimely penalties after entering the game ranked fourth in Division II in fewest penalty yards per game. Wagner also ran for 63 yards on seven carries to account for 347 of ESU's 396 yards of total offense.

Sophomore wide receiver Dusty Reed caught eight passes for 105 yards and a touchdown and finished the game with 55 career catches and his third 100-yard game in four outings this season. Reed matches Anthony Carfagno (2002-05) as the fastest Warrior to 50 catches in school history, reaching the mark in 15 games.

West Chester opened the scoring with a 20-yard TD pass from McCartney to Sean Beahan (five catches, 87 yards) midway through the first quarter, but the Warriors answered with a 34-yard TD from Wagner to redshirt sophomore Robert Bleiler (three catches, 55 yards) on their next possession.

Golden Rams kicker Shawn Leo (3-for-3) made a 21-yard field goal on the second play of the second quarter before ESU sophomore kicker Taylor Groff (2-for-2) responded with a 31-yard field goal, but West Chester scored the final 10 points of the first half to take a 20-10 halftime lead. Carroll tossed a 13-yard TD pass to Eric Brundidge and Leo made a 20-yard field goal at the horn after the Warriors got a stop in the red zone.

Groff nailed a 48-yard field goal, tied for the longest of his career, on ESU's first possession of the second half, to get the Warriors within 20-13 before the Golden Rams pulled away. Leo hit a 25-yarder, then White broke a 39-yard touchdown run to make it 30-13 with 8:42 remaining in the third.

ESU scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns, on a five-yard, fourth-down pass from Wagner to Reed with 13:50 left and a three-yard run by junior tailback Kendrick Williams to close the scoring with just over two minutes remaining. Brian McDermott completed a 10-play, 63-yard drive for West Chester to make the score 37-19 at the nine-minute mark of the fourth quarter.

Wagner went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season in the first quarter and finished with 1,245 passing yards this season. Reed has 24 catches for 433 yards and four touchdowns through the first four games. Williams compiled a career-high 193 all-purpose yards – 144 on six kick returns, 24 on 13 carries and 25 on three receptions.

Sophomore outside linebacker Derek Brown had a team-high 11 tackles and redshirt senior defensive tackle Cody Berry had nine tackles and a sack, giving him 12.5 for his career.

ESU hosts Bloomsburg (4-0), ranked No. 4 in this week's AFCA Division II poll, next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Eiler-Martin Stadium.

GAME NOTES
* Warriors head coach Denny Douds coached his 200th career road game and is 108-89-3 in opposing stadiums. ESU is 65-42-1 in PSAC East road games under Douds (since 1974).
* Douds coached his 390th career game and will set the Division II record with his 394th game on Oct. 22 vs. Millersville. Last week he passed Lou Holtz for 19th on the all-division list. He is fourth among active college football coaches in games coached.
* The Warriors are 22-16 in PSAC East openers under Douds, 9-10 on the road and 5-6 against West Chester. They have lost three straight openers after going 7-2 from 2000-08.
* West Chester's Bill Zwaan goes to 67-35 as head coach of the Golden Rams.

* Wagner has thrown for 1,245 yards for a PSAC-leading 311.2 yards per game. He is also first in total offense with 332.5 yards per game. Wagner threw for 375 yards (first career start, all in the first half) vs. Pace, 323 at IUP, 263 vs. California and 284 vs. West Chester. His 961 yards through the first three games were third-most in school history.
* Wagner had thrown for 200 yards in a half in all three games this season. He threw for 111 yards (6-14, 1 TD) in the first half and 173 yards (15-29, 1 TD) in the second half on Saturday.
* He ran for 63 of ESU's 112 yards on the ground. His previous career-high was 21 yards last season vs. Cheyney.
* Wagner was sacked on the Warriors' final offensive play, the first time he has been sacked all season. He is 84-for-158 with 9 TDs and 5 interceptions. ESU has allowed just three sacks on a PSAC-high 166 pass attempts. The other 2 sacks came in the 4th quarter vs. Pace with Wagner out of the game.

* Reed has 100+ receiving yards in the last two games and three of the first four games this season. He ranks third in the PSAC with 108.2 yards per game and fourth with 6.0 catches per game.
* He had 5 catches for 136 yards and 2 TDs vs. Pace, 4 for 86 yards at IUP, 7 for 106 yards and a TD vs. California and 8 for 105 and a TD vs. West Chester. He also ran for 22 yards on four carries.
* Reed matched Anthony Carfagno as the fastest player to 50 career catches at ESU (15 games). Tim Strenfel did it in 16, Sam Shuman did it in 17 and Evan Prall, who holds Warriors records for receptions, yards and TDs, did it in 18 games.

* Bleiler, who missed the Cal game due to injury, had 3 catches for 55 yards in his return to the field. His three TDs this season have covered 44, 97 and 34 yards. The first two TD catches were vs. Pace and the 97-yarder is the longest scoring play in DII this season.
* Six Warriors caught a pass of at least 16 yards - Bleiler (34), Reed (29), R-So. FB Thomas Tippett (22), R-So. WR David Radziak (20), R-Fr. WR T.J. Gill (17) and Jr. TB Kendrick Williams (16).

* Sr. C Dan Caffrey made his 38th straight start on the offensive line. R-Sr. Zach Sarginger started at left guard for the second straight game and made his 26th career start. Fr. Pete Wolmart made his second straight start at left tackle. R-Jr. RT Wrenton Wright II made his 26th start and R-Jr. RG Seve Rivers made his 24th start. R-So. Greg Blue missed his second straight game due to injury. Caffrey, Sarginger, Wright II, Rivers and Blue have combined for 125 career starts on the offensive line.

* Groff made his season debut after missing the first three games due to injury and picked up right where he left off as a freshman, when he set the school record with 16 field goals and was 12-for-12 inside 40 yards. He was named to the Mitchell Award preseason watch list in August.
* Groff connected from 31 and 48 yards. The 48-yarder tied his career long, set last year vs. Kutztown. The 31-yarder made him 13-for-13 inside 40 yards and extended his streak of making a field goal in all 12 games he has participated in during his career.
* R-So. K John Schubert was 4-for-6 on field goals, including 4-for-5 inside 40 yards, in the first three games. Groff and Schubert have combined to go 17-for-18 inside 40 yards since the start of last season.
* Fr. P Jordan Bair punted five times for a 42.8-yard average, including a career-long 50-yarder and a 49-yarder on back-to-back kicks. Bair is fourth in the PSAC with a 40.2 yard average on 15 punts.

* The Warriors' defense was on the field for 80 plays after defending 81 plays last week vs. California.
* Brown had 11 tackles, Berry had 9 and a sack, R-Sr. LB Taylor Cave had 9, a sack and a forced fumble  and Sr. LB Mike Bergey and R-Fr. FS Anthony Singlar also had 9 tackles. R-Sr. OLB Bryan Billger had 8, tying his career-high he set last week, in his 35th career game.
* R-Sr. DL Rudy Cerami recovered the fumble that Cave forced in the 2nd quarter.

* West Chester is the first team to gain 300 yards passing and 200 yards rushing on the ESU defense since back-to-back games in the 2005 NCAA Playoffs. ESU won both games, 55-33 vs. Southern Conn. State and 52-39 vs. Bloomsburg.
* White is just the second West Chester back to gain 200 yards rushing on the ESU defense since Denny Douds has been head coach. Thomas Fulton ran for 234 yards in the Golden Rams' 32-31 win at ESU in 1997.
* West Chester was 6-for-6 in the red zone - 4-for-4 in the first half - after ESU held its first three opponents to 5-for-13, tied for 3rd in Division II. The Warriors forced three short field goal attempts after getting stops inside the 10-yard line.

* ESU was penalized 8 times for 64 yards after drawing 12 flags for 82 yards in its first three games. The Warriors' 27.3-yard average was 4th-best in Division II. West Chester was flagged 10 times for 79 yards.


Dusty Reed


Cody Berry


Denny Douds


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