WEST CHESTER, Pa. – The East Stroudsburg University football team dropped a 28-21 decision at No. 21 West Chester on Saturday despite outgaining the Golden Rams in total yards and winning both the turnover and time of possession battles.
ESU (5-3, 2-3 PSAC East) registered 299 yards of total offense on the day, compared to 263 from West Chester (7-1, 4-1 PSAC East). The Warriors posted 130 rushing yards, led by
Gunner Anglovich, who netted 88 yards and a touchdown on just six carries. The redshirt sophomore found the end zone with a career-high 52-yard touchdown run, which was his fourth score in the last four games.
ESU kicker
Jordan Walters made both of his field goal attempts in the game, including a 56-yarder right before the halftime break. The kick from Walters set a new record for longest field goal in both ESU program history and PSAC history. Greg Knauss held the previous ESU record, hitting a 53-yarder in 2007, while Eric Wentling of WCU was the previous PSAC record-holder with a 55-yarder in 1983.
The ESU defense forced a quick 3-and-out on West Chester's first possession of the game, and got the ball back at midfield. A 30-yard run from Anglovich pushed the ball down to the WCU 14, but the Golden Rams held ESU from there, forcing the Warriors to settle for a 27-yard field goal from Walters for the first score of the game.
ESU added to its lead on the first play of the second quarter as Anglovich took one to the house for a 52-yard touchdown run, which was the longest play from scrimmage of his career. The score gave ESU its largest lead of the contest at 10-0.
The Warriors forced turnovers on each of WCU's next two possessions on an interception from Gray and a forced fumble by Crumpton and Johnson, but they weren't able to turn either turnover into points on the other end.
Midway through the second quarter, quarterback
Ben Moser was picked off by Jarey Elder at the ESU 37, and Elder took it all the way to the end zone for the score, cutting the Warriors' advantage to 10-7.
On the next ESU possession, West Chester pulled down another interception, this time from Trael Seegars, to give the Golden Rams the ball back at ESU's 43. On a 3rd-and-11 inside the 25-yard line for the Golden Rams, a pass intended for Lex Rosario in the end zone fell incomplete, but ESU was whistled for pass interference. WCU capitalized following the penalty as Isaiah Bruce rushed for an 11-yard score to give the Golden Rams their first lead of the afternoon, 14-10.
With under a minute remaining until halftime and West Chester starting a drive on its own 22, ESU stopped the Golden Rams on three straight plays and called a pair of timeouts, forcing a WCU punt with 15 seconds left.
ESU got the ball back on its own 45, and
Jake Cirillo, who replaced Moser under center, fired an 11-yarder to
Rece Bender to get the Warriors into WCU territory with three seconds remaining. On a last-second hail mary attempt, WCU was called for an offside penalty, which pushed the ball to the WCU 39. With one untimed play remaining before the half, Walters was sent on to attempt a 56-yard field goal. The senior drilled it through the pipes with room to spare, as his new ESU record-setting field goal cut the Warrior deficit to 14-13 at the break.
Leading by one at the start of the third quarter, WCU put together a seven-play, 77-yard drive in just over three minutes to push its advantage to 21-13. The big play on the drive was a 45-yard pass from Paul Dooley to Dan Neuhaus which put the Golden Rams in scoring territory. Neuhaus capped the drive with a 15-yard touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone, as he accounted for 60 yards on the drive.
ESU responded on the ensuing possession with a touchdown of its own as Cirillo found a wide open Bender in the end zone for a 42-yard touchdown. The eight-play, 75-yard drive in 4:28 of action got the Warriors back within a pair. ESU brought the offense back on the field to go for the two-point conversion, and Cirillo pounded his way up the middle and into the end zone to knot things up at 21-21 midway through the third quarter.
Late in the third period with West Chester driving deep into ESU territory, Ozoemena made a spectacular play to haul in an interception for ESU's third forced turnover of the game. The pick gave the Warriors the ball back at their own eight-yard line, but they went 3-and-out and were forced to punt.
The punt return for West Chester's Elder went for 16 yards, bringing the Golden Rams back into scoring position. They gained six yards on their opening three plays to bring up a 4th-and-4. On the fourth-down play, Dooley dropped back and fired deep down the middle, connecting with Rosario for the 28-yard score to put the Golden Rams back on top by a touchdown.
Late in the game with WCU still holding a 28-21 lead, ESU pinned the Golden Rams deep in their own territory on a 48-yard punt by Walters. The Warrior defense forced a 3-and-out, as the Golden Rams punted from their own 13-yard line. George Lambritsios booted one 52 yards to Bender at his own 36, and Bender returned it 53 yards all the way down inside the WCU 10-yard line, but the play was called back due to holding.
Following the penalty ESU began the drive on its own 36, and eventually got the ball into Golden Ram territory on a 13-yard scramble from Cirillo. With just over a minute showing on the clock and the Warriors facing a 4th-and-1, Cirillo found
RJ Sarajian who pulled in a tough catch for seven yards and a first down.
With time ticking down and ESU facing a 3rd-and-3 situation, Cirillo looked for Bender in the end zone but his pass sailed just far of his outstretched arms. On 4th-and-3, Cirillo again took a shot at the end zone for the game-tying score, but his intended pass to
Devante Robinson was too high as WCU took over on downs. The Golden Rams kneeled out the remainder of the clock to escape with the 28-21 victory.
Cirillo went 13-of-21 for 126 yards passing and one touchdown after taking over for Moser. Bender led the team with 77 receiving yards and a touchdown on four catches.
ESU finishes out its two-game road stretch with a matchup at Shepherd next Saturday, November 2 at noon.
