West Chester Hosts Cheyney In PSAC Action
By Matt Leon
WEST CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) -- A couple of local squads will meet Saturday afternoon as West Chester hosts Cheyney in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tilt.
The Golden Rams are 5-3 on the season and coming off a 42-24 loss to Shippensburg. Cheyney is just 1-7 and the Wolves have not beaten West Chester since 1979, but West Chester head coach Bill Zwaan says they are a much improved team.
"When you see a game like last week, they played (8-0) Bloomsburg really, really tough (27-13 loss). The game was really close even late in the 4th quarter," Zwaan tells KYW Newsradio. "They have done a very nice job of running a triple-option offense that, one, keeps their offense on the field and gives teams problems because it's an assignment type of defense you have to play against them, and you've got to do your assignments correctly. The other piece that they are able to do is keep the other offense off the field, which keeps them in the game longer. And the longer their kids can stay in the game, the better hope they have and the harder they play. So they definitely are doing a much better job right now and they are a really tough opponent."
Listen To Podcast With West Chester Coach Bill Zwaan:
Zwaan talks about the key to defending the triple-option.
"It's discipline," Zwaan says. "The thing about it is, they're the only team that runs it in our league, so this is the only week we really work against it. So you've got to get your kids really focused in and disciplined on their assignments in one week. That's one of the advantages I think Cheyney wants to get out of it, by running an offense that nobody else is really doing."
But Cheyney head coach Kenny Lockard says many times this year they have been their own worst enemy when they've had the football.
"The biggest problem we've been having all season is we didn't take care of the ball," Lockard says. "We gave the other teams so many opportunities and we threw away our own opportunities."
Listen To Podcast With Coach Cheyney Head Coach Kenny Lockard:
Lockard says his defense will have to play well against a potent Golden Rams offense.
"They can put up points really fast, we've got to control them and keep them off the field offensively and minimize our mistakes."
West Chester and Cheyney will kick-off at John A. Farrell Stadium at noon on Saturday.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
