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Short Week For West Chester; Visits Kutztown Thursday

By Matt Leon

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- West Chester University, ranked as high as #9 in Division II, improved to 5-0 on Saturday with a 41-16 win over Lock Haven. The Golden Rams don't get much of a chance to savor their latest victory, however, because they will get right back to work on Thursday night, visiting Kutztown in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference match-up.

In that win over Lock Haven, West Chester rolled up 614 yards of total offense including 403 yards passing from senior quarterback Sean McCartney, who also threw five touchdowns.

"I think we were a little flat early in the game," West Chester head coach Bill Zwaan tells KYW Newsradio. "It was kind of the end of a three-week stretch where we played teams that didn't have any wins. It was a little bit harder getting the kids ready to go. And they may have been looking ahead a little bit. So we were flat early, but we caught ourselves and did a good job offensively to get some points on the board. Defensively, we kept them out of the end zone, even though we let them move the ball a little bit on us. I think we're kind of happy to get out of this stretch and start playing some teams that are at the top of our division right now."

And that starts with 3-2 Kutztown. Zwaan says coming back on a short week makes the match-up even tougher.

"It's really hard," Zwaan says. "Especially when you have a physical game, which we had Saturday. Because you have to practice Sunday and Monday and Tuesday, so you really don't give the kids any down time."

Kutztown is coming off a 54-7 win over Millersville and they are coached by former Delaware Valley College head man Jim Clements. He is in his first year at Kutztown and impressed with what West Chester brings to the table.

 Hear the full interview with Kutztown head coach Jim Clements...

 

"They've got a lot of playmakers on both sides of the ball," Clements tells KYW Newsradio. "Sean McCartney, he's really good at quarterback. He's poised, he's experienced, he can make all the throws. They've got a lot of good wide receivers and they're a big play offense.

"I think they are well coached," Clements adds. "Obviously Coach Zwaan does a great job and it's going to be a huge challenge for us."

Zwaan breaks down what he sees in the Golden Bears.

"They have a lot of guys back from last year," Zwaan says. "They are doing a really nice job on the offensive end. The quarterback has stepped in and played very well for them. Good receivers. They have a good passing game right now and they're going to be really challenging for us from a defensive standpoint.

"Then defensively, I think they have like nine starters back from a team that gave us all kinds of problems last year," Zwaan adds. "We beat them by one point (22-21), scoring late in the game. So we know this is going to be a tough battle for us."

Kickoff on Thursday night is set for 7:05pm in Kutztown.

 Hear the full interview with West Chester head coach Bill Zwaan...

 

You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.

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