Watch CBS News

West Chester Looks To Rebound At Mercyhurst

By Matt Leon

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Division II West Chester Golden Rams will play their first road game of the season on Saturday when they travel out to Erie, Pennsylvania, to visit Mercyhurst University.

West Chester will be looking to bounce back after losing to Lenoir-Rhyne last week, 41-28, to open the season. The Golden Rams got down 41-7 before rallying for three fourth-quarter touchdowns.

"We made some mistakes that young teams make," West Chester head coach Bill Zwaan tells KYW Newsradio. "We turned the ball over four times against a playoff caliber team, just can't do that. And we didn't cause any turnovers. So we lost the turnover margin by a lot and that had a major effect on them being able to jump out and get scores on us, especially early in the game. But there were positives, we have to build off of those. There's negatives that we gotta keep taking care of. I kind of have thought all along that we're going to become a good team somewhere down the line, I'm hoping. This is a big game for us this week, if we can pull this one off, get off on the right foot then maybe we get better sooner. But I think by the middle of the season, I think this team's going to be a good team."

Listen: Bill Zwaan with KYW's Matt Leon

 

That game against Lenoir-Rhyne also marked the first collegiate start for West Chester sophomore quarterback Pat Moriarty. He completed 18 of 35 passes for 231 yards and a couple of touchdowns, but he also threw three interceptions.

"He made a couple of first start mistakes and his receivers didn't help him a whole lot, we had a couple drops, and that hurt us, too," Zwaan says. "But he showed some real positive signs. Right at the end of the (first) half he led us on two actual drives down there, one we missed a field goal on, next one we went down and scored a touchdown. Then in the fourth quarter he had a couple really good throws and some nice plays for us. So you saw the potential of what's there for him. He's got to get more consistent, but I think that will come with him playing more."

Mercyhurst opened its season last week with a 35-20 win over Bentley as quarterback Brendan
Boylan threw for 305 yards and three touchdowns.

"They can score," Zwaan says. "They've got receivers and the quarterback does a good job for them. Defensively, they've got speed and some pretty good talent. This is one of the best PSAC teams."

These two teams met last year at West Chester with the Golden Rams grabbing a 38-14 victory.

Saturday's game will kickoff at noon.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.