West Chester Readies For Battle With Edinboro

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Division II West Chester University will be back home on Saturday to welcome Edinboro to John A. Farrell Stadium.

The Golden Rams (1-1) are coming off a frustrating 49-42 loss on the road to Slippery Rock last Saturday. West Chester trailed by as many as 21 points in this one, but rallied to tie things up at 42 before Slippery Rock scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown with just under three minutes left in the game.

"We're disappointed in the loss," West Chester head coach Bill Zwaan tells KYW Newsradio. "I thought our kids played hard at times for sure and they fought their way back to get the game to 42-42. But, in general, we did a poor job on special teams (Slippery Rock returned both a kickoff and a punt for a score), that cost us. We had a ton of penalties against us (17 for 162 yards), that cost us. So way too many mistakes. Some mistakes because it's early in the season. Some of those things where your guy doesn't get on the field and you take a penalty or something along those lines. We can clean those things up, but there are some other things that we need to get better at for sure."

West Chester got a great game in defeat from senior running back Jarel Elder. He rushed for 148 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries.

"He's not a really big guy, but he is strong, he plays physically and he's got great speed when he breaks into the open field," Zwaan says of Elder. "He's been making some big plays for us for a few years and he's our go-to guy, especially later in the games when we're trying to run the ball against somebody."

Edinboro will bring a 2-0 record into Saturday's game. The Fighting Scots have allowed just six points so far this season.

"We went up there and played them last year," Zwaan recalls. "They were 2-0, but they had come off a zero-win season the year before, so I think our kids took them lightly. We got into a crazy battle and ended up losing in overtime (54-51). So we won't take them lightly this year, that's for sure. When you look at them, statistically, they're a good offensive football team and they are playing good on defense right now."

Saturday's game will kickoff at noon.