West Chester A Win Away From PSAC Title Game

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The formula for a berth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship Game is quite simple for the West Chester University Golden Rams.

Beat Millersville.

If West Chester does that on Saturday they will clinch at least a tie for the PSAC East title and advance to the title game.

The Golden Rams are 7-2 on the season (5-1 PSAC East) and coming off a 31-26 Homecoming win over East Stroudsburg. West Chester actually led this one 31-6 early in the fourth quarter, but things got wacky down the stretch and the Golden Rams had to hold on for dear life to earn the victory.

"It was one of those games where my players said, 'Let's take a couple years off coach's life here and let these guys back in the game and make it really exciting for our alumni (laughs),'" West Chester head coach Bill Zwaan tells KYW Newsradio. "Fortunately, we hung in there and got the job done."

The game featured another brilliant performance by running back Jarel Elder who finished with 255 all-purpose yards and a touchdown.

"His senior year has been fantastic," Zwaan says.

Elder has rushed for 927 yards and 14 touchdowns and caught 14 passes for 232 yards and another score.

"He's really putting up some great numbers," Zwaan says. "He's going to end up in the top five [in school history] in a lot of different areas. And he's been carrying us, really, offensively. He's done a great job for us and he's a captain and been a great leader for us, too."

Millersville is 4-5 (3-3 PSAC East) and coming off a 59-7 win over Cheyney last weekend.

"They are playing a lot better," Zwaan says. "This is the culmination of guys having played young two and three years ago. Those guys now are two and three year starters and you can see they are starting to come together. They are doing a really nice job offensively, they are putting points on the board, keeping the ball out of the other team's hands. Defensively they've gotten better each year and they really play you tough."

Last year, West Chester won this match-up at home 52-0.

Saturday's game will kick off at 1:00pm.