Road Test For West Chester Saturday At ESU

By Matt Leon

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The West Chester Golden Rams will play the penultimate game of their regular season on Saturday afternoon as they visit East Stroudsburg in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference action.

West Chester improved to 8-1 last weekend as they bounced back from their only loss the week before to Bloomsburg with a resounding 58-0 win over Cheyney.

"We got a lot of younger guys some playing time," West Chester head coach Bill Zwaan tells KYW Newsradio. "And we were able to get a bunch of our starters off the field by halftime. Obviously, when you're this late in the season, everybody's dealing with injuries. So the fact that we were able to get those guys out of the game and rest them up a little bit for our last two games is probably going to help us a little bit."

Listen to the entire interview with West Chester's Bill Zwaan

West Chester is ranked as high as 12th in the country in Division II. More importantly, they are third in the Super Region One rankings which determine playoff berths.

East Stroudsburg is 6-3 this season, but they have lost two straight. Their quarterback situation is up in the air as starter Matt Soltes is dealing with an injury. Back-up Bruce Campbell started last week. Zwaan says regardless of who is under center, they are capable of moving the football.

"They've always had a pretty good offense since I've been here at West Chester," Zwaan says. "They throw the ball really well. They've been able to mix the run game in successfully. A lot of talented receivers and they have a good scheme."

Zwaan says it is important they take good care of the football in this one.

"The biggest thing for us is turnovers," Zwaan says. "When we don't turn the ball over, we're a really good offensive football team. We've really only turned the ball over in one game and that was Bloomsburg. So if we can keep the ball out of their hands, (win) time of possession and no turnovers, we've got a good shot to win."

Last season, West Chester beat the Warriors, 34-20.

Saturday's game will kickoff at 1:05 pm.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.

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