Box Score West Chester, Pa. - The West Chester offense put on a spectacular display for its home fans under the lights Saturday night. The Golden Rams totaled 655 yards of offense for a 56-14 win over Millersville.
West Chester (2-1, 1-0 PSAC East) quarterback Mike Mattei completed 16-of-20 passes for 382 yards and tossed six touchdown passes. Three of them were hauled in by Erick Brundidge and two were caught by Jim Kelly.
The Golden Rams outgained Millersville by 422 yards of offense. Mattei averaged 22.4 yards per completion while Millersville's (1-2, 0-1 PSAC East)
Ted Stachitas, who also completed 16 passes, averaged just 9.9 yards per completion. West Chester also piled up 28 first downs, and running back Rondell White picked up 131 yards and two scores on 24 carries.
West Chester needed no time to get started. The first drive lasted just 1:29 and the Golden Rams covered 73 yards in only four plays. The touchdown pass from Mattei to Keyser was from 41 yards. With 4:30 left in the first quarter, Mattei gave WCU a 14-0 lead when he found Brundidge from 43 yards out. Brundidge made his second TD grab before the first quarter expired, extending the lead to 21-0.
Millersville dented the scoreboard early in the second quarter when Stachitas hooked up with
Mike Jones for a 22-yard TD pass, capping a nine-play, 72-yard drive. On the next West Chester drive, Millersville's
Jamie Thomas recovered a Mattei fumble, putting the Marauder offense in business. The offense failed to conver, though, and West Chester answered with a one-play drive that covered 69 yards through the air. The 28-7 lead was more than enough for West Chester, but it added one more score before the half was over.
Millersville's only other score came on special teams when
David Coates returned the second half's opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. It was the first TD return of his career and the first by a Marauder since 2010. Coates has been a bright spot for the Marauders this season as he has three returns of more than 50 yards and entered Saturday ranked third in the PSAC in kick returns.
Reggie Slaton led the Millersville defense with a half-sack, a tackle for loss and seven stops.
Jordan Rigby totaled nine tackles. Slaton entered the weekend as the PSAC's leader in tackles for loss and brought his three-game total to 5.5.
Matt Egenrieder and
Mike Jones both had five receptions for Millersville.
West Chester has now won 10 in a row over the Marauders and in the last six meetings, it has totaled 600 yards of offense three times.
The Marauders remain on the road and head to Shippensburg on Sept. 22 for a 1 p.m. kickoff.