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| GAME COVERAGE |
Saturday, Nov. 5, 12:05 p.m.
West Chester, Pa. | Farrell Stadium
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| ABOUT THE SERIES |
Series vs. WCU: 17-66
Series Streak: WCU, 13
First Meeting: 1921 (W, 38-7)
Last Meeting: 2015 (L, 3-48)
Largest Margin of Victory: 31 (1921)
Largest Margin of Defeat: 76 (1925)
Record at WCU: 10-14 (since 1968)
Most Millersville Points: 41 (1981)
Most WCU Points: 76 (1925) |
| INDIVIDUAL |
RUSHING
Phil Overton (VILLE)
114-415, 2 TD, 3.6 YPC
Jarel Elder (WCU)
170-841, 8 TD, 4.9 YPC
PASSING
J.J. Paige (VILLE)
129-229, 9 TD, 7 INT, 1593 yds
Pat Moriarty (WCU)
53-107, 8 TD, 2 INT, 776 yds
RECEIVING
Kevin Wiggins (VILLE)
37-582, 5 TD, 64.5 YPG
Tyler Karpinski (WCU)
41-653, 7 TD, 72.6 YPG
DEFENSE
Sean Dugan (VILLE)
91 tkls, 6.0 TFL, 1.5 sacks
Ch'aim Smith (WCU)
44 tkls, 8.5 TFL, 4.5 sack
|
| TEAM COMPARISON |
| VILLE |
STAT |
WCU |
| 18.1 |
PPG |
34.0 |
| 77.3 |
Rush/GM |
198.1 |
| 228.2 |
Pass/GM |
277.8 |
| 305.6 |
Total Off |
475.9 |
| 32.4 |
Scoring D |
21.0 |
| 205.0 |
Rush D/GM |
99.1 |
| 218.8 |
Pass D/GM |
199.6 |
| 423.8 |
Total D |
298.7 |
THE MATCH-UP
• Millersville stays on the road for the second consecutive week and aims to end West Chester's four-game winning streak in which the Golden Rams have outscored opponents 145-48. West Chester has not allowed more than 20 points in each of the last six games. West Chester's three losses came by a total of 17 points. Among the losses was a 20-14 decision to Kutztown, which has clinched the PSAC East. Another was a 54-51 shootout at Edinboro. Edinboro is nationally-ranked and has a shot at the PSAC West crown.
• Millersville topped Cheyney last week, picking up its first win since the season opener. Millersville scored a season-high 34 points and totaled 431 yards of offense--its second highest total of the season.
J.J. Paige's threw for a career-high 313 yards. Three different players rushed for a touchdown.
Sheldon Snell and
Zac Slonac scored their first career touchdowns.
• Millersville last defeated West Chester in 2002, and its last win a Farrell Stadium came in 2000. Since 2003, West Chester has won 13 in a row, and has scored at least 41 points in 10 consecutive match-ups. Millersville has scored a total of 13 points in the last three games against West Chester and not more than than 14 in any of the past nine meetings. While the schools first met in 1921, all 17 of Millersville's wins in the series came between 1975 and 2002--a span in which Millersville went 17-12 against the Golden Rams.
SCOUTING BY THE NUMBERS
•
J.J. Paige has returned to the starting lineup against Shippensburg after missing two games with an injury.
Tony Staffieri, who went 32-for-74 with three touchdowns and two more rushing touchdowns, continues to take snaps as well. Paige has passed for at least 247 yards in five of the seven games he's played. His 56.3 completions percentage ranks seventh in the PSAC. His 313 yards last week at Cheyney was a career-high and his second career 300-yard game.
• It will be tough sledding for the Millersville offense against West Chester's defense. The Marauders rank 15th in the PSAC in both scoring and total offense, and West Chester ranks third in scoring and second in total defense. The Marauders managed just 77.3 yards per game on the ground (last in the PSAC), and West Chester holds opponents to 99.1 yards yards per game. West Chester has limited opponents to just 15.9 first downs per game and a 25.2 percent conversion rate on third downs.
• After seeing part-time action early in the season, Pat Moriarty has settled into the starting job as WCU's quarterback. Over the last four games, he's thrown seven touchdown passes and no interceptions.
• West Chester looks to Jarel Elder for much of its run game production. Elder's 841 yards is fifth in the PSAC and he ranks ninth in touchdowns. Eerin Young is also a threat, having rushed for 119 yards last week against East Stroudsburg.
• West Chester's offense is among the best in the league at converting third downs, ranking second at 49 percent.
EARLY RETURNS
•
Tyrone Gibson has been quick to make an impact since entering the lineup on Oct. 8 against ESU. He had a 55-yard kick return in that game and averaged 25 yards per return the following week against Lock Haven. Against Shippensburg, he took a pass 59 yards for a touchdown. Then, in just his fourth game as a Marauder, he rushed six times for 47 yards and scored a touchdown against Cheyney.
BALLHAWK
• Senior
P.J. Santos picked off his fourth pass last week against Cheyney, giving him four interceptions on the season and 11 in his career. Santos returned one INT against Kutztown 89 yards for a touchdown. He has totaled 152 return yards on four picks, which is the highest total in the PSAC. His 89-yarder is the longest in the league this season.
• Santos has recorded at least three interceptions in each of the last three seasons. He ranked 10th in the PSAC last season and is currently tied for fourth. His 11 career picks ranks him in a tie for eighth in Millersville history.
DUGAN ON DEFENSE
•
Sean Dugan is the PSAC leader in tackles with a 10.1 per game average. He also ranks 26th nationally in tackles per game. Dugan has recorded double-digit tackles five times this season. He's also had a tackle for loss in each of the last two games.
• With two games to play, Dugan is nine stops from 100, which would make him just the second Marauder in the last 13 years to total 100 stops in a season. Over his last 22 career games, he has totaled 23 1/2 tackles for loss.
• He was named PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week after totaling a career-high 19 tackles against Seton Hill. Dugan's 19 stops were the most by a Marauder in the "Statcrew Era" (since 2002).
WIGGINS WATCH
•
Kevin Wiggins, now a junior, has caught a pass in 30 consecutive games dating back to the start of his freshman season. Now with 125 career grabs in 30 games, Wiggins was the second-fastest to 100 catches in program history, trailing only Millersville all-time leader Sean Scott. Wiggins recently moved into a tie for sixth place on Millersville's career receptions list and sixth in career touchdowns.
• Wiggins has two 100-yard games in 2016 and three in his career.
• Wiggins ranks 19th in the PSAC in catches and 15th in touchdowns after tying for 11th in the PSAC in touchdowns and 20th in catches in 2015.
• Since 2001, only three wide receivers have caught 40 or more passes in two consecutive seasons. Wiggins joined Jamal Smith (2009-10) and Andy Neupauer (2003-04). Wiggins is now tracking toward three consecutive seasons with 40 or more catches. The last Marauder to do that was Sean Scott from 1998-2000. The last Marauder with back-to-back 500-yard seasons was Jamal Smith (2009-10).
BIG BOOT
•
Evan Stahl leads the PSAC in punting average at 41.9 yards per punt. In game one against Pace, he averaged 49.3 yards on six punts. He's landed 11 inside the 20 and has nine punts of 50 or more, which is best among PSAC punters. His 63-yarder against Pace was the second-longest of his career and his best since a 69-yard punt in 2013. The last Marauder punter averaged more than 40 yards per punt for an entire season was John Banzhof (40.8) in 2008. That averaged stands as the school record.
