MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - No. 16-ranked West Chester took advantage of five Millersville turnovers to pull away with a 48-7 victory in Saturday's PSAC East opener at Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium.
West Chester improved to 4-0 (1-0) while Millersville dropped to 1-3 (0-1), with all three losses coming to nationally-ranked teams in the last three weeks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Millersville lost four fumbles, threw an interceptions and turned the ball over on downs twice, and West Chester converted those Marauder mistakes into five scoring drives totaling 31 points. Field position was also key early as West Chester's first four scores came on drives of 50 yards or fewer.
• On West Chester's second snap from scrimmage, quarterback Paul Dooley turned a broken play into a 50-yard touchdown run. Millersville's defense rebounded by forcing a three-and-out, but the ensuing punt was fumbled, and West Chester recovered at the Millersville 14. Four plays, later, Ja'Den McKenzie rushed in from three-yards out for a 14-0 West Chester lead.
• Millersville did not pick up a first down until its seventh drive, and when it looked like there was some positive momentum following a pair of completions to freshman
Jon Haynes, the Marauders fumbled for the second time on their own 47. West Chester immediately drove 47 yards in 10 plays, picking up a fourth-down conversion in the process, and Dooley found Dan Neuhaus from 10-yards out for a 24-0 advantage. West Chester held a 126-32 in total offense at the half.
• The second half belonged to West Chester's ground game. West Chester rushed nine times for 85 yards in the third and 16 times for 52 yards in the fourth, finishing with 245 yards compared to Millersville's seven.
• The Marauders' touchdown came 13:58 remaining in the fourth when
Collin Shank connected with
Evan Morrill for a 19-yard strike.
THOUGHTS FROM J.C. COACH MORGAN
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On mistakes costing the team: "We are making critical mistakes that gives the other team moment. And when we start to get positive momentum, we make mistakes that give the momentum back. Against a quality opponent, like West Chester, and just like the two weeks prior, it's going to put you in a hole. As a coaching staff we try to focus on how we are performing rather than who we are playing. For us to make improvements we have to clean up our play. We have some work to do in that regard. It starts with me. I have to find a way to get us ready to play."
•
On showing improvement: "There is some progress but we have to stop the early mistakes and giving up the big plays early. We have to be able to sustain momentum."
•
On staying positive: "The message in the locker room is that there is no quit in this family. We will come back tomorrow and get ready to go. It's the same mentality as if we won by 40. Come back, get better and clean up the mistakes. This is part of the foundation that we are trying to build. We are were able to pick up some first downs and move the ball. We saw
Jon Haynes and
Robb Rideout make some catches, and those are two talented freshmen who we know are going to be good for us down the road. Defensively, we did a pretty decent job in the red zone. We got some stops, forced some field goals, got an interception. There are some things we can build on."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Rideout caught a career-high four passes for 55 yards.
Chris Dolan made four catches for 33 yards. Morrill finished with 53 yards on three catches and a touchdown. Shank went 15-for-30 for 172 yards.
•
Isaiah Onuschak totaled 12 tackles, forced a fumble and recorded his fourth sack of the season.
Chase Alisauckas and
Andrew Klitchko also recorded sacks.
Cameron Boykin and
Tyler Patron both recorded interceptions.
NOTES
• Boykin has played in 37 consecutive games at Millersville, and his interception Saturday was the first of his career.
• Onuschak has recorded a sack in three of the team's first four games and has double-digit tackles in three of four as well.
• The combined record of Millersville's first four opponents is now 15-1 with the lone being Millersville's win over Pace in the season opener.
UP NEXT
• Millersville will face its fourth consecutive undefeated opponent when it travels to 4-0 East Stroudsburg on Saturday, Oct. 5 for a 12:05 p.m., kickoff.
