MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Millersville pulled within two scores late in the third quarter but couldn't find the extra scores or extra stops it needed, and West Chester tacked on two, late four-quarter scores to finish off a 42-14 win over the Marauders in Saturday's PSAC East opener. 

West Chester (3-1, 1-0 PSAC East) won the game at the line of scrimmage, totaling 274 yards rushing while on the other side of the ball, harassing Millersville (1-3, 0-1 PSAC East) quarterbacks all game long, totaling eight sacks for 63 lost yards. The Marauders hit two explosive plays for touchdowns--a 77-yard pass from Jared Jenkins to Hakim Melvin and a 29-yard pass from Jenkins to Mekhi Alexander. But in the fourth quarter, trailing 28-14, Millersville came up empty on all four of its offensive possessions while West Chester leaned on its ground game to kill the clock and set up a 24-yard touchdown toss from Shane Dooley with 5:54 to play, and a 30-yard scramble from Desman Jackson with 1:48 left. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
• West Chester struck first, using a 26-yard jaunt from Phil Poquie with 8:58 remaining in the first quarter. West Chester built its lead to 14-0 on its first play of the drive from the Millersville 40-yard line. Dooley hit Seth Degree in tight coverage for a touchdown with 6:13 remaining the second. The Marauders answered right back, however. On second-and-10 from the Millersville 23, Jenkins dropped a long pass to Melvin, who at first bobbled it but gained control at the 30 and outran his defender the rest of the way for six. The back-and-forth offense continued, though, and West Chester scored on its next series, covering 75 yards on five plays in just 1:36. Dooley connected with Dan Neuhaus from five yards out for a 21-7 lead. 
• West Chester's lead grew to 28-7 after taking advantage of a short field. Millersville's punt was blocked and West Chester recovered at the Millersville 17. It took four Ja'Den McKenzie rushes to find the end zone. Millersville went to the air to cut into the West Chester lead. Jenkins connected on two passes for 37 yards, and a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty pushed Millersville to the West Chester 29. That's where Jenkins found Alexander down the middle of the field for a score. 
• The Marauders stopped West Chester on the next two drives but could not capitalize. Their four fourth-quarter drives totaled 26 yards on 15 plays while West Chester finished the quarter with 109 yards on 15 plays. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• West Chester entered the game as the top yards-per-carry rushing team in the PSAC (5.4) and totaled more than 200 yards rushing for the third consecutive game, using a season-high 57 carries for 4.8 yards per carry. Poquie led the team with 101 yards on 15 carries and McKenzie added 68 on 20. 
• Anthony Butler received the start at quarterback, but Jenkins entered in relief and completed 8-of-16 passes for 185 yards and two scores. Melvin hauled in five catches for 151 yards. 
• West Chester's Michael Gabora, the reigning PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week, recorded a team-high 2 1/2 sacks. Isaiah Onuschak finished with two sacks, four tackles for loss and nine total stops. Garrett Cox added a career-high nine tackles, and Tyler Tate totaled 2 1/2 tackles for loss, four QB hurries and a forced fumble. 

POSTGAME REACTION FROM COACH J.C. MORGAN
• Overall thoughts on the game: "We talked all week about explosive plays being a factor in the outcome. We gave up too many and didn't get enough. We had our opportunities to limit them and to make them, and we didn't take advantage of them. Our young men played hard. We found ourselves in the position to stay in the game, a two-score game in the fourth quarter, but ultimately we didn't make enough to plays."
• On being able to connect on long passes: "We have tried to become that kind of unit where we can make more of those plays. We did have a few tonight, but we left a lot out there. There were breakdowns all across the board. We have to clean them up. We will do what we can to advance the ball down the field."
• On the fourth quarter: "Too many mistakes, too many breakdowns. It took away any potential momentum we were building. We found enough big plays to make a two-score game, but ultimately, we fell short of that. There were times we had a chance to move the ball but we are losing too many yards. It's hard to play behind the sticks. On the other side, we gave up too many plays at the worst times. 

NOTES
• Melvin's career-high in receiving yards marked the first time a Millersville receiver has totaled more than 150 yards in a game since Jamal Smith went for 164 against Shippensburg in 2010. 
• Millersville has recorded nine sacks through four games, and Tate has recorded at least a half-sack in three of four games. 
• In addition to Cox setting a career-high in tackles, Alex Pelegrin (8 tackles) and Christian Shepperson (8 tackles), also set career highs. Pelegrin added a half-sack for the first of his career. 

UP NEXT
• Millersville returns home on Saturday, Oct. 2 to take on Lock Haven.