Box Score
WEST CHESTER, Pa. – A steady drizzle could not put a damper on the quarterback battle in West Chester University’s annual Purple-Gold spring game Friday night at John A. Farrell Stadium. Gold defeated Purple, 24-14, to culminate the spring practice season for the Golden Rams’ gridders.
Rising sophomore signal-caller Mike Mattei engineered two scoring drives in the second quarter with the first-team offense, dressed in the road whites, while rising junior Jared Jorgensen hooked up with Dan DePalma on a 22-yard strike in the fourth quarter to highlight Gold’s offensive showing.
Mattei hit DePalma on a 60-yard bomb down the far sideline early in the second quarter. DePalma slipped a tackle from purple’s defensive back at the 20-yard line and walked into the end zone to knot the score at 7-all. Mattei later scampered 36 yards around the right end, breaking several tackles in the process, to even things up once again at 14.
Purple drew first blood when Lucas Fickel came off the left side on a Gold punt from its own 18-yard line and blocked Sean Obermeier’s kick. The ball rolled into the end zone where Fickel, who had crawled back to his feet, fell on the pig skin to give the purple side a 7-0 advantage with 4:23 remaining in the first quarter.
Purple went back on top 14-7 at the 7:50 mark of the second quarter when Jim Kelly caught a 15-yard pass from freshman QB Sean McCartney.
Place-kicker Chris Hill booted a 32-yard field goal with 12 second left in the first half to send Gold into the locker room with a 17-14 lead. Jorgensen’s TD pass to DePalma was the only scoring of the second half as the rain picked up and slowed the passing game for both sides.
Mattei shined for Gold during the second quarter – his opportunity with the first-team offense. Mattei was 6-for-10 for 124 yards and a touchdown through the air while rushing for 67 yards on six carries for another score on the ground.
Mattei was a combined 14-for-26 for 250 yards and a touchdown without throwing an interception in the game. Jorgensen was a combined 6-for-21 and a touchdown with two interceptions on the night.
DePalma was the favorite target for both quarterbacks Friday night. He finished with five catches for 120 yards and two TDs for Gold. Quarterback-turned-wide receiver, Scott Bradish, caught four balls for 73 yards to lead all Purple receivers.
Rising senior running back D’Andre Webb carried the ball 14 times for Gold, racking up 62 yards and averaging 4.4 yards per carry. Jackson Fagan was the leading rusher in the contest, picking up 81 yards on 13 carries for Purple, averaging better than six yards per tote. Brian McDermott ran for 44 yards on 11 rushes for Purple as well. Mattei ran for a combined 79 yards for both sides.
Defensively, linebacker Anthony McCloskey registered nine tackles for Purple. He led both sides in that category. Matt Colyar broke up two passes, and Zach Wood and Fickel each blocked a kick. Wood blocked a 38-yard field goal attempt by Obermeier in the third quarter.
Cordero Newkirk and Josh Davis each intercepted a pass for Gold. Kris Scott picked off a Sean McCartney aerial for Purple.
