No. 10 Concord Defeats No. 15 West Chester, 51-36, In NCAA II Playoff

Box Score

ATHENS, W.Va. – West Chester University racked up a school-record 691 yards of total offense, but host Concord rumbled along for 619 yards themselves as the Mountain Lions advanced in the NCAA II Playoffs with a 51-36 victory over the Golden Rams at Callaghan Stadium Saturday afternoon.
 
Concord (12-0), the top seed in the region, advances to the Super Region 1 Championship Game and will host second-seeded Bloomsburg (11-1) next Saturday at Callaghan Stadium.
 
West Chester (11-2) trailed 44-36 late in the fourth quarter when backup QB Andrew Derr's (Willow Grove, Pa./Upper Dublin) 4th-and-6 pass fell incomplete from West Chester's 7-yard line. It took Concord two plays to punch it into the end zone and put the game away.
 
The Golden Rams took a 28-24 lead late in the second quarter, after battling back from a 10-point deficit on three separate occasions during the first half. However, the Mountain Lions scored 20 unanswered points to open up a 44-28 advantage with 6:14 remaining in the game.
 
That run began when Concord kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to draw within one, 28-27, at the break. WCU starting QB Sean McCartney (Doylestown, Pa./Archbishop Wood) threw a 5-yard TD pass to tight end Shawn Driggins (Chester, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) with 19 seconds remaining to give the Rams a 28-24 edge. Concord returned the kickoff 17 yards to its own 37, and then completed a 36-yard pass down to West Chester's 27. Following a pair of timeouts, Concord PK Andy Ellington kicked the 44-yarder.
 
Ryan Stewart hauled in a 50-yard scoring strike from quarterback Brian Novak with 7:40 to go in the third quarter that gave Concord the lead for good, 34-28. On West Chester's next possession, McCartney threw an interception at the Lions' 13-yard line, and RB Calvinaugh Jones took the first play from scrimmage 87 yards for another big-play touchdown. Four of Concord's six touchdowns came from 50 yards or longer.
 
Following a 33-yard field goal from Ellington with 6:14 to play, WCU TE Tim Brown (Clifton Heights, Pa./Upper Darby) gathered in a 62-yard TD pass from Derr, who came on to relieve the injured McCartney, and Mike Doty (Chalfont, Central Bucks South) caught a 2-point conversion pass from Derr to pull the Golden Rams within striking distance at 44-36.
 
Concord opened the scoring with a 68-yard return of a blocked field goal following West Chester's first drive of the game. Ellington later kicked a 43-yard field goal to give the hosts a 10-0 lead early.
 
Brown caught the first of his two TD passes with 1:55 left in the first quarter to put the Golden Rams on the board and draw them within three (10-7). However, Concord stifled any possible momentum on its very first play of its ensuing drive. Novak hooked up with T.J. Smith on a 71-yard TD pass play to restore the Lions' 10-point lead.
 
Eddie Elliott (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) scored from 6-yards out early in the second quarter to make it 17-14. Concord answered with a 31-yard run from Jamal Petty. Doty then answered back with an 11-yard TD reception with 4:08 to play in the half that made it 24-21 in the home team's favor.
 
McCartney finished 25-for-43 for 341 yards and three touchdowns while RBs Brandon Monk (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) and Elliott each eclipsed 100 yards rushing on the day. Monk rushed for 122 yards while Elliott racked up 116 on the ground. Brown caught nine passes for a career-high 216 yards and a pair of TDs.
 
NOTES: West Chester won 11 games, marking the first time in school history that the Golden Rams authored back-to-back 10-win campaigns … West Chester's 24 victories in the past two years is also the most in any two-year period in school history … West Chester picked up its 600th career win in program history with its NCAA 1st Round win over Slippery Rock last week … the Golden Rams became the sixth Division II school in NCAA history to reach 600 wins all-time … West Chester set a new school record with 691 total yards of offense on Saturday … however, the Golden Rams allowed over 600 yards of total offense in a playoff game for the second time in school history (661 at Jacksonville State – 1988) … it was the first time since 2008 that West Chester allowed over 600 yards of total offense in a game … Concord scored 51 points, marking the first time since 2011 that an opponent scored more than 50 points in a game against WCU … Concord registered just 16 first downs in the contest (and scored 51 points) … West Chester's two losses on the year were both against ranked opponents.
 
Sr., QB Sean McCartney surpassed two of former QB Dave McDonald's single-season school records … McCartney threw for 3,744 yards and 42 TDs – both are new school marks … his 42 TD passes on the year ranks tied for 17th all-time in a single season in NCAA Division II history and is third all-time in PSAC history … his 9,595 passing yards in his career is second all-time in school history and eighth all-time in PSAC history … his 92 career TD passes is second all-time in school history and tied for sixth all-time in PSAC history … his 59.0 career completion percentage is a new school record … Jr., TE Tim Brown's 216 receiving yards is the most in a single game by a tight end in school history … he went over 1,000 yards receiving on the year, marking the first time that a tight end hit that milestone in a single season in school history … his 17 TD receptions in 2014 is also a school record for a tight end … it is the fourth most in school history, period … both Brandon Monk and Eddie Elliott rushed for over 100 yards … it marked the 19th time in school history that at least two different RBs rushed for over 100 yards in the same game … Monk and Rondell White were the last two to accomplish the feat last year at Millersville … Monk finished the year with 1,296 rushing yards and eclipsed 2,000 career rushing yards … Sr., MLB Ronell Williams finished third all-time in total tackles with 376 (31 shy of the school record) … he also finished second all-time in assisted tackles with 223 (4 shy of the school record) … Mike Labor led the team in tackles with 96, ending a three-year run by Williams as the team's leading tackler.