Strong First Half Enough For West Chester In Win Over Shippensburg

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Jr., QB Pat Moriarty (Harriton, Pa./Gladwyne) was 20-for-29 for 338 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead West Chester to a 31-15 victory over visiting Shippensburg on Dick Yoder Day at John A. Farrell Stadium Saturday afternoon.
 
West Chester (3-3, 2-1 PSAC) avenged a loss to Shippensburg (4-2, 2-1) last year with Saturday's win and moved into second place in the PSAC East standings behind Kutztown, which defeated Bloomsburg. The Golden Rams improved to 26-11-1 all-time against the Red Raiders with the win.
 
The Golden Rams racked up 24 points in the second quarter to take a 31-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.  Jarel Elder (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) rushed for a pair of scores, and Tyler Karpinski (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Twp.) caught a 1-yard TD pass. Place-kicker Brendan Paulison (Milford, Pa./Delaware Valley) kicked a career-long 42-yard field goal as well in the second quarter.
 
"It took us a little while to get going," WCU head coach Bill Zwaan said. "But, we really held the ball in the second quarter when we scored all those points. It was a great effort in the first half.
 
"(Moriarty) came up huge. We thought all week that we might have to play him. So, he was prepared for that. He did a really good job managing the game and not making any bad plays. And, he made some really good plays too."
 
Moriarty, making his first start since Week 1, looked composed and in charge of West Chester's offense all day long.
 
"I'm always preparing to be the starter," Moriarty said afterwards. "The offensive line played tremendous today. I had all day back there to find receivers and throw the ball. I think we scored on maybe the third drive, and then everything clicked, and we really got it going."
 
Karpinski finished with seven catches for 103 yards and the two scores. West Chester ran 70 plays and racked up 446 yards of total offense compared to Shippensburg's 53 plays for 253 yards. It was the fewest number of offensive plays run in a game by the Red Raiders in head coach Mark Maciejewski's six years at the helm.
 
Defensively, the Golden Rams were led by Steven Denby's (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) career-high 11 tackles and one sack. He recorded two tackles for a loss. Nydair Rouse (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz) broke up three passes on the day.

At halftime, the West Chester University Foundation and the Yoder Family announced that over $25,000 has been raised for the Richard B. Yoder '59 Football Scholarship Fund. The Yoder Family also participated in the opening coin toss as part of Dick Yoder Day at Farrell Stadium Saturday. To donate to the Richard B. Yoder '59 Football Scholarship Fund, go to http://www.wcufoundation.org/page.aspx?pid=279.
 
West Chester travels to Bloomsburg next Saturday for a 2 p.m. kickoff at Danny Hale Field at Redman Stadium against the Huskies.