Game Notes
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WEST CHESTER, Pa. - West Chester University ventures into the second round of the NCAA II playoffs for the second time in the last three years and the third time overall. Its opponent is no stranger to the Golden Rams as the 14th-ranked Bloomsburg Huskies welcome their PSAC bitter rivals back to Redman Stadium.
West Chester handed Bloomsburg its only loss of the season right here on Redman’s new artificial surface on Homecoming Weekend, no less, back on November 1. The Huskies are looking to avenge that defeat and advance to the Super Region One championship game next weekend, which would be held right back at Redman Stadium.
Bloomsburg is the top seed in the region while West Chester is the four-seed. The Golden Rams defeated fifth-seeded Southern Connecticut State, 52-32, last Saturday to advance to this second round game. West Chester and Bloomsburg met in the second round two years ago with the Huskies taking a 21-20 victory after partially blocking a potential game-winning field goal in the final seconds.
The rivalry between the two schools is storied and the added pressure of a playoff game to that legend makes today’s matchup that much more intriguing.
It is a battle of two very different offensive philosophies. West Chester likes to spread out the defense and throw the ball all over the yard with its talented wide receivers and very experienced quarterback orchestrating the attack. Bloomsburg would rather run the ball all day and wear out the defensive front seven with its three-back offense.
All-PSAC East first team quarterback Dan Latorre leads his squad up against All-PSAC East second team quarterback Joe Wright. The Golden Rams entire defensive front was all-league with two of the three making first team. Junior LB Mike Dell was also the defensive player of the year. Jon Ochs, up front defensively for Bloomsburg, is an awful lot to handle for any offensive line.
