No. 16 Bloomsburg Tops No. 8 West Chester; Huskies Represent East In PSAC Title Game

Box Score

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Sean McCartney went 16-for-26 for 305 yards and four touchdowns, but No. 8 West Chester could not complete a fourth-quarter comeback bid as No. 16 Bloomsburg took a 31-28 decision in a PSAC Eastern Division showdown before a sold out John A. Farrell Stadium crowd of 7,849 Saturday afternoon.
 
Bloomsburg (9-1, 7-1 PSAC East) earns a share of the regular-season divisional title with the win and will represent the East in the PSAC Championship Game next Saturday in Bloomsburg against Western Division champ Slippery Rock. West Chester (9-1, 7-1) saw its nine-game winning streak come to a close, though the Golden Rams do earn a share of the regular-season title as well.
 
McCartney hooked up with senior WR Tim Keyser on a 71-yard touchdown strike, following a Bloomsburg interception return for a TD midway through the fourth quarter, that breathed new life into the hosts, drawing them to within 10 points at 31-21. McCartney then engineered a two-minute drive late in the ballgame that culminated in an 18-yard touchdown pass to Eddie Elliott with 1:45 on the clock. However, West Chester's onside kick was fielded by the Huskies' Donovan Morris, and Bloomsburg ran out the clock to secure the win.
 
Bloomsburg held a decided 572-375 advantage in total offense while posting a lopsided 310-70 advantage in rushing yards. Huskies' RB Franklyn Quiteh rushed for 154 yards and one score, setting a new conference record for career touchdowns at 86. He also became just the third rusher in NCAA Division II history to go over 7,000 yards rushing for a career.
 
West Chester's Rondell White managed just 88 yards on the ground while catching four passes for 44 yards. He had 177 all-purpose yards in the game and moved into second place all-time in PSAC history with 6,943 all-purpose yards. He trails only Quiteh, who upped his total to 7,510 yards in the contest.
 
Elliott caught a 51-yard TD pass from McCartney early in the second quarter, his third scoring play of at least 50 yards this season, that put West Chester on top, 7-3. However, Bloomsburg answered with a 4-yard run by Quiteh  and a 6-yard run by Wenrich later in the quarter to open up a 17-7 lead. WCU's Erick Brundidge then hauled in a 33-yard strike from McCartney in the back corner of the end zone with 2:13 left before halftime to draw the Rams within striking distance at 17-14 at the break.
 
Bloomsburg held West Chester off the scoreboard in the third quarter while quarterback Tim Kelly rushed 32 yards down the near sideline on the Huskies' opening drive of the second half that pushed the lead back to 10. Three minutes later, J.P. Patrick stepped in front of a McCartney aerial at the Rams' 45-yard line and ran untouched to the end zone, for the back-breaking score.
 
Keyser's 71-yard catch and run on the first play from scrimmage following that INT gave the record crowd at Farrell Stadium hope. But, the Huskies went on a 9-play drive that ate up more than four minutes of the 7:38 that remained, which left West Chester with very little time to get two scores.
 
West Chester's defense, which spent better than 37 minutes on the field, listed four players in double figures in tackles. Mike Labor notched a team-best 12 tackles while Shaun Krautzel, Brandon Pepper and Ronell Williams all registered 10 stops.
 
West Chester concludes the regular season at home next Saturday against Clarion with a 12 p.m. kickoff. The Golden Rams, who are currently ranked No. 1 in the Super Region 1 rankings, will then await the NCAA Division II Tournament Selection Show to see when and where their season will continue on Nov. 23 or Nov. 30.
 
The final regular-season regional polls will be released on Monday. West Chester will most likely drop out of the top spot. However, the top six teams in the region qualify for the NCAA II Playoffs. Three of those spots are "earned access" while the other three are "at-large" bids. The Golden Rams will need one of those three at-large bids to qualify for the postseason.

NOTES: West Chester saw its nine-game winning streak this season, and 10-game win streak dating back to last year, come to an end with its 31-28 loss to Bloomsburg Saturday ... West Chester finishes in a three-way tie for first place in the PSAC Eastern Division with Shippensburg and Bloomsburg ... the Golden Rams are 9-1 on the season for the first time since 1992 ... Sr., RB Rondell White broke the school's single-season all-purpose yards record previously held by Mike Irving (2,264 - 1984) ... White now has 2,382 all-purpose yards this fall ... he also went over 1,500 yards rushing on the year, making him the first RB in school history to register two 1,500-yard rushing seasons in a career ... he is 45 yards shy of his own school record of 1,548 yards rushing last season ... White upped his career all-purpose yards numbers to 6,943 ... he is now second all-time in PSAC history, passing former Bloomsburg RB Jamar Brittingham on Saturday ... he trails only current Huskies RB Franklyn Quiteh ... White returned two kickoffs Saturday and went over 1,000 career kickoff return yards ... he is just the fourth WCU player to reach 1,000 yards in kickoff returns ... White's 44 yards receiving also gives him exactly 2,000 yards receiving in his four-year career.