West Chester Pulls Away From Stingy Shippensburg Squad For 37-27 Win

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Sr., RB Jarel Elder (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) rushed for 149 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead West Chester to a 37-27 victory over host Shippensburg at Seth Grove Stadium Saturday afternoon.
 
With the win, West Chester (5-1, 3-0 PSAC East) remains perfect on the season and in first place in the division standings while Shippensburg (5-1, 2-1) saw its five-game winning streak come to a close with its first loss of the season. Bloomsburg's loss to Kutztown Saturday leaves the Golden Rams in sole possession of first place with a pivotal tilt against the Huskies coming up next Saturday inside John A. Farrell Stadium.
 
Trailing 10-3 after the first quarter, West Chester put up 17 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 20-10 lead into the locker room at halftime. From there, the Golden Rams scored on their opening possession of the second half to make it 24 straight points and give themselves a 27-10 lead.
 
However, Shippensburg would not go away, rattling off 17 straight points of its own to even the score at 27-all with 12 minutes still left to play.
 
The Golden Rams got a career-long 41-yard field goal from Andrew Chegia (Kennett Square, Pa./Unionville), and then Elder put the icing on the cake with a 63-yard scamper to pay dirt with four minutes remaining.
 
R-So., QB Paul Dooley (Philadelphia, Pa./Springside-Chestnut Hill) finished 19-for-34 for 276 yards and a pair of TDs. His primary target for the day was Sr., WR Tyler Karpinski (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Twp.), who finished with eight catches for 130 yards.
 
Defensively, LB Tyler Morrissey (Springfield, Pa./Springfield-DELCO) registered double digits in tackles for the second time in three outings. He added two tackles for a loss, including one sack. The Golden Rams' stop unit sacked Shippensburg's QB, Ryan Zapoticky, five times and was credited with four more QB hurries.
 
R-So. DB Jarey Elder (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) intercepted a pass in the second quarter and returned it to Shippensburg's 7-yard line. There, he turned things over to his older brother, Jarel, who scored from seven yards out to give West Chester its' first lead of the day, 17-10.
 
Sr., DE George Shipp (Harleysville, Pa./North Penn) registered a pair of sacks and two more QB hurries. He had four tackles in all on the day.
 
West Chester returns home next Saturday to host arch-rival Bloomsburg at 12:30 p.m. The game will be televised by PA SportsFever and can also be seen on ESPN3.