Football Breaks Into AFCA Top 25

CAMBRIDGE, Wi.- The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) released its Division II poll on Monday, and the West Chester University Golden Rams catapulted themselves into the 23rd ranking following a 44-6 victory over Bentley last Thursday.

West Chester opened its season on August 30th in Waltham, Mass., against NE-10 opponent Bentley, and the Golden Rams cruised past the Falcons, winning by a final score of 44-6. Starting QB A.J. Long was impressive as he went 10-for-14 for 184 yards and two touchdowns through the air to go along with 54 yards rushing and two more touchdowns to lead the Golden Rams offense.

The defense was particularly stout on Thursday evening as the Golden Rams managed to hold the Falcons to just 63 yards of total offense, compared to 443 yards of total offense for West Chester. Perhaps most impressively, the West Chester defense recorded as many sacks (7) as Bentley managed first downs while also finding a way to keep the Falcons out of the end zone as the only points of the game came via a pair of field goals.

The top seven teams in the poll remained unchanged as Texas A&M-Commerce continued to lead the nation with 797 points and 21 first-place votes, followed by West Florida in second with 775 points and six first-place votes. Minnesota State retained the third spot with 753 points and four first-place votes while Indiana (Pa.) collected the lone other first-place vote with 719 points to remain ranked fourth. Fort Hayes State (Kan.) retained the fifth ranking followed by Northwest Missouri State in sixth and Harding in seventh. Grand Valley State climbed from 10th into the No. 8 ranking while Ferris State dropped back into ninth. Midwestern State was the lone newcomer to the Top-10, climbing from 11th into the No. 10 ranking in this week's poll.

West Chester was one of three teams in the nation to break into the poll after being unranked in the preseason poll. The other two squads to follow West Chester into the poll quite literally are Minnesota-Duluth in 24th and Colorado Mesa in 25th.

West Chester joins IUP as the only other program from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) to be ranked in the Top-25.

The Golden Rams will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 8 at home against Gannon with that game scheduled to kickoff at 12 p.m.
See the full poll below:

Rank	School (1st Place Votes)	Record	Pts.	Previous Rank	Season Opener	Next Game
1	Texas A&M-Commerce (21)	1-0	797	1	D. Texas A&M-Kingsville, 37-36 2OT	Sept. 8 at William Jewell (Mo.)
2	West Florida (6)	1-0	775	2	D. No. 22 Carson-Newman (Tenn.), 19-9	Sept. 8 at No. 10 Midwestern St. (Tex.)
3	Minnesota St. (4)	1-0	753	3	D. Southwest Minnesota St., 49-13	Sept. 8 at Augustana (S.D.
4	Indiana (Pa.) (1)	1-0	719	4	D. No. 15 Ashland (Ohio), 21-17	Sept. 6 vs. Millersville (Pa.)
5	Fort Hays St. (Kan.)	1-0	676	5t	D. No. 18 Central Missouri, 20-16	Sept. 6 at Missouri Western St.
6	Northwest Missouri St.	1-0	633	5t	D. Missouri Western St., 28-6	Sept. 6 at Washburn (Kan.)
7	Harding (Ark.)	1-0	625	7	D. Henderson St. (Ark.), 41-17	Sept. 8 vs. Southern Arkansas
8	Grand Valley St. (Mich.)	1-0	588	10	D. No. 13 Indianapolis (Ind.), 30-7	Sept. 8 at Delta St. (Miss.)
9	Ferris St. (Mich.)	1-0	551	8	D. East Stroudsburg (Pa.), 49-17	Sept. 8 vs. No. 19t Findlay (Ohio
10	Midwestern St. (Texas)	1-0	516	11	D. Humboldt St. (Calif.), 55-12	Sept. 8 vs. No. 2 West Florida
11	West Alabama	1-0	466	12	D. Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.), 36-32	Sept. 6 vs. Miles (Ala.)
12	Colorado St.-Pueblo	1-0	450	14	D. Dixie St. (Utah), 56-14	Sept. 8 vs. Chadron St. (Neb.)
13	West Georgia	1-0	412	19	D. Catawba (N.C.), 34-3	Sept. 8 vs. Limestone (S.C.)
14	Sioux Falls (S.D.)	1-0	312	20	D. Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.), 27-24	Sept. 8 at No. 15 Winona St. (Minn.)
15	Winona St. (Minn.)	1-0	276	21	D. Wayne St. (Neb.), 41-28	Sept. 8 vs. No. 14 Sioux Falls (S.D.)
16	Central Washington	0-1	261	9	Lost to Eastern Washington, 58-13	Sept. 8 at Western Oregon
17	Ohio Dominican	1-0	229	23	D. California (Pa.), 28-23	Sept. 8 vs. No. 18 Ashland (Ohio)
18	Ashland (Ohio)	0-1	216	15	Lost to No. 4 Indiana (Pa.), 21-17	Sept. 8 at No. 17 Ohio Dominican
19	Findlay (Ohio)	1-0	197	25	D. Kentucky Wesleyan, 69-19	Sept. 8 at No. 9 Ferris St. (Mich.)
19	Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)	1-0	197	24	D. Northwestern Oklahoma St., 29-21	Sept. 8 vs. Southwestern Oklahoma St
21	Central Missouri	0-1	124	18	Lost to No. 5t Fort Hays St. (Kan.), 20-16	Sept. 6 vs. Northeastern St. (Okla.)
22	Indianapolis (Ind.)	0-1	118	13	Lost to No. 10 Grand Valley St. (Mich.), 30-7	Sept. 8 vs. Wayne St. (Mich.)
23	West Chester (Pa.)	1-0	114	NR	D. Bentley (Mass.), 44-6	Sept. 8 vs. Gannon (Pa.)
24	Minnesota-Duluth	1-0	91	NR	D. Minot St. (N.D.), 49-3	Sept. 8 vs. Minnesota St.-Moorhead
25	Colorado Mesa	1-0	82	NR	D. South Dakota Mines, 36-33	Sept. 8 at Eastern New Mexico

Dropped Out: Shepherd (W.Va.) (16), Assumption (Mass.) (17), Carson-Newman (Tenn.) (22)
Others Receiving Votes: Shepherd (W.Va.), 71; Notre Dame (Ohio), 56; Pittsburg St. (Kan.), 56; Carson-Newman (Tenn.), 50; Colorado Mines, 47; Tarleton St. (Texas), 41; Azusa Pacific (Calif.), 37; Assumption (Mass.), 36; Florida Tech, 28; Valdosta St. (Ga.), 25; Southern Arkansas, 22; Wingate (N.C.), 17; Emporia St. (Kan.), 8; Shippensburg (Pa.), 8; Fairmont St. (W.Va.), 6; Texas A&M-Kingsville, 6; Washburn (Kan.), 6; Bloomsburg (Pa.), 5; Delta St. (Miss.), 5; Edinboro (Pa.), 4; California (Pa.), 3; Hillsdale (Mich.), 3; Slippery Rock (Pa.), 3; Kutztown (Pa.), 2; Southeastern Oklahoma St., 1.