WEST CHESTER, PA –
Anthony Leonardi (Ivyland, Pa./Central Bucks South) scored two touchdowns in his college debut, and West Chester's defense intercepted Shepherd's quarterback four times, as the host Golden Rams scored a stunning upset over the visiting Rams with a 35-14 victory at John A. Farrell Stadium on a beautiful sunny afternoon for football Saturday.
West Chester (2-4, 2-1 PSAC East) has now won two straight, while Shepherd (4-2, 2-1) fell for just the second time this year.
Leonardi hauled in a 62-yard TD strike from
Cooper Jordan (Downingtown, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) late in the first quarter to give the home team the lead, and then he bowled in from the one with 10 minutes left in the game to put the finishing touches on Shepherd.
But, the story of the day was West Chester's defense that registered four interceptions, picked up four sacks and was credited with five QB hurries as they chased Shepherd QB Lek Powell all over the backfield.
Following Leonardi's TD reception, Powell threw one of his four picks to
Kaleb Brown (Reading, Pa./Wilson), who returned it to the Shepherd 36-yard line. Two plays later, Jordan lofted a pass over the shoulder and into the waiting arms of
D'Shaun Seals (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) for a 33-yard touchdown pass that gave the hosts a 14-0 lead after one.
Shepherd answered with its first score of the game, a 3-yard run by Jordan Barnett, early in the second quarter. However, the Golden Rams responded with a 15-play, 68-yard drive that took nine minutes and resulted in a 1-yard tush-push on third down that restored WCU's 14-point lead.
Perhaps the most significant sequence of events in the game took place on the Rams' next offensive possession. Shepherd drove 77 yards down to the West Chester one-inch line where the Golden Rams stuffed Barnett at the line of scrimmage with 14 seconds left in the half to preserve their two-score advantage heading into the break. With Shepherd set to receive the second-half kickoff, a TD at that point in the game, could have swung the momentum pendulum back to the heavily favored visitors. Instead, Shepherd got no points on the drive and opened the second half with a punt after seven plays.
After the two teams exchanged punts, West Chester engineered an 8-play, 92-yard drive that culminated in
Dayshawn Jacobs (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) leaping over a pile of defenders from the one that gave the home team its largest lead of the game, 28-7.
Shepherd returned the ensuing pooch-kick, which had worked so marvelously a week ago against Shippensburg, down to the Golden Rams' six. Malacai Brown busted through the line and into the end zone on the next play to make it a 28-14 game heading to the fourth.
West Chester's defense shut out Shepherd the rest of the way as Leonardi provided the only scoring in the final 15 minutes. Leonardi finished the day with 53 yards rushing and one TD while adding his 62-yard catch-and-run to his final numbers.
Jordan rushed for over 100 yards for the second straight week, finishing with 124 yards on the ground on 17 carries. He busted off a 74-yard scamper in the third quarter that set up Jacob's 1-yard dive. Jordan was also 8 of 14 for 164 and two TDs. Seals caught all four of his targets for 61 yards and a score.
Defensively,
Shane Mosley (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) and
Johnny Pergine (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop Wood) each led the team with 10 tackles.
Connor Noble (Chester Springs, Pa./Downingtown East) had nine stops and one INT.
Charley Mininger (Willow Grove, Pa./Archbishop Wood) made just three tackles, but he batted a pass by Powell that was intercepted by
Daniel Hicks (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) on Shepherd's first drive of the fourth quarter and then came up with a huge sack on a 2nd-and-Goal from the Golden Rams' 16-yard line that knocked the Rams back to the 28 on their second drive of the fourth when the visitors were desperately trying to claw their way back into the contest.
West Chester hits the road next Saturday to take on East Stroudsburg at 6:05 p.m. on the Warriors' Homecoming Weekend.
