Golden Rams Gridiron Crew Hits the Road Saturday at ESU

WEST CHESTER at EAST STROUDSBURG
Game Details: 6:05 p.m. | Saturday, Oct. 19
Location: East Stroudsburg, Pa. | Denny Douds Field at Eiler-Martin Stadium
Game Links: Watch | Listen | Live Stats
Television: Blue Ridge TV
Web Stream: PSAC Sports Digital Network
Radio: 95.3 WCHE
West Chester Links: News | Roster | Schedule
East Stroudsburg Links: News | Roster | Schedule 

GOLDEN RAMS HIT THE ROAD LOOKING FOR THIRD STRAIGHT WIN
• West Chester (2-4, 1-2) heads up to the Poconos this weekend for a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division showdown with East Stroudsburg (5-1, 2-1) under the lights on the Warriors' Homecoming.  
• West Chester is coming off a stunning upset over Shepherd, 35-14, last Saturday at John A. Farrell Stadium. The Golden Rams have won each of their last two games and have people talking about the "State Game" if they can win the rest of their regular-season contests. To do that, West Chester has two very formidable opponents standing in their way, and Saturday's adversary – East Stroudsburg – is one of those two tests.  
• East Stroudsburg is coming off a 31-0 rout on the road over Bloomsburg last Saturday. The Warriors have also won their last two contests and are currently in second place behind Kutztown in the division standings. ESU's lone defeat on the year came at the hands of Kutztown three weeks ago.
 
COOPER JORDAN NAMED CO-OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK IN THE EAST
• West Chester University junior quarterback Cooper Jordan was named the co-offensive athlete of the week in the Eastern Division by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Monday afternoon. West Chester upset Shepherd, 35-14, Saturday to pick up the team's second straight conference win. It was the first win for the Golden Rams over the Rams in the regular season since the latter joined the PSAC in 2019.
 
Jordan threw for 164 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 124 yards and another score to lead West Chester in the stunning upset. He shares this week's honor with Shippensburg QB Vincent Micucci, who led the Raiders to a come-from-behind victory over Millersville. Jordan was directly responsible for three of the Golden Rams' five TDs while his 72-yard run down to the 1-yard line set up a fourth TD. It marked the second straight week that the QB rushed for over 100 yards and led West Chester to a win. Jordan completed a 9-yard pass on 3rd-and-4 during West Chester's final TD drive in the fourth quarter as well.
 
It also marks the second straight week that a West Chester football player was recognized by the conference in its weekly awards. Connor Noble was the defensive athlete of the week in the East last week.


NOBLE SECOND IN THE PSAC IN TACKLES
• West Chester R-Jr. MLB, Connor Noble, ranks second in the PSAC in tackles with 64 stops. He is the only representative from an Eastern Division school in the Top 7 in the conference. Noble also ranks eighth in all of Division II in tackles. He finished last year in triple digits in stops and would seem to be on his way north of 100 again this fall. On top of all that, Noble has also intercepted a pass in each of West Chester's last two games (against Shippensburg and Shepherd).
 
GOLDEN RAMS vs. ESU ALL-TIME
• West Chester is 64-23 all-time against East Stroudsburg in a series that dates all the way back to 1926. With this being the 88th installment of that storied rivalry, the WCU-ESU annual clash is the second most-played rivalry on the books at West Chester. Only 90 contests against Millersville is ahead of the Golden Rams' and Warriors' rivalry.
• Last year, ESU ended a nine-game losing streak at the hands of WCU with a 28-14 victory at John A. Farrell Stadium. The Golden Rams show a 29-11 advantage in games played in Northeastern PA against the Warriors. They have not lost since 2012 – bringing a four-game winning streak to Eiler-Martin Stadium on Saturday night.
 
COOPER JORDAN AMONG NATION'S TOP RUSHING QBs
• West Chester junior QB Cooper Jordan has 522 yards rushing on the season and seven rushing touchdowns. That yardage total ranks him second in Division II among quarterbacks while his TDs is tied for third. Jordan averages 87 yards rushing per game and has been very dynamic in the run game with carries of 84 yards and 72 yards. His 84-yard run is the fifth longest among QBs this season as well.
• Jordan has rushed for over 500 yards all three years in college and is just three yards shy of 1,600 rushing yards in a career. His seven TD rushes this fall is a single-season career high and he averages exactly five yards per carry in his three years on South Campus.
• His freshman year at Eiler-Martin Stadium, Jordan engineered a late scoring drive to pull out a come-from-behind victory over ESU. His 15-yard TD pass to Thatcher Miller with :16 left put the Golden Rams up, 24-21. Jordan finished that game with a career-high 133 yards on just 12 carries to lead West Chester to the win. That is still Jordan's career best effort on the ground in a game in his college career.
• Jordan's 1,597 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns in his two-plus seasons is a school record for quarterbacks. Only him and A.J. Long have rushed for over 1,000 yards in a career as a QB.
 
LAST TIME vs. ESU (Oct. 14, 2023 – WEST CHESTER, Pa.)
• East Stroudsburg put up 21 points in the first half, and limited West Chester to just 64 yards of total offense in the second half, to take a 28-14 victory over host West Chester.

West Chester scored a touchdown in the third quarter to pull within one score. However, ESU held the Golden Rams at bay in the fourth to end a personal nine-game losing streak to West Chester in the series between the two regional rivals.

Connor Noble led a valiant effort by the defense to keep West Chester in the game. The conference's leading tackler made 11 stops on the day. Izaiah McPherson had an interception in the game as well. The Golden Rams' offense mustered just 177 yards of total offense on the day, and only 64 in the second half. The 14-play drive that went 81 yards in the third quarter was the only drive of the half that went anywhere. Outside of that drive, West Chester had just one first down in the final 3