Football Returns Home Saturday Looking to Turn Fortunes Around

WEST CHESTER at SHIPPENSBURG
Game Details: 12:00 p.m. | Saturday, Oct. 5
Location: West Chester, Pa. | John A. Farrell Stadium
Game Links: Watch | Listen | Live Stats
Web Stream: Sports Fan Base Network (SFBN)
Radio: 95.3 WCHE
Digital Game Program: LINK
West Chester Links: News | Roster | Schedule
Shippensburg Links: News | Roster | Schedule 

GOLDEN RAMS RETURN HOME STILL SEARCHING FOR WIN NO. 1
• West Chester (0-4) is back home at John A. Farrell Stadium Saturday desperately searching for its first win of the season. The Golden Rams haven't been 0-4 since 2000 when the Purple & Gold lost their first five games of the year.
• West Chester is also still looking to hand new head coach Duke Greco his first win at the school. A 0-4 start is uncharted waters for Greco in his 11 years as the head of a football program.
• Shippensburg (1-3) is coming off a shutout loss at home to Shepherd University last Saturday. The Raiders have only scored six times in four games this year and four of those six scores came in a 24-21 win over Clarion. The Raiders haven't scored in seven quarters dating back to their contest against Slippery Rock.
 
WELCOME TO THE CENTURY CLUB D'SHAUN
• West Chester senior WR D'Shaun Seals caught is 100th career pass last week at Bloomsburg. He sits at 101 receptions entering Saturday's game against Shippensburg. Seals has 29 grabs on the year, including 19 of those in his last two games. He caught nine passes at Seton Hill and bested that number by one last week at Bloomsburg. He has led the team in receptions each of the past two years while already surpassing his total from his sophomore year. Seals' personal high for receptions in a single season is 44 last year. That personal mark is in jeopardy this fall.

CLOSE BUT NOT QUITE
• West Chester has either led, or been tied, with its opponent at the two-minute timeout, or later, in three of its four games.

• West Chester was tied with Bentley ,17-17, at the 2-minute timeout in the season opener. Bentley drove 46 yards in 71 seconds and kicked a 38-yard field goal as time expired to win.
• West Chester led, 24-21, against Seton Hill at the 2-minute timeout. Seton Hill drove 82 yards in 1:48 to score the go-ahead TD. The Golden Rams couldn't do anything with the 1:03 that remained and lost.
• West Chester trailed Bloomsburg, 17-14, with 1:56 to play. The Golden Rams took a 21-17 lead on a 43-yd TD run by Cooper Jordan with 1:10 to play. Bloomsburg answered with a 63-yd drive in 36 seconds to take a 23-21 lead with 27 seconds left. West Chester could not do anything with its remaining time and lost.

 
SCOUTING SHIPPENSBURG
Shippensburg enters Saturday's conference showdown with West Chester on a two-game losing streak and looking to break a scoring drought. The Raiders have not scored in the last seven quarters. Last week, the Raiders were blanked by Shepherd, 38-0, in the first week of conference play.
 
The loss marked the first time that Shippensburg has been shutout since the 2013 season opener, when the Rams won 33-0 in Shepherdstown. Last Saturday's setback was the first time that Shippensburg has been shutout at home since 2008 (21-0 to Bloomsburg).
 
Shippensburg managed just 177 yards of offense and could not prevent big plays from Shepherd as the Rams scored touchdowns on a 56-yard run, a 57-yard pass and a 61-yard punt return. The Raiders finished with just 21 rushing yards and had just two plays of 20 or more yards. Raiders' quarterbacks Sam Stoner and Vincent Micucci combined to complete 20-of-24 passes for 156 yards. Stoner was 10-of-11 for 83 yards, while Micucci was 10-of-13 for 73 yards and an interception.

GOLDEN RAMS vs. SHIPPENSBURG ALL-TIME
• West Chester and Shippensburg meet for the 46th time in the all-time series. The two state schools have met each year since 2002 (excluding the COVID year of 2020). Shippensburg has been a division rival and member of the PSAC East since 2008.
• The Golden Rams hold a 31-13-1 advantage in the previous 45 meetings. However, Shippensburg has won two of the last three encounters, including two in a row in 2022 and 2023.
• Despite being only a conference rival since 2008, Shippensburg holds the distinction of being one of the oldest rivals in West Chester football history. The two first met back in 1921, the second official year of West Chester football. The Raiders hold this distinction along with Millersville, who also played West Chester that fall.
 
LAST TIME vs. SHIPPENSBURG (Sep. 30, 2023 – WEST CHESTER, PA.)
• Maurice Beverly forced a fumble on the goal line and took it 99 yards the other way for a touchdown with five minutes to play in the third quarter to help West Chester complete a 38-28 comeback victory over Shippensburg inside Seth Grove Stadium. The Golden Rams trailed by as many as 14 in the first half, but scored on each of its first three drives of the second half and followed it up with an essential defensive score later in the third quarter, outscoring its guests 24-0, en route to a 38-28 victory over Shippensburg.
 
WEST CHESTER - LAST TIME OUT
Host Bloomsburg drove the length of the field in the final minute of play to snatch a 23-21 victory from visiting West Chester Saturday afternoon at Danny Hale Field at Redman Stadium.

West Chester had taken its first lead of the contest on a 43-yard touchdown run by Cooper Jordan with 1:10 to play. However, Bloomsburg answered with a 78-yard drive that culminated in a 24-yard TD pass from K.J. Riley to Jerry Griffin-Batchler with 27 seconds to play.

The Golden Rams fought back by scoring all 21 points in the fourth quarter of the conference opener for both schools. Jordan also scored on a 1-yard run with 4:09 to play that drew West Chester within a field goal at 17-14. Riley had kicked a 25-yard field goal prior to Jordan's two TD runs, and the hosts led 17-7. The Purple & Gold opened the quarter with an 18-yard TD pass from Jordan to D'Shaun Seals. Jordan finished the day 29-for-39 for 287 yards, all career highs, and one TD. He rushed the ball 15 times for 81 yards and a pair of scores. Seals caught a career-best 10 passes for 70 yards and a score. Connor Noble led West Chester with seven tackles.