KUTZTOWN, PA –
Cooper Jordan (Downingtown, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) threw for 234 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but second-ranked Kutztown easily outdistanced visiting West Chester in a 31-13 victory at Andre Reed Stadium Saturday afternoon.
West Chester (4-6, 4-3 PSAC East) saw its 2024 campaign come to a close under first-year head coach
Duke Greco while Kutztown (10-0, 7-0) moves on to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship Game next weekend at California (Pa.).
Jordan attempted a career-high 43 passes and finished the day 22 of 43 with an interception to go along with his 234 yards passing and TD tosses. He hit senior WR
D'Shaun Seals (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) on a 13-yard scoring strike in the third quarter that made it a 21-7 ballgame. He then connected with RB
Juke Peaker (Philadelphia, Pa./Northeast) on an 8-yard TD pass to close out the scoring in the game.
Kutztown's nationally ranked defense harassed Jordan all day, recording six sacks and limiting the mobile QB to a career-low -10 yards rushing. He did catch a 23-yard pass from Seals, registering a reception in three of the Golden Rams' final four games of the season. Jordan finished the 2024 campaign as the team's leading rusher with 916 yards on the ground. In three years as the Rams' starting QB, Jordan has rushed for 1,922 yards and 21 TDs. He will enter his senior season 78 yards shy of becoming just the 20th player in West Chester history to rush for 2,000 yards in a career.
Seals closed out his college football career with six catches for 57 yards and a score. He led the squad in receiving for the third year in a row with 56 receptions for 745 yards and seven touchdowns. Those receptions and TD totals are the most in a single season by a Golden Rams receiver since the pandemic. Seals caught a combined 100 passes over the last two campaigns. He closed out his career with 128 receptions for 1,788 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also completed all three passes he attempted in the last two years – one for a TD.
Defensively,
Connor Noble (Chester Springs, Pa./Downingtown East) posted a team-best 14 tackles in the game. He wrapped up his 2024 campaign with 117 tackles in 10 games. That total leads the Eastern Division and is second in the PSAC overall. It is also among the Top 10 in Division II. His 79 assisted tackles ranks third all-time in a single season at West Chester. That is just eight shy of the school record – a record he would have had a real shot at if the Golden Rams had an 11th game on their schedule.
Johnny Pergine (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop Wood) recorded 10 stops in the loss to Kutztown. He quietly had himself a stellar second half to the season. Saturday marked the third straight contest and fifth in the last six that Pergine posted double figures in tackles.
Kutztown ran out to a 21-0 lead by halftime. A 74-yard punt return for a touchdown got the hosts on the board late in the first quarter after West Chester's defense had held the third-ranked team in the country to three straight 3-and-outs. The Golden Bears' next TD was off a turnover and a drive that started on West Chester's 19-yard line.
After beginning the year at 0-4, West Chester turned things around and won four of its last six. The Golden Rams posted a winning record in conference play with a 4-3 mark, which was one game better than last fall.
