WEST CHESTER, PA – Bentley kicker Mason Campbell nailed a 38-yard field goal as time expired lifting the visiting Falcons to a 20-17 victory over host West Chester in the season opener for both schools Saturday inside John A. Farrell Stadium.
Bentley drove 46 yards on nine plays down to the West Chester 21-yard line in the final 58 seconds of the game to line up Campbell for his game-winner. Following a Golden Rams' timeout with three ticks left, Campbell split the uprights sending the visiting bench into a frenzy.
The win avenged a last-minute victory by West Chester up in Waltham, Mass., a year ago and marked the first win for the Falcons in West Chester in four tries.
What started out as an explosive day offensively for the hosts, turned sour just as the weather turned bad in the second half. The Golden Rams jumped out to a 14-0 lead with touchdown drives on its first two possessions, but could not muster much offense after the first quarter of play. West Chester recorded 10 first downs and 111 yards of total offense in the first 15 minutes. It finished with 13 first downs and 271 yards of offense in the game.
Bentley ran 74 offensive plays over the final 45 minutes and wore down West Chester's defense, which seemed to be on the field all the time. After gaining just 19 yards in the first quarter, the Falcons finished with 354 yards of total offense.
Still, West Chester held a 17-3 advantage with nine minutes left in the third quarter following a 24-yard field goal by
Sean Henry (Reading, Pa./Exeter). However, the home team let their guests hang around and hang around. With four minutes left in the third, Bentley QB Brett Pullman plunged in from one yard out to drag the visitors back within a touchdown at 17-10.
Still, West Chester maintained its bend-but-don't break mentality by forcing Bentley into a pair of turnover on downs in the red zone on its first two possessions of the fourth quarter.
Johnny Pergine (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop Wood) broke up a 4th-down pass at the Golden Rams' 2, and
Connor Noble (Chester Springs, Pa./Downingtown East) broke up a fourth-down pass play at the 19 with four minutes left in the game.
However, West Chester fumbled the ball right back to the Falcons at its own 15, and Vinny Holmes scampered into the end zone on the next play to tie the game at 17-all.
The Golden Rams responded with a 7-play drive that got them down to Bentley's 33-yard line. But, they could not convert on a 4th-and-1, and the Falcons took over with 1:11 left. Pullman then hit Pat Damon for a 34-yard gain on 2nd-and-17 that got Bentley to the Golden Rams' 40. Three rushes from Holmes had the guests at the 21 with :03 left in the contest.
D'Shaun Seals (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) caught a 10-yard slant from
Cooper Jordan (Downingtown, Pa./Bishop Shanahan), and
Dayshawn Jacobs (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) broke free for a 33-yard touchdown run to stake West Chester to a 14-0 lead.
Campell kicked a 35-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to send the game into halftime at 14-3 in favor of West Chester.
Jacobs finished with 68 rushing yards on 10 carries and the one score. Jordan ran for 56 on 15 carries. He also was 9-for-17 for 108 yards and the TD pass to Seals through the air.
Robby Longo (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) led all receivers with four catches for 68 yards.
Noble led all tacklers with 14 stops on the day.
Shane Mosley (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) finished with seven tackles, but added three pass breakups and one interception.
West Chester is back home next Saturday for another noon kick against California (Pa.) in the first crossover weekend of the young season. The Vulcans dropped a 23-19 decision to No. 23 Charleston on the road Saturday.
