WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Jack Pellicciotti (Marriottsville, Md./Liberty) completed 8 of 9 passes for 157 yards and four touchdowns in the first half to lead host West Chester to a 52-0 shutout over visiting Lackawanna on a brisk Saturday evening at Tomlinson-Fillippo Field at John A. Farrell Stadium.
 
Pellicciotti become the fourth quarterback in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) to throw for four first-half scores this season while also marking the first time since 2019 that a Golden Rams' QB tossed four TDs in a contest.
 
"Stats like that are nice," Pellicciotti explained. "But, it's really just a combination of a lot of things – a good week of practice, our offense coming together, and the coaching was phenomenal."
 
"It was good to see for the offense," head coach Duke Greco said afterwards. "We felt like (Pellicciotti) had been working his tail off behind the scenes in practice for some time, and he deserved the start tonight."
 
West Chester (4-3) held Lackawanna (0-7) to just 172 yards of offense, pitching its first shutout since a 29-0 blanking of Seton Hill in 2019.
 
"(The shutout) was great to see," Greco continued. "They deserved it. But, to see the two's and three's step in and keep it that way was special."
 
Isaiah Wright (Douglassville, Pa./Malvern Prep) led West Chester on the ground with nine carries for 68 yards. Reese Clark (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) caught a pair of touchdown passes for his lone catches of the night for 26 yards, while Dylan McKenzie (Oreland, Pa./Springfield (MONTCO) led the Golden Rams in receiving yardage with one catch for 65 yards, including a 42-yard run after the catch that made it a 42-0 ballgame at the half.
 
"Reese had a good night," Greco praised. "He is capable of doing a lot. We have to get him more involved, but he certainly made the most of his opportunities tonight."
 
The Golden Rams jumped out to a 28-0 first-quarter lead, scoring four touchdowns in the first quarter for the first time since 2018. Clark caught a pair of touchdown passes from Pellicciotti in the first half, while Will Silverman (Doylestown, Pa./CB East) caught one of his own as West Chester capitalized on a muffed kickoff. Peaky Roseborough (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City) added the remaining score for West Chester with a 34-yard interception return for a touchdown as he jumped a route and scored the Golden Rams' third touchdown of the game in the first eight minutes of the contest.
 
The Golden Rams scored twice more in the second quarter, stretching the lead to 35-0 with a Future Robertson (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) touchdown from one yard out.
 
After its longest scoring drive of the game to that point, West Chester authored one of its fastest scoring drives in the second quarter. Pellicciotti found McKenzie across the middle for a 65-yard catch-and-run.
 
West Chester added a field goal in the third quarter to cap off a nearly 10-minute drive, which saw the Golden Rams cover 83 yards, primarily on the ground, over the course of 17 plays, before scoring its final TD of the night when James Fisher (Media, Pa./Strath Haven) surged across the goal line to stretch the lead to 52-0. The Golden Rams eclipsed the 50-point plateau for the first time in a game since a 58-10 win over Lock Haven in 2022.
 
The defense was led by linebackers, Ricardo Delgado (Warminster, Pa/./Archbishop Wood) and Luke Trunnell (Yardley, Pa./Conwell Egan), who each tied for the team lead in tackles with six as Delgado had a team-best four solo stops and Trunell posted a team  best five assisted tackles.
 
West Chester racked up 433 yards of total offense and forced three turnovers. The Golden Rams recorded their largest margin of victory since they defeated Millersville, 52-0, back on November 5, 2016 at Farrell Stadium.
 
The Golden Rams travel to No. 3 Kutztown next Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. kickoff at Andre Reed Stadium.