EDINBORO, PA  - Colin O'Sullivan (Fort Washington, Pa./Upper Dublin) finished 14 of 19 for 231 yards and two touchdown passes while also rushing for another himself as visiting West Chester ran away from Edinboro, 44-24, at Sox Harrison Stadium Saturday afternoon.
 
O'Sullivan, making his second straight start under center for the Golden Rams, engineered a scoring drive on eight of the team's nine possessions to erase an early deficit in the first quarter and then a three-point halftime deficit and stake West Chester to the road win. The purple & gold's 44 points are the most put up in a game in regulation in the Duke Greco era.
 
"I'm really proud of the team," Greco said afterwards. "We played tough, played together, and in every aspect of the game, we got to the next snap quickly. Good play? … Next snap. Bad Play? … Next snap. This was a really good team win."
 
Trailing 17-10 at the break, O'Sullivan went to work on the Fighting Scots' defensive unit posting two TD drives and a field goal to create a 31-17 advantage entering the fourth quarter. A pair of field goals sandwiched around another touchdown drive in the final 15 minutes pretty much salted away the contest.
 
Meanwhile, West Chester's defense was doing its part by holding Edinboro scoreless for the majority of the second half. The Scots did connect on an 80-yard TD pass with 2:52 to play in the game, but the outcome was already academic.  
 
Edinboro opened the scoring on its first possession, receiving the opening kickoff and going 76 yards on 10 plays – all of them rushes – to take a 7-0 lead. West Chester answered right back with a 14-play, 83-yard drive – only five of which were pass plays – to knot things up at 7-apiece at the end of the first quarter. It was a quarter that took just 20 minutes to play thanks to the running attack for both squads.
 
West Chester took its first lead of the afternoon on its next possession in the second quarter that followed an Edinboro punt. Mitch Ragni (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) plunged in from 1-yard out for his first career TD. Ragni also bull-dozed his way up the middle for two yards on a critical 4th-and-1 that kept the visitor's opening drive alive.
 
The Scots kicked a field goal on its next opportunity with the ball and then took advantage of a West Chester fumble at it's own 8-yard line to score a TD and take that 17-10 lead at halftime.
 
The Golden Rams scored on its three times with the ball in the third quarter. Mikhail Johnson (Darby, Pa./Monsignor Bonner-Pendergrast) caught a 29-yard scoring strike from O'Sullivan. The junior QB ran in from one yard out, and then place-kicker Tommy Pajic (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) kicked the first of his three field goals to give West Chester a 34-17 lead heading into the final quarter.
 
Blake Thomas (Secaucus, N.J./DePaul Catholic) then caught a 24-yard TD pass from O'Sullivan, and Pajic kicked his final field goal making it a 44-17 game in the fourth. He finished with 113 yards receiving on five catches in his first appearance of the season.
 
Johnson finished the afternoon with 83 yards rushing and 29 yards receiving. Pajic's field goals of 20, 31 and 45 yards gave him 14 points. He added three touchbacks on his kickoffs to boot.
 
Defensively, West Chester was led by Miles Goodwin (Oreland, Pa./Springfield), who posted eight tackles. Andrew Garwo (Levittown, Pa./Conwell-Egan) registered six tackles, including one for a loss. Debrick Johnson (Langhorne, Pa./Conwell-Egan) had five tackles, two tackles for a loss – including one for a sack – and was credited with both a fumble forced and recovered. Jack Fry (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) and Solo Bambara (Philadelphia, Pa./Sts. Neuman and Goretti) each were credited with a sack as well.
 
West Chester returns home next Saturday afternoon for its conference opener against Millersville at 2 p.m. It is Homecoming Weekend for the Purple & Gold. Fans are encouraged to order tickets online ahead of time, arrive early and expect delays around the stadium.