West Chester quarterback Sean McCartney had four touchdown passes in the Golden Rams win. (Photo Michael Corsey Photography/ michaelcorsey.com)

BY ROCK HOFFMAN

West Chester opened the NCAA Division II Playoffs with a 38-7 win over American International College at Ferrell Stadium. The Golden Rams (11-1) accomplished their first goal of the post season, they won and will get a return match with Bloomsburg, the only team that beat them this season.

“All we want is another chance against Bloomsburg,” said West Chester quarterback Sean McCartney, who threw for 423 and four touchdowns. “We had to get through AIC first, we couldn’t overlook them. We just came out and made the plays, won the game and we’re exactly where we want to be.”

“AIC is a good team,” said head coach Bill Zwaan when asked about his teams focus going into the game with the Yellow Jackets, “so it’s not like you’re looking past a team with a bad record. Because it was our first time for these guys (to make a playoff appearance) they were focused on playing well. It took us a little while to get comfortable so I’m glad we had this game first because we’ll be mentally ready for the Bloom game.”

At the start it looked like the game had a chance to be a wild one, each team used big kickoff returns to score on their opening possessions. In West Chester’s case, it was a two-yard run by Rondell White after Brandon Monk set them up at the AIC 44-yard line. Evan Graham’s return of 68 yards gave AIC the ball at the West Chester 11 and four plays later, quarterback Kevin Arduino scored on a one-yard sneak.

At that point, the game turned into a stalemate. Late in the first half, McCartney was intercepted in the end zone but three plays later Brandon Pepper picked off Arduino and three plays after that West Chester broke the tie after a 42-yard connection between McCartney and Eddie Elliott.

Shawn Krautzel partially blocked the punt that ended the Yellow Jackets ensuing possession. The 16-yard kick gave the Golden Rams the ball at their own 45 with just 31 seconds left in the half but McCartney would only need 12 of them as he completed two long passes. Erick Brundidge caught the second one for 31 yards and a touchdown.

After halftime, the Golden Rams’ defense forced a three-and-out and gave the ball back to the offense at the six-yard line following a 68-yard punt but that didn’t phase McCartney. He found Tim Keyser behind the Yellow Jackets’ defense and Keyser did the rest racing into the end zone for a 94-yard score that is now the longest touchdown in West Chester playoff history.

Late in the third quarter, Sean Leo kicked a 20-yard field goal and McCartney threw his fourth touchdown of the day – for two yards to Shawn Driggins – that ended a long, clock-chewing  drive and the scoring.

“I thought the difference in the game was coach [Mike] Furlong, the defensive coordinator for West Chester,” said AIC head coach Art Wilkins, whose team finishes the year with a mark of 9 and 3. “He had a great game plan and as the game went on he had great rhythm to his calls and kept us off balance.”

NOTES: Zwaan is now 6 and 5 in playoff games in his career at West Chester. The victory gives the Golden Rams 11 wins which equals the school record. White continues to climb to the top of the record book for the Golden Rams in the game he tied the season marks for touchdowns (22) and points (132); he set the career rushing record breaking Derrick Price’s 23-year old standard of 4,008 yards. White now has 4,062. By going over 4,000 yards, White becomes the first PSAC player to rush for 4,000 yards, have 2,000 yards receiving and 1,000 return yards.

E-mail Rock Hoffman at Rock@footballstories.com