EDINBORO, Pa. — The Edinboro football team fell to visiting West Chester 44-24 on Saturday at Sox Harrison Stadium.
The Fighting Scot offense scored on their opening possession.
Jordan Theodore finished the 10-play, 76-yard possession with a 1-yard touchdown run at 9:10. The Golden Rams put together a 14-play, 83-yard drive on the next series, converting third-and-3 and fourth-and-1 before Future Robertson's 3-yard touchdown run at 1:56, with Tommy Pajic's kick tying the score at 7-7. The first came to a close tied.
The Golden Rams took a 14-7 lead on a Mitchell Ragni's 1-yard touchdown run at 9:44. The Scots answered with a 15-play, 68-yard possession that included first-down runs by
Antwan Ceasar and Theodore, a fourth-down holding penalty on the West Chester, setting up a
Tanner Bruzda's 25-yard field goal at 1:52 to cut the score to 14-10. On the Rams' next snap from their own 3,
Nate Deanes forced a Mikhail Johnson fumble and
Markius Richardson recovered at the Golden Rams 8 giving the Scots the ball first and goal. After a holding penalty pushed the Scots back, Marchitelli's 5-yard completion to Ceasar set up fourth-and-goal from the 2, and
Bo Swartz punched in a 2-yard touchdown run as time expired before Bruzda's kick gave the Fighting Scots a 17-14 lead at the half.
The Golden Rams used the opening possession of the third quarter to drive 78 yards in seven plays, with Colin O'Sullivan completing passes of 21 yards to Blake Thomas and 11 yards to Dylan McKenzie before finding Mikhail Johnson for a 29-yard touchdown at 10:45; Tommy Pajic's extra point gave the visitors a 21-17 lead. The Scots moved from their 25 to their 44 on the ensuing series, including Marchitelli's 10-yard completion to
Jeremiah Neeley, but Debrick Johnson sacked Marchitelli and recovered the fumble at the Scots 35. The turnover led to another Golden Rams score. The Scot defense held Mikhail Johnson to no gain three straight times at the 1 but O'Sullivan converted fourth-and-1 on a quarterback sneak to push the lead to 28-17 at 3:57. After the Fighting Scots went three-and-out, the Golden Rams started again at the Scots 35, reached the 6 on O'Sullivan's 29-yard pass to Thomas and closed the quarter's scoring on Pajic's 20-yard field goal with 24 seconds left for a 31-17 advantage.
The Scots began the fourth quarter facing third-and-11 and picked up seven yards on Marchitelli's rush, but Solomanie Bambara's fourth-down sack gave the Golden Rams the ball at the Scots 20;
Montrice Webster stopped Mikhail Johnson for a 3-yard loss before Tommy Pajic made a 31-yard field goal at 12:04 to make it 34-17. On the ensuing kickoff, Edinboro muffed the kick and the ball was recovered by Ronnell McCorn at the Scots 24, and O'Sullivan hit Thomas for a 24-yard touchdown five seconds later, with the point-after extending the Golden Rams' lead to 41-17. After Schlief's 42-yard punt ended the Scots' next series, the Golden Rams moved from their 24 to the Scots 28 on a 12-play possession and Pajic made a 45-yard field goal at 3:10 for a 44-17 advantage. Marchitelli answered on the Fighting Scots' next offensive play with an 80-yard touchdown pass to Neeley, Bruzda's kick made it 44-24 at 2:52, and the Golden Rams used Jack Pellicciotti's 7-yard third-down run and two kneeldowns to close out the 44-24 final.
Neeley caught three passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. Marchitelli completed 10 of 16 passes for 116 yards and one touchdown. Theodore rushed for 55 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
Parker Hoff led the Scots defensively with 12 tackles.
O'Sullivan completed 14 of 19 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another score. Thomas caught five passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. Johnson rushed 21 times for 83 yards and added a 29-yard touchdown reception.
The Fighting Scots visit Clarion at noon next Saturday in the PSAC West opener for both teams..
