West Chester Picked to Repeat as PSAC East Champions
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The West Chester Golden Rams have been selected by the league’s coaches as the favorites in the PSAC East. West Chester won the PSAC East last year, advancing to the PSAC Championship Game for the first time since 2008.
WCU returns its entire starting offensive line, including all-conference performers Doug Gilbert and Tyler Drob.
Despite losing Andrew Cohen, the 2015 PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Year, the Golden Ram defense again looks to be formidable, returning five all-conference defenders from 2015 (Josh Ganzelli, Ted Patton, Kevin Malone, Ralph Reeves, and Shaquille James).
Shippensburg came in second place in the preseason poll, receiving one first place vote. The Red Raiders will also return their starting offensive line along with quarterback Ryan Zapoticky.
In 2015, Shippensburg and Slippery Rock were the only two teams in the league to rank in the top four in both scoring offense and scoring defense.
Bloomsburg is third in the poll. The Huskies return Lawrence Elliott Jr., who led the league in 2015 in rushing yards per game (131.5).
Next in the poll is Kutztown. The Golden Bears are picked fourth and will return Kellen Williams at receiver and Preseason All-American Jordan Morgan at left tackle.
East Stroudsburg comes in at fifth in the poll and received a first place vote. The Warriors will have to replace Matt Soltes and Jon Schnaars, the PSAC’s leading passer and leading receiver in 2015. ESU will return Robert Healy, the school’s all-time leading rusher.
Lock Haven is sixth in the poll, while Millersville and Cheyney round out the rankings.
The complete poll can be found below. First place votes are in parenthesis.
1. West Chester (6)
2. Shippensburg (1)
3. Bloomsburg
4. Kutztown
5. East Stroudsburg (1)
6. Lock Haven
7. Millersville
8. Cheyney