Hale set to face former team and alma mater

 Following a tough loss to Shippensburg last Saturday, the Huskies will travel southeast this weekend to take on the West Chester Golden Rams.  BU dropped a 28-27 decision against the Red Raiders last week, while the Golden Rams trampled Cheyney 59-0 in their last game.  WCU is a surprising 5-4 (4-2) after being a conference contender in the years past.  Bloomsburg is now 8-1 (5-1).

            The Huskies have dropped to third in the NCAA Division II Regional Football Poll after being first since the poll began a few weeks ago.  The Maroon and Gold have also fallen seven spots in the D2Football.com poll to tenth, after previously being ranked third in the nation.

            Bloom's chances for the PSAC-East title are slim to none, but if Shipp would somehow happen to lose to a 0-10 Cheyney team on Saturday, and Bloom beats WCU, then the Huskies would earn the East title.

            The Golden Rams lead the all-time series between these two PSAC rivals, 45-21.  At West Chester, the Huskies have only won five games in 32 meetings.  BU coach, Danny Hale, is 12-6 versus his alma mater and the team that he formerly was the head coach of.  Hale hopes to extend his Huskies' winning streak over WCU to two games.

            In 2008, Bloomsburg and West Chester met twice, with each team winning once. Their second meeting came in the second round of the NCAA playoffs at Bloomsburg.  The score of this matchup was 28-21, with the Huskies winning in the fourth quarter.  Bloom's defense allowed just 71 yards rushing, but 333 total yards  in their last game versus WCU.  The Huskies were helped out by Jesse Cooper who picked off a WCU pass early in the fourth quarter and took it back for a go ahead touchdown.  Offensively, the Huskies offered a balanced rushing attack with Derrick Price and Kenny Domzalski rushing for 62 and 53 yards, respectively.  Dan Latorre also picked up 35 yards rushing, and Stefan Adams rushed for 37 yards and two touchdowns.

            Last Saturday, when BU played Shippensburg, the Huskies rolled up 373 yards (228 rushing, 145 passing) while averaging 6.2 yards per carry.  Derrick Price gained 109 yards and rushed for a touchdown while Domzalski picked up 121 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.  Wide receiver Chris Tressler pulled in three catches for 55 yards.  Dan Latorre aired it out for 145 yards on 11 completions against the Shipp defense.  Once again, the Husky defense was disruptive in the backfield, rounding up two sacks and eight tackles for a loss.  Mike Varanavage led the way with nine tackles including a sack for a loss of 12 yards and two and a half tackles for a loss.  Thomas McFarland and Oscar Rivera each forced a fumble, but neither were recovered by the Huskies.

            Bloom's defense has been stingy this season, rounding up 28 sacks, 69 tackles for a loss, 10 interceptions, forcing 13 fumbles, and recovering nine of them.  Sophomore defensive back Oscar Rivera has made 53 tackles (three for a loss) along with one interception and nine pass breakups.  Up front, Marcus Zimmerman has collected 32 tackles, including six sacks while recovering one fumble.

            Coach Hale did not report any new or significant injuries this week and claims that a few of his players continue to play through nagging injuries.  He did emphasize that he hopes to have defensive back Jesse Cooper this weekend after only playing in six of the nine games this season.

            The Golden Rams' offense are scoring 33 points per game this season and they are averaging 6.1 yards per play.  Just like on most teams, WCU's main man on offense is their quarterback, Joe Wright.  Wright has completed nearly 55% of his passes this season, while throwing for 2,105 yards and 16 touchdowns.  Those yards have been divided between 15 different receivers, but Steve Miller and Dan DePalma are the leading receivers.  Miller has hauled in 37 passes for 602 yards and seven touchdowns.  DePalma has 31 receptions for 605 yards and six touchdowns.  The Golden Rams average nearly 139 rushing yards per game, but they have a number of guys who take the handoffs.  The leading rusher is D'Andre Webb with 388 yards and five touchdowns.