West Chester downs Lock Haven football, 42-27

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Running back Chris Collier (Lawrence, N.Y./Lawrence (Wagner College) and kicker Brett Zachman (Leesburg, Fla./Eustis (Dordt)) turned in career milestone outings Saturday for the Lock Haven football team, but visiting West Chester pulled away late and secured a 42-27 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division victory at Hubert Jack Stadium.

Highlighting the first half today was Zachman’s 57-yard field goal, which shattered the all-time Lock Haven school record and also broke the all-time conference record. The previous PSAC record was a 56-yard field goal back in 2019.

Collier carried the ball 22 times for 209 yards and one touchdown. Collier’s second 200-yard plus game this season pushed him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season, which helped him become Lock Haven’s first 1,000-yard rusher in a single season since 1981.

With the loss, Lock Haven moved to 4-5 overall and the Bald Eagles are now 2-4 in PSAC East play. The Golden Rams pushed their overall record to 5-4 and West Chester moved to 3-3 in PSAC East action.

Through nine games, Collier leads the PSAC in rushing with 122.6 yards-per-game, nearly 30 more yards than the second-best mark in the league.

On the season, Collier now has 1,103 yards, which currently sits as the sixth-best single-season effort in Lock Haven history.

Haven quarterback Danny Sanchez (Bronx, N.Y./Lehman (Stony Brook) threw for two touchdowns. Sanchez was 12-for-21 for 177 yards.

T-iar Young (Philadelphia/Northeast (Millersville) hauled in five catches for 101 yards, and both Chase Holmes (Easton, Pa./Easton) and Chandler Baker (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia (Buffalo)) recorded touchdown catches.

Lock Haven’s Jaderian Johnson (Pensacola, Fla./Take (North Dakota)) led the defensive effort with a game-high nine tackles.

Davien Vernon (Florence, N.J./Bergen Catholic) and Izzy Ramos (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) both finished with seven tackles. Kasir Henry (Philadelphia, Pa./Anna Marie College) recorded six tackles and an interception. Justin Anderson (Maplewood, N.J./Columbia) recorded two sacks and Cody Romano (Newton, N.J./Blair Academy (Penn State)) added five tackles.

Trailing 7-0, Collier darted into the end zone from three yards out and tied the game at 7-7 late in the first quarter.

Zachman’s record-breaking 57-yard field goal that looked as if it might be good from 60 yards put Lock Haven up 10-7 with 1:15 left in the first period.

With The Haven trailing, Sanchez and Holmes connected on a 42-yard catch-and-run pass play, and the Bald Eagles led 17-14.

West Chester scored late in the first half and led 21-17 at halftime.

Highlighting the second-half scoring for Lock Haven was Baker’s five-yard TD-catch where he surged and stretched for the hard-earned score.

Zachman added a late field goal, connecting from 36 yards to cap the Bald Eagles scoring.

West Chester’s 14 fourth-quarter points and 21 second-half points helped the visitors pull away late and earn the win.

The Bald Eagles will hit the road for the final time this season next weekend when they travel to Shippensburg for a 1 p.m. Week 10 PSAC East clash on Saturday, Nov. 4.

Looking ahead, Lock Haven will close the 2023 regular season on Saturday, Nov. 11 at home vs. Edinboro (1 p.m.).