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MARYVILLE, Mo. (Dec. 6) – Despite trailing only 14-10 for most of the second quarter, the No. 22 California University of Pennsylvania football team suffered a 56-31 loss to No. 2 Northwest Missouri State on Saturday night in front of 7,122 at Bearcat Stadium in the 2009 NCAA Division II Semifinals.

With the loss, the Vulcans end their season with an 11-4 overall record. Cal U has advanced to the semifinals in each of the last three years with the previous two semifinal losses coming against the eventual National Champions. Meanwhile, Northwest Missouri (13-1) advances to the title game for the fifth-straight year and seventh time in program history. The Bearcats will face No. 3 Grand Valley State in rematch of the 2005 and 2006 National Championships on Saturday, Dec. 12, in Florence, Ala.

Graduate student quarterback Josh Portis (Woodland Hills, Calif./William Taft/Maryland) passed for a career-high 367 yards on 20-of-36 attempts with three touchdowns and no interceptions. The 6-4 signal caller also rushed for 22 yards on 12 carries after being sacked four times. In the loss, Portis established a new single-season school record with 3,421 passing yards. He also finished the year with school-best marks of 36 touchdown passes and 3,870 yards of total offense.

Wide receivers Terrance Moore (Key West, Fla./Key West/Mesa) and AJ Jackson (Lehigh Acres, Fla./Lehigh/Sequoias) each posted 100-yard games against the Bearcats, marking the first time since last year's PSAC Championship when Cal U featured a pair of 100-yard receivers. Moore posted a game- and career-high 176 yards with seven receptions and one touchdown while Jackson had 111 yards and a score on seven receptions. Jackson and Moore became the first set of teammates to post 1,000 yards in a season. Jackson finished his senior campaign with single-season school marks of 101 receptions, 1,424 receiving yards and 18 receiving touchdown. He is the first player in school history to register 100 receptions in a season.

Trailing 7-3 in the first quarter, senior All-American cornerback Terrence Johnson (Braddock, Pa./Woodland Hills) halted a Northwest Missouri drive in the red zone with his third interception of the season and 16th of his career. The Vulcans capitalized on the turnover with a 2-yard touchdown run by junior running back Windell Brown (Duquesne, Pa./Duquesne).

The Bearcats responded with a touchdown on their next drive to take a 14-10 before returning a blocked punt 15 yards for a touchdown as time expired in the first half. In the opening two quarters, Northwest held only a 220-189 advantage in total offense while Cal U had almost a seven-minute edge in time of possession (18:26-11:34).

The two teams traded scores in the early portion of the third quarter with Portis connecting with Jackson for a 25-yard touchdown strike. Following the Vulcans' touchdown, redshirt freshman Jordan Simmons returned the ensuing kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown, 35-17, with 7:56 left in the quarter.

The Bearcats continued to increase their lead by scoring touchdowns on their next three drives to take a 56-24 lead with 13:40 remaining in the game. After a 7-yard touchdown run by Simmons, Cal U scored the final touchdown of the game when Portis found graduate student wide receiver Dominique Curry (Philadelphia, Pa./George Washington/Cheyney) for a 15-yard score with 10:47 left.

Defensively, sophomore defensive back Eric Harris (New Oxford, Pa./New Oxford) registered a game-high 11 tackles (eight solo) and true freshman defensive back Rontez Miles (Braddock, Pa./Woodland Hills) finished with 10 stops (two solo) and 0.5 tackle for loss (TFL).

Graduate student linebacker Dontey Brown (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport/Penn State) posted eight tackles (four solo) to become the first Vulcan player since Lloyd Price in 2005 to post 100 tackles in a season (107). Senior defensive lineman Willie Walker (Aliquippa, Pa./Aliquippa) registered a TFL on Saturday night, setting the Cal U all-time record with 31.5 TFL. The previous record of 31.0 TFL was held by Jim Lukacs (1999-2001).

A group of 12 seniors played their final games as a Vulcan on Saturday. Over the last four seasons, the seniors helped Cal U post a school-best 44-10 overall record (.815) with PSAC West titles in each season and three-straight appearances in the NCAA Division II Semifinals.

Notes:
The two teams combined for 1,007 yards of total offense (Cal U - 482, Northwest Missouri -525) and scored on all eight red-zone trips … The Vulcans were whistled for a season-high 10 penalties … Windell Brown rushed for a team-high 60 yards on 13 attempts … Northwest Missouri senior running back LaRon Council rushed for 216 yards in the victory, becoming the first opponent since Andre Burke of Edinboro in 2004 to rush for over 200 yards against Cal U … Bearcats' sophomore wide receiver Jake Soy had three touchdown receptions and now leads NCAA Division II with 26 touchdown catches this year.