ERIE, Pa. (Oct. 21) – The Vulcans resumed their suspended game on Sunday afternoon by playing the last 32-plus minutes and finished with a 23-0 victory at Mercyhurst in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West action.
With the win, the California University of Pennsylvania football team improves to 5-3 overall behind a 4-1 mark in divisional play. The Vulcans remain one-game back of first place in the PSAC West standings and will play a pivotal game next week against league-leading Slippery Rock. Meanwhile, the Lakers fall to 2-6 this season with a 1-4 record in conference action.
The Vulcans recorded four interceptions and surrendered only 180 yards of total offense while earning their first shutout since Week 3 of the 2016 season. Freshman defensive back
Kavon Morman (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) and redshirt sophomore defensive back
Jimmy Pierce (Uniontown, Pa./Laurel Highlands) tied for the team lead with six stops.
The game was scheduled to start at 12 p.m. on Saturday, but was initially delayed due to lightning. Lightning persisted in the area on Saturday, forcing multiple delays, before severe weather forced play to be suspended with 2:39 left in the second quarter.
Cal U held a 6-0 lead at the end of play on Saturday before play resumed with Mercyhurst starting a drive at its own 40-yard line. The Vulcans held the Lakers to a three-and-out before adding another field goal as time expired in the first half.
Following a brief stoppage for halftime, the teams flipped field positions with punts for the majority of the third quarter. Sophomore linebacker
Asheed Page-Jones (Braddock, Pa./Woodland Hills) halted the Lakers near midfield with an interception on fourth-and-four near the end of the quarter.
Cal U capitalized on the field position with a six-yard touchdown run by junior running back
Nelson Brown (Salisbury, Md./Wicomico) with 13:18 left in the fourth quarter. The Lakers looked to counter the score by mounting a 13-play drive after converting three third downs on the drive. Senior defensive back
Chad Garnett (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) eventually halted the Mercyhurst drive by recording an interception in the end zone with under 10 minutes left to play.
Following the turnover, the Vulcans advanced to near midfield before being forced to punt. On the initial play of the ensuing possession, junior defensive back
Aaron Brown (New Oxford, Pa./New Oxford) made an interception just across midfield. Cal U quickly advanced into the red zone with a 50-yard carry by redshirt senior running back
Nick Grissom (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods). The Vulcans then stretched the lead to 23-0 on a four-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback
Noah Mitchell (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid) to sophomore wide receiver
Tyson Hill (New Kensington, Pa./Valley) at the 3:25-mark. Mercyhurst later attempted to avoid the shutout with a drive inside Cal U territory before four-straight incompletions forced a turnover on downs with 1:59 remaining.
Mitchell finished with 171 passing yards on 17-of-37 attempts with one touchdown and one interception.
Cal U returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 27, when it hosts Slippery Rock at Adamson Stadium with kickoff set for 1 p.m.
Notes:
Nelson Brown finished with 101 rushing yards and one touchdown on 25 attempts, his fourth 100-yard game of the season … Hill led all players with 90 receiving yards and one touchdown on seven catches … Cal U recorded multiple interceptions in a game for the fifth time this year … Sophomore kicker
Brian Alsobrooks (Livonia, Mich./Churchill) made three field goals (30, 25, 36) in the victory … The Vulcans finished with over an 11-minute advantage in time of possession … The 50-yard run by Grissom was the longest for the program since he posted a 52-yard run in the 2016 season … The contest was the only football game in all NCAA divisions to be played on Sunday with the exception of Nevada at Hawaii, which kicked off at 6 p.m. HST (12 a.m. EST)
