SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. (Oct. 27) – The Vulcans trailed by only three points at halftime on Saturday afternoon before suffering a 44-21 loss to Slippery Rock in rainy conditions at Adamson Stadium in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play.
With the loss, the California University of Pennsylvania football team falls to 5-4 overall and drops into a tie for second place in the divisional standings with a 4-2 mark. Meanwhile, The Rock extends its winning streak to seven games and improves to 8-1 this season behind a 6-0 record in league play.
Slippery Rock amassed 345 rushing yards (205 second half) on 59 attempts despite constantly struggling with fumbles and penalties. The Rock committed seven fumbles in the contest yet only lost one and was flagged for 141 yards on 13 penalties. Senior running back Wes Hills, a transfer from Delaware, finished with 248 yards and four touchdowns on 33 carries, while junior transfer quarterback Roland Rivers III totaled 106 rushing yards and one score on 21 attempts.
The Rock scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the game before the Vulcans responded with a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by freshman
Naszhir Taylor (Braddock, Pa./Woodland Hills) with 12:53 left in the first quarter. Slippery Rock again seized the lead at 14-7 with a touchdown on its next drive with a three-yard score by Hill at the 9:40-mark. Late in the first quarter, Cal U started a drive in Slippery Rock territory before turning the ball over on downs just outside the red zone.
Early in the second quarter, Slippery Rock was facing a third-and-three from inside the red zone before an errant snap forced The Rock back nine yards and prompted a 44-yard field goal to miss wide left. The Rock fumbled on back-to-back plays on its next drive with junior linebacker
London Cloud (Bedford, Pa./Bedford) recording a strip-sack that was recovered by redshirt junior linebacker
Breon Coke (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) at the Cal U 46-yard line.
Cloud led all players and set a season high with 11 tackles (five solo) in the contest. He also registered 4.0 TFL, two forced fumbles, 1.0 sack and one blocked kick on Saturday. Cloud became the first player with at least 4.0 TFL in a game since
Cameron Tarver in Week 9 of last season.
The Vulcans extended the ensuing drive with a personal foul against The Rock on third down and a fourth-down completion before junior running back
Nelson Brown (Salisbury, Md./Wicomico) tied the score at 14-14 with 2:34 left before halftime.
Brown finished with 90 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 14 attempts. He also tied for the team lead with five receptions for 39 yards in the contest. Brown is now tied for the lead in the PSAC with 15 rushing touchdowns this season, while ranking third in the league with 923 rushing yards.
The Rock looked to counter with a touchdown in the final seconds of the second quarter. Facing a third-and-three from near midfield, Rivers completed a 53-yard pass to the Cal U 1-yard line. Hills fumbled on first-and-goal before Slippery Rock retained possession at the 3-yard line. The Vulcans then forced a pair of incompletions before The Rock converted a 20-yard field goal with three seconds left before the break, 17-14.
In the third quarter, Slippery Rock advanced inside the red zone on its opening possession of the half before redshirt sophomore defensive back
Jimmy Pierce (Uniontown, Pa./Laurel Highlands) made an interception just outside the end zone. The Rock later stretched the lead to 24-14 on a three-yard touchdown run by Hills with 3:10 left in the quarter.
The Rock scored a pair of touchdowns within a span of 19 seconds early in the fourth quarter to take a 37-14 lead. Cal U then managed to convert a fourth-and-five on its next drive before Brown later scampered for a 37-yard touchdown run with 11:36 left to play, 37-21. Slippery Rock scored the last touchdown of the game with 6:44 remaining on a 34-yard run by Hills.
Senior linebacker
Brendan Blair (McKees Rocks, Pa./Sto-Rox) finished with nine tackles (four solo), while junior defensive back
Lamont McPhatter II (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) posted eight stops (four solo). Pierce registered seven tackles (four solo), 1.5 TFL, 1.0 sack, one forced fumble and one interception.
The Vulcans return to action on Saturday, Nov. 3, when they close divisional play by traveling to face Seton Hill in nearby Greensburg, Pennsylvania, at 12 p.m.
Notes:
Slippery Rock and West Chester secured berths to the PSAC Championship on Saturday and as a result the Vulcans will now host Bloomsburg in two weeks to close the season … Taylor recorded the first kickoff return for touchdown since Garry Brown in Week 3 of the 2016 season … The Rock finished with nearly a 12-minute advantage in time of possession … The Vulcans allowed multiple players to eclipse 100 rushing yards for the first time since 2015 … Cal U was limited to 3-of-16 on third downs in the contest … Freshman quarterback
Noah Mitchell (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid) finished with 184 passing yards on 19-of-48 attempts with two interceptions … Cal U has lost back-to-back home games against PSAC West opponents for the first time since 2004
