WEST CHESTER, Pa. (Nov. 16) – Senior wide receiver Jordan Dandridge (Duluth, Ga./Duluth) caught a touchdown as time expired before the Vulcans were unable to convert a potential go-ahead, two-point conversion in a 20-19 loss at No. 24 West Chester on Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover play.

With the loss, the California University of Pennsylvania football team finishes the season with a 7-4 overall record. The Vulcans lost this year to teams that combined for a 40-4 mark in the regular season and all four have been featured in each edition of the NCAA Super Region One rankings. Meanwhile, the Golden Rams improve to 9-2 this season after entering play slotted seventh in the latest regional rankings.

Dandridge finished with 121 receiving yards on six catches with two touchdowns, his third multi-touchdown game of the season. Junior Tyson Hill (New Kensington, Pa./Valley) posted five receptions for 49 yards in the contest and finished the year with a team-leading 912 receiving yards.

Senior running back Nelson Brown (Salisbury, Md./Wicomico) recorded his sixth 100-yard game of the season on Saturday. He finished with 114 rushing yards and one touchdown on 25 attempts. Brown closed the year with 1,063 rushing yards to become the first player to record back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons since Lamont Smith accomplished the feat in 2010-11.

Sophomore defensive lineman Gerald Brown (Duquesne, Pa./West Mifflin) led the team with nine tackles (three solo) and recorded 2.5 TFL and 1.0 sack in the contest. He finishes the season ranked third in the PSAC with 16.5 TFL and fourth with 8.0 sacks. Redshirt senior linebacker Julian Cox (New Castle, Pa./New Castle), senior defensive back Lamont McPhatter II (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) and redshirt freshman linebacker Noah Dillow (Alum Bank, Pa./Chestnut Ridge) each finished with eight stops. Dillow also recorded one fumble recovery, while Cox and McPhatter both tallied 1.0 TFL.

West Chester held a 17-13 lead at the end of the third quarter and later pinned Cal U back at 1-yard line with 9:35 left to play. After three-straight incompletions, the Golden Rams regained possession less than 30 seconds later. West Chester then mounted a five-minute drive that was capped by a 29-yard field goal with 4:08 remaining to stretch the lead to 20-13.

The Vulcans opened the ensuing drive with a 20-yard completion to Nelson Brown before advancing to the West Chester 39-yard line after converting a pair of third downs. Facing a fourth-and-five, sophomore quarterback Noah Mitchell (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid) posted a 10-yard carry to the 24-yard line. Following three-straight incompletions, Mitchell connected with Hill for a 12-yard completion with 16 seconds left. Mitchell was then sacked on second down that forced Cal U to call its final timeout with six seconds remaining. On the final offensive play of the game, Mitchell connected with Dandridge for a 15-yard touchdown despite the Golden Rams being flagged for pass interference, 20-19.

Mitchell finished the game with 218 passing yards and two touchdowns on 16-of-36 attempts with no interceptions. In his second year as a starter, he posted a career-high 25 passing touchdowns which tied Joe Ruggiero (2007) for the sixth-most in single-season school history.

West Chester took a 3-0 lead on a 29-yard field goal with 21 seconds left in the first quarter. The Vulcans responded with a 94-yard scoring drive that was capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Nelson Brown (PAT failed) with 10:47 left in the second quarter. Cal U then forced a turnover on downs before stretching the lead to 13-3 when Mitchell found Dandridge for a 44-yard touchdown at the 3:15-mark of the quarter. The Golden Rams countered with a 12-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds to cut the deficit to 13-10 at halftime.

Following the break, the Golden Rams reclaimed the lead on a 26-yard touchdown pass on the opening drive of the third quarter. Cal U then advanced to just outside the red zone on the next drive before losing a fumble and later turned the ball over on downs at the West Chester 20-yard line with 1:49 left in the quarter.

Notes:
The Vulcans played three nationally-ranked opponents this season, all on the road … Nelson Brown was one of only two players in the PSAC to finish with at least 1,000 rushing yards this season … West Chester finished with over a three-minute advantage in time of possession after controlling the clock for over 10 minutes in the fourth quarter … Gerald Brown finished the year as the team's leading tackler with 66, becoming the first defensive lineman to lead the team in stops in recent program history … The teams went a combined five-for-eight on fourth down