Full Game Notes | Digital Program

#3/3 KUTZTOWN (10-0) @ #17/17 CALIFORNIA (PA) (8-1)
• When: Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024
• Where: California, Pa.
• Stadium: Adamson Stadium (6,500)
• Kickoff: 12 p.m.
• Live Video: PSAC Network (CUTV Feed) I CUTVSports1 (YouTube)
• Live Stats: Click HERE

GAME INFORMATION
• General Admission: $10 adults I $5 students I 12U FREE  ** NO TICKET PRESALE **
• Parking: $5
• Directions to Adamson Stadium I GPS Address: 170 California Road, Brownsville, PA 15417
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Kutztown leads 10-4-1 I History
• First Meeting: Nov. 10, 1990 @ California - Kutztown won 28-23
• Last Meeting: Sept. 9, 2023 @ California – California won 31-20 | Recap | Box Score I Video Highlights
• Streak: California +1

NOTES
• California hosts Kutztown in the PSAC Championship on Saturday afternoon at Adamson Stadium. The Vulcans and Golden Bears both finished divisional play this fall with undefeated records. Cal is appearing in the PSAC Championship for the first time since 2016.

• Cal earned the outright PSAC West title with a 28-14 victory over Edinboro on Senior Day last weekend. The Vulcans combined to register 12.0 TFL and 6.0 sacks in the win with five players totaling at least 2.0 TFL. Junior Julien Laventure made 3.0 TFL and 2.0 sacks, while senior Armani Caraballo posted 2.5 sacks. Sophomore defensive back Keith Charney led the team with eight tackles and forced a pair of fumbles. Senior quarterback Davis Black threw two first-half touchdown passes to sophomore wide receiver D'Avay Johnson, plus rushed for another score.

• The all-time winningest coach in program history, Jim Clements has posted an 89-28 record in 11 years as head coach with the Golden Bears. Kutztown has won at least 10 games four times in the last five seasons, highlighted by the first regional championship in program history last year. Clements has been named the AFCA Super Region One Coach of the Year three times since 2019.

• Kutztown finished with an unbeaten mark in PSAC East play for the fifth time in the last eight years. The Golden Bears have won 19-consecutive games in the regular season dating back to a Week 2 loss last year at Adamson Stadium. Kutztown boasts one of the elite defenses in the country, ranking among the top-five nationally in scoring defense, total defense and rushing defense. Sophomore Eden Johnson leads the team with 51 tackles and graduate student Jalen DeVose has made 45 stops. Sophomore Freddie Retter ranks among the top five in the PSAC with 11.0 TFL and 6.5 sacks, while Brayden Pohlman has added 7.5 TFL and 5.0 sacks. The Golden Bears rank third in the country with 18 interceptions this season with six players tallying multiple interceptions. Offensively, quarterback Judd Novak leads a unit that sits second in the PSAC with 31.5 points per game. The 2023 PSAC East Freshman of the Year, Novak enters the weekend with 1,776 passing yards and 19 touchdowns with only five interceptions. Kutztown features three different players with at least 400 receiving yards this season, led by 463 yards and seven touchdowns by sophomore Mekhi Gibson. The Golden Bears have rushed for 1,500 yards this season with junior Jaedyn Stewart and sophomore Steven Burkhardt combining for 11 touchdowns. Kutztown leads the league with an average of 13.67 yards per punt return, plus is the least penalized team in the PSAC after totaling less than 50 penalties in 10 games.

• The latest Super Region One rankings were released on Monday with the top-four teams remaining in the same position as last week. Charleston and Kutztown, two of the only three teams in the country, remained at the top of the rankings. Findlay jumped two positions to fifth following a double-digit road loss by Ashland last week. Four teams from the PSAC remain in contention for a berth in the 2024 NCAA Playoffs.

• The Vulcans feature a veteran group of five senior captains this season, including second-year captain and defensive back Dominic Solomon, Jr.. The quintet has combined to start 131 games in their careers with each starting at least 19 games. Solomon leads the team with 38 starts and center Jaheim Bassham paces the offense with 33 career starts.

• In his second year with the program, senior quarterback Davis Black ranks among the top 15 in the country with 271.2 yards of total offense per game. He enters the week as the PSAC leader with 16.2 points responsible for per game after accounting for 24 total touchdowns (seven rushing) this season. Black averages 239.6 passing yards per game while completing 62.9 percent (163-of-259) of his attempts.

• Junior defensive back Rashan Murray leads the league and ranks third in the nation with 1.7 passes defended per game. He has registered 15 passes defended in his second year as a starter while leading the team with three interceptions. Murray has made multiple pass break-ups four times this season.

• The most accurate kicker in school history, senior Anthony Beitko ranks third in NCAA Division II with an .818 field-goal percentage (9-of-11) this year. He sits second among kickers, and fifth overall, in the league with 58 points this year. Beitko enters the weekend ranked eighth among active kickers at all NCAA levels with an .870 field-goal percentage (47-of-54) in his career.

• Junior wide receiver Eric Willis III leads the team with 834 receiving yards behind 11 catches of at least 20 yards, including five receptions of 40 or more yards. He sits third in the PSAC with 93.2 receiving yards per game while making 5.9 receptions per game. Willis has tallied over 1,700 yards and 15 touchdowns on 109 receptions in two seasons as a full-time starter.

• The Golden Bears are making their fifth appearance in the PSAC Championship in the last eight years, winning the league title in both 2021 and 2023. Kutztown has posted a 76-19 overall record (.800) during that span, including a 50-5 mark (.909) in PSAC East play. Since the reinstatement of the PSAC Championship, the PSAC West holds a 9-6 advantage in the title game.

• In his first year as a starter, senior linebacker Armani Caraballo paces the PSAC and ranks sixth in the nation with 0.89 sacks per game. He has registered 8.0 sacks this fall after totaling at least 1.5 sacks three times, including 2.5 sacks last week versus Edinboro. Caraballo has set a career high with 25 tackles this year after making five stops in three of the last four games.

• This fall, sophomore Bobbie Boyd, Jr. and senior Eric McKan III have combined for almost 1,000 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. Boyd leads the team with a career-high 619 rushing yards and five touchdowns in his first year as the starter. McKan has nearly 1,700 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns on 400-plus carries in his career and was an All-PSAC West selection in 2022.

• Cal and Kutztown met in the 2016 PSAC Championship at Adamson Stadium with the Vulcans earning a 49-7 victory. Linebacker Luke Hrapchak was named the MVP after totaling 15 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1.0 sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and two pass break-ups. Quarterback Michael Keir finished with five passing touchdowns in the win, including a pair of scores to wide receiver Garry Brown.

• The Vulcans enter the weekend with the fortune of starting the same five offensive linemen at the same position in all nine games this season. Senior Jaheim Bassham made the transition to center from left guard and classmate Sean Knight shifted from left tackle to right tackle this fall. Fellow senior Nashawn Jackson has started 20-straight games at right guard.

• The Vulcans and Golden Bears boast the top-two rushing defenses in the PSAC this season. Kutztown ranks second in the nation by allowing just 65.7 rushing yards per game and only four rushing touchdowns on 306 carries. The Golden Bears are aided in rushing defense by averaging a league-high 3.40 sacks per game. This year, Cal yields 94.3 rushing yards per game after holding opponents to under 70 yards four times.