LOCK HAVEN, Pa. (Oct. 20) – For the third time this season, the California (PA) football team received a pair of weekly laurels from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) on Monday afternoon, as sophomore Phaeton Hill was tabbed West Offensive Athlete of the Week and sophomore Sedrick Vessah was named West Special Teams Athlete of the Week.

Hill and Vessah played pivotal roles in the final seconds on Saturday, as the Vulcans earned a 31-28 win against Clarion on Homecoming at Adamson Stadium. The victory also extended the program's winning streak in the series against the Golden Eagles to 19 games.  

A native of Ohio, Hill finished with 364 passing yards and two touchdowns against Clarion after throwing for the game-winning score with two seconds left to play. He completed passes to eight different players and finished with a 65.1 completion percentage (28-of-43) while making his first career start. Hill added 48 rushing yards on 12 attempts on Saturday. With Cal trailing 28-24 and no timeouts with 24 seconds left, the 6-foot-3 sophomore scrambled twice out of bounds for 19 yards before connecting on the game-winning, 56-yard touchdown pass.

Hill has posted 650 passing yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions while appearing in four games this season. He played a total of three drives in a pair of games earlier this fall before taking his first extended snaps in the second half last week at Edinboro. Hill previously attended Notre Dame (Ohio), where he redshirted in 2023 prior to the institution's closure.

A starting linebacker, Vessah made one of the game's defining plays by blocking a 42-yard field goal attempt in the final seconds of the game. The Golden Eagles were attempting to extend their four-point lead with 31 seconds left before his block set up the Vulcans' game-winning drive. Vessah also registered 1.0 sack and one pass-break-up while starting at linebacker on Saturday.

Vessah currently leads NCAA Division II with four blocked kicks this season. In his first year as a starter, he also ranks fourth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) with 0.79 sacks per game and is among the top 15 in the league with 1.07 TFL per game.

Cal returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 25, when it travels to face IUP in the 16th edition of the Coal Bowl with kickoff set for 2 p.m. The Vulcans have won three of the last four meetings in the rivalry, which has been decided by four points or fewer three times since 2021.