A season ago, California University of Pennsylvania used a regular-season upset of Slippery Rock to catapult itself toward its first outright Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division title since 2016 and an NCAA Division II playoff berth.
Vulcans coach Gary Dunn is hoping history may just be repeating itself.
After No. 4 Slippery Rock and No. 8 California combined for 63 points and 555 yards of offense in a wild first half Saturday night at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium in the nation’s lone matchup of Top 10 Division II teams, the Vulcans needed just one touchdown in the second half to emerge with a critical early season 45-38 victory.
Junior running back Kendrick Agenor crossed the goal line for the decisive score on a 14-yard run with one minute remaining in the game to hand California the upset on the road.
“It puts us in a good position,” said Dunn, now in his 10th season coaching his alma mater. “We’re going to take them one at a time. Obviously, anytime you play them it’s a big game.”
Quarterback Roman Purcell threw for 233 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, while also rushing for 45 yards and a score to lead the Vulcans (4-0, 1-0) past the Rock (3-1, 0-1). The senior, in his first year as California’s starter, completed six passes for 134 yards and a touchdown to wide receiver D’Avay Johnson and also threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Lloyd Penn.
In addition to his game-winning score, Agenor finished with 103 yards on 12 carries, while McKeesport product Bobbie Boyd Jr. carried the football 16 times for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Vulcans junior safety Keith Charney also scored a touchdown on a 40-yard interception return to the end zone in the first half.
“We jumped out to a big lead in the first half, and they came roaring back,” Dunn said. “Great PSAC football game, I’m extremely proud of our players for what we call weathering the storm. We know there’s always going to be a point in the game when things aren’t going our way, but we preach playing 60 minutes.
“We needed every last second today.”
Redshirt freshman quarterback DaOne Owens completed 17 of 29 passes for 253 yards, four touchdowns and an interception for Slippery Rock while also scoring an 8-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Running back JayJay Jordan carried the football 22 times for 134 yards and added two catches for 44 yards and a touchdown for the Rock. Wide receiver John Sabo racked up three catches for 64 yards and two first-half scores from Owens, while Latrell Sutton added three catches for 53 yards and a touchdown.
“I felt good at halftime,” said Slippery Rock coach Shawn Lutz, now in his 10th season as head coach and 30th campaign overall at the Butler County university. “I thought we were where we needed to be. We came out well. We just couldn’t close it. It’s frustrating.”
Slippery Rock trailed by as much as 35-14 in the second quarter against California but fought back with 21 unanswered points to tie the score in the third quarter.
Sutton started the Rock’s comeback effort with a 35-yard second-quarter touchdown reception before Owens rushed for an 8-yard score to cut his team’s deficit to just seven points at the break.
Owens then added a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jordan with 9:59 left in the third quarter before kicker Kevin Roberts converted on a 37-yard field with 13:26 left in the game to hand the Rock their first lead since the game’s opening drive.
Slippery Rock would not score again. The Rock advanced inside the California red zone twice in the second half, settling for Roberts’ field goal before being turned away with a missed field goal on a drive that stalled at the Vulcans’ 5-yard line.
“We live for those [situations],” Charney said.
Slippery Rock had an understandably different outlook on the failed drives.
“We had a chance to put the game away at the end,” Lutz said. “We were moving the ball. We were running the ball and doing what we needed to do. We just shot ourselves in the foot with stupid things. Give credit to Cal, they did a good job with it.”
While California is hoping to use its victory as a catalyst, Lutz and his team will have some recent history to use as motivation moving forward.
After falling to the Vulcans in an Oct. 19 regular-season game a year ago, Slippery Rock received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where it earned revenge over California with a 31-13 victory in the Super Region One championship game.
The Rock went on to nearly upset eventual national champion Ferris State in the NCAA semifinals a week later, taking an 11-point lead into halftime before falling to the Bulldogs, 48-38.
“We’re not used to being in this situation to be honest with you,” Lutz said. “It sucks. It really does. I’m not happy at all. If anybody takes it the hardest, again, it’s on me. I’ve got to do a better job. I just feel like I let these kids down.
“There’s a lot of PSAC football to be played,” he added. “We better bounce back. We did it last year when we lost to Cal and had a pretty good run. We’re not looking ahead. We’ve just got to identify the film, watch it, and see how we’re going to get better.”
IUP rolls to third straight victory
Quarterback Matthew Rueve completed 30 of 37 passes for 400 yards and four touchdowns to lead Indiana University of Pennsylvania to a 40-13 rout of Seton Hill Saturday afternoon at Offutt Field in Greensburg.
Belle Vernon native Devon Whitlock, a Pitt transfer, caught 11 passes for 130 yards to lead the Crimson Hawks (3-1, 1-0) past the Griffins (2-3, 0-1) in each team’s PSAC West Division opener.
Rueve also completed five passes for 85 yards and a touchdown to Maurice Massey, while Leon Parson contributed four catches for 50 yards and a score, Connor Shamany chipped in three catches for 42 yards and a touchdown, and Aliquippa native Cyair Clark added three receptions for 28 yards and a touchdown.
Redshirt senior quarterback Hayden Teska, a Greensburg Salem product, led the Seton Hill offense with 130 yards passing with 36 yards on the ground.
W&J leans on offense to get first win, upset of No. 18 Grove City
Quarterback Kellan Stahl threw for 337 yards and two touchdowns and Washington & Jefferson never trailed as the Presidents rebounded from losing their first two games of the season with a resounding 34-14 road victory over No. 18 Grove City Saturday night at Robert E. Thorn Field.
Wide receiver Jacob Macosko, a Peters Township product, was Stahl’s favorite target against the Wolverines (1-2, 0-1) in both teams’ Presidents’ Athletic Conference openers. The Presidents (1-2, 0-1) senior caught 15 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown, while running back Andrew Sharp, a Baldwin graduate, added two catches for 31 yards and a score.
Running back Kobe DeRosa carried the football 11 times for 72 yards and a touchdown for W&J.
Senior running back Ian Demeri, meanwhile, led the Grove City offensive attack. The Penn-Trafford product rushed for 142 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
Senior linebacker Caleb Brubaker notched 17 tackles for the Wolverines, while Penn-Trafford product Jack Jollie added 12 tackles, 1½ for a loss.
Waynesburg dominates Thiel
Freshman quarterback Carter Maury completed 11 of 13 passes for 198 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, while running back Carson Shriver added 161 yards and three scores on the ground, as Waynesburg rolled to a 45-14 victory over host Thiel Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium at Stoeber Field in Greenville.
Senior wide receiver Isaac Trout, a Southmoreland graduate, made three receptions for 75 yards and two touchdowns to help keep the Yellow Jackets (2-2, 2-0) undefeated in PAC play with a victory over the winless Tomcats (0-4, 0-2).
Sophomore wide receiver Elija Jackson also recorded three receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown for Waynesburg.
Running back Deon Logan rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Thiel offense.
Duquesne wraps up non-conference schedule with rout of New Haven
Graduate student quarterback Tyler Riddell threw for 182 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 63 yards and two scores, to lead Duquesne to a 44-18 win over New Haven at Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field in Oakland Saturday afternoon.
Wide receiver Joey Isabella caught six passes for 92 yards and all three of Riddell’s scoring strikes to lead the Dukes (2-3) past the Chargers (2-3) in their final contest before opening Northeast Conference play next week again visiting Stonehill.
Pitt squanders early lead in loss to Louisville
After racing to a 17-point first-quarter lead, Pitt wasted its chance to open Atlantic Coast Conference play on a high note with a 34-27 loss to Louisville Saturday afternoon at Acrisure Stadium on the North Shore.
Quarterback Eli Holstein threw for 228 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions before giving way to Panthers (2-2, 0-1) backup quarterback Cole Gonzales in the second half against the visiting Cardinals (4-4, 0-1).
Wide receiver Cataurus Hicks caught four passes for 113 yards and a touchdown for Pitt, while Raphael Williams Jr. reeled in four catches for 57 yards and a score.
Rasheem Biles also returned an interception 75 yards for a Panthers touchdown, while kicker Trey Butkowski converted on field goals of 30 and 37 yards.
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.