Sep 12, 2015 4 min read

CALIFORNIA – Maybe the sign things weren’t going to be bright for Cal’s football team Saturday came early in the first quarter, when the power went out at Adamson Stadium.

For about four minutes of game time, the scoreboard was not operating, the play clock was dark and the stadium lights were out.

In the second half, Cal suffered another power outage that had nothing to do with electricity.

The Vulcans, coming off a strong showing at Virginia State in the season opener, saw a 13-0 lead vanish over the final two-plus quarters. Bloomsburg’s running game, which looked anemic in the first quarter, finally rose up to spark a 20-13 victory over the Vulcans.

Bloomsburg, which suffered a stunning loss in last week’s opener against Stonehill, a middling team from the Northeast 10 Conference, grounded up the Cal defense for 255 rushing yards on 55 tries and outscored the Vulcans 17-0 in the second half.

Bloomsburg tailback Lawrence Elliott finished with 166 yards on 26 carries and Joe Parsnik 74 on 22. The two combined for 190 of their team’s 240 in the final 32 minutes.

“They’re Bloomsburg and they run the football,” said Mike Kellar, Cal’s head coach. “Last week was an aberration for them. I thought our defense played pretty well. If we took advantage and put some scores on them early, which we let go away, then they have to start throwing the football and then they won’t rush for 255 yards. We let them stay in their game plan and that was an offensive problem, not a defensive problem.”

Cal’s offense went into hibernation near the end of the second quarter and never re-emerged. Maybe losing star wide receiver Garry Brown to a sprained ankle after catching an 8-yard pass eight plays into the second quarter had something to do with it.

Maybe James Harris missing three golden opportunities to hit wide receiver Kowan Scott with possible long touchdown passes had something to do with it. Maybe it was just Harris uncharacteristically throwing three interceptions.

Or maybe it was all of those problems that served up this defeat.

“I threw three picks and you can’t win when you do that,” said Harris, who completed 17 of 33 passes for 263 yards and no touchdowns. “There were some poorly thrown balls on my part but they ran their routes fast and I have to throw with more confidence. I just had to execute and I didn’t. That was the bottom line.”

Bloomsburg had just 45 rushing yards with 2:53 left in the first half. Cal had scored three times before that on a 3-yard run by tailback John Franklin and two field goals by William Brazill.

Then, Elliott broke off a 53-yard run that set up the first of two field goals by Tyler Smith with 51 seconds left in the half. That made it 13-3 and seemed to spark the Huskies.

“Ultimately, we hoped to get (the running game) going because that’s the way we win games,” said Bloomsburg head coach Paul Darragh. “It took a while and it was disappointing we didn’t do it last week against Stonehill. We stuck with it and once we realized we were getting some yards, it was how we needed to go. We were able to eat up the clock and keep their offense off the field.”

A 13-play drive to open the second half ended with a 38-yard field goal by Smith to cut the Cal lead to 13-6. A nine-play drive followed and ended with quarterback Tim Kelly going over from one yard to tie the game. Another 13-play drive ended with Smith missing a 25-yard field goal but Bloomsburg came back and drove 39 yards in seven plays with Elliott bursting off right tackle for a 24-yard go-ahead touchdown with 2:40 to play.

Harris struggled, throwing an interception in the end zone on Cal’s second drive of the game, throwing another before half from the Bloomsburg 25 and a third on the first offensive series of the second half.

“He underthrew Kowan (Scott) twice in the first quarter and had Garry (Brown) on a corner route,” said Kellar. “He doesn’t miss those too often. I think next week he’ll make those throws. I have as much confidence and belief in him as I ever had. He missed a couple throws, and that just makes him human.”

Franklin (14 for 77 yards) and Nate Goldsmith (10-36) combined for 113 rushing yards. … Cal had a 21:07 stretch through the second and third quarters without getting a first down. … Safety Chaz Veal and linebacker Luke Hrapchak each had 15 tackles for Cal.