Cal wins with finishing kick
Cal’s Jalen Bell will get more carries this season as the main running back.
Cal’s Nick Grissom picks up yards against Indiana Saturday at Adamson Stadium.
Cal’s Garry Brown beats Indiana’s Steve Franco for one of his six catches Saturday at Adamson Stadium.
CALIFORNIA – The football team at California University did a lot that could have lost this game against Indiana.
The Vulcans also did enough to win.
Rallying from a seven-point deficit in the final quarter, California got a dramatic 39-yard field goal from William Brazill, a career best, to come away with a 31-28 victory in Saturday night’s Coal Bowl at Adamson Stadium.
“We run through those scenarios in practice every day,” said Brazill of his game-winning kick. “I did it in junior college and I was confident I could do it here.”
The victory keeps Cal in first place in the PSAC West Division with a 3-0 conference record. The Vulcans are 5-0 overall. Indiana fell to 2-1 in the conference and 4-1 overall. Cal is 6-2 in Coal Bowl games.
The win over No. 6 Indiana is the highest ranked win over any opponent in school history.
Indiana had one last drive after Brazill’s field goal but ran out of time at the Vulcans’ 31-yard line.
“It’s a great win but no bigger than the other ones,” said Cal head coach Gary Dunn. “We’re trying to stack wins. We play one-game schedules. We’re excited about this one. Now, we’re moving on to next week.”
Cal quarterback Michael Keir struggled throughout the game but managed to direct the final drive to set up Brazill’s game-winner. Keir’s 37-yard completion to Garry Brown was a key play in that drive.
“I trusted my guys to make plays,” said Keir, named MVP of the Coal Bowl. “A lot of credit goes to my offensive line for giving me time.”
Keir completed 19 of 39 pass attempts for 308 yards and a touchdown. His 5-yard run with 9:15 to play tied the score, 28-28. Keir also scored on a 2-yard run in the second quarter that tied the game, 21-21 at halftime.
Indiana quarterback Lenny Williams totaled 285 yards but he left the game before Cal’s field goal drive. He was replaced Mike Pietropola, who nearly led a game-winning drive of his own.
Williams completed 12 of 24 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 123 yards on 17 carries and scored twice.
Brown had another strong game, catching six passes for 116 yards and the key third down catch on the last drive.
Cal’s defense could not contain Williams and allowed IUP to convert 11 of 17 third-down plays. Cal also struggled with penalties, assessed 12 for 115 yards.
Cal won the first quarter and Indiana the second, which resulted in the 21-21 tie at halftime.
Cal ran 10 more plays and gained 34 more yards than IUP in building a 14-0 lead after one quarter. A penalty on IUP after Brazill kicked a 27-yard field goal set Cal up at the four and, two plays later, Jalen Bell went over from one yard to give the Vulcans a 7-0 lead.
It grew to 14-0 after a 50-yard drive set up by an interception by cornerback Aaron Terry. Keir capped it eight plays later when he hit Luke Smorey with an eight-yard TD.
Indiana dominated the second quarter, scoring three times in a little under 11 minutes. Williams’ nine-yard run on the 10th play of the drive cut Cal’s lead to 14-7. The Crimson Hawks went on a nine-play drive and scored when JoJo Gause hauled in a 7-yard pass from Williams to tie the game.
IUP grabbed the lead on the next series when Allen Wright scored on a reverse from 22 yards out on a fourth-down play with 37 second remaining in the half.
At that point, Cal had only 53 yards total offense. Incredibly, Cal only needed 32 to score. Keir went over from two-yard on a broken play to tie the game at halftime.
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