Sep 23, 2018 4 min read

CALIFORNIA – A win is a win, whether by five or 25 points.

The California University football team was able to survive six turnovers and a valiant comeback effort by Edinboro University to hold on for a 40-35 victory Saturday afternoon at Adamson Stadium.

The Vulcans (1-0, 2-2) won their 14th straight PSAC West opener and after beginning the season with three straight road games, Cal is 16-3 in its last 19 home openers.

“Hats off to Edinboro; they forced us into a lot of mistakes,” Cal coach Gary Dunn said. “I love the resiliency of this team. Our kids battled and they found a way. To make that many mistakes in a conference game and win, that’s something. I don’t know if we are going to be, but if we can put everything together, we can be a really good team this year.”

Trailing 35-34 with 8:01 left to go, the Vulcans mounted a seven-play, 65-yard drive that ended with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Tyson Hill from Noah Mitchell. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful.

Cal forced the Fighting Scots (0-1, 3-1) into a three-and-out then ran out the clock by getting two first downs. Hill and Mitchell picked up a third-and-nine on a 21-yard completion to all but seal the victory.

“Noah doesn’t play like a freshman,” Dunn said. “He loves the game and is always watching film. He threw into some tough coverages and some of his picks weren’t his fault. He is always calm under pressure and trusts his coaching. He had a big fourth quarter for us.”

Nelson Brown rushed for 121 yards and three touchdowns for Cal.

“After the win last week, our running game has gotten into a really nice flow,” Brown said. “The line is getting a push and I’m just finding the holes to run through. We have a lot of confidence in the running game and we want to be a physical team.”

Cal started the game with an impressive, nine-play, 67-yard drive that was capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by Brown.

After Edinboro’s Zuril Hendrick returned an interception to the 9-yard line, the visitors knotted this one up at 7-7 on a 5-yard scoring completion to Ta’Nauz Gregory from Andrew Tomko.

On the Fighting Scots’ first drive of the second quarter, they used some trickery on special teams. They initially lined up for a 38-yard field goal, but their holder, Tomko, faked it and found the edge for a 21-yard touchdown run at 12:56 of the second quarter.

The Vulcans made it 14-14 after Jordan Dandridge hauled in a beautiful, one-handed 42-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell.

Cal took a 21-14 lead on its next drive after a 1-yard plunge by Brown. Then the defense got into the scoring with an 82-yard fumble return by Lamont McPhatter II to push the lead to 27-14 at halftime.

“I just have a nose for the ball,” McPhatter II said. “I always run to the ball and hustle on every single play. On the fumble return, the ball was loose and I didn’t hear a whistle. The ball found my hands and I love making those big plays on defense.”

After Edinboro trimmed the deficit to 27-21 with a 1-yard touchdown run by Walter Fletcher, Brown had a 4-yard scoring run with 4:08 left in the third quarter.

Right before the end of the third quarter, the Fighting Scots got a 7-yard touchdown by Fletcher then took a one-point lead at the midway mark of the fourth quarter after a 17-yard sprint to the end zone by Kyle Galyk.

Mitchell threw for 297 yards on 22 of 40 passing with two touchdowns and four interceptions. Dandridge, who was injured in the third quarter and didn’t return, hauled in nine receptions for 153 yards and Hill finished with nine catches for 91 yards.

“I really like our offense,” Dunn said. “We have a solid line with an effective running game. Noah understands this offense and gets the ball into the playmakers’ hands. I thought our defense made the plays when they needed it and we were able to slow down their running game.”

London Cloud (eight) and McPhatter II (seven) led Cal in tackles. The Vulcans host IUP in the Coal Bowl Saturday in a critical PSAC West showdown. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.

“We made the stops when we needed them,” McPhatter II said. “I think each week we have gotten better on defense. We responded the right way. We are excited for IUP and we are ready for that challenge next week.”