Oct 7, 2023 By Joe Tuscano for The Observer-Reporter newsroom@observer-Reporter.Com 3 min read

INDIANA – California University running back Erik McKan III clutched the MVP trophy of Saturday afternoon’s Coal Bowl victory over rival Indiana like he was holding the football.

This was one of McKan’s best days as a running back at Cal and it brought some much-needed relief to a Cal running game that was not very effective last year.

But McKan burst through the line on the very first play from scrimmage and went 39 yards down the right side of the field. Four plays later, McKan broke off an 18-yard touchdown run that gave Cal a 7-0 lead and the Vulcans never looked back.

McKan finished with 101 yards on 21 carries and was more than instrumental in Cal’s 30-20 victory over Indiana in a crucial matchup of PSAC West teams.

The Vulcans moved to 3-0 in the conference and 4-1 overall. Indiana is 1-2 in the conference and 3-3 overall.

“All things are possible in my eyes,” said McKan. “This comes from my team, hard work and dedication.”

Cal has won the past two games at Frank Cignetti Field in George P. Miller Stadium. And McKan’s two key runs set the tone of the game in the Vulcans’ favor.

“That play (the 39-yard run) was part of our gameplan,” said McKan. “We just executed real good.”

Cal’s running game, a weak spot last season, has been magnificent this year. Cal ran the ball 41 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns against IUP.

Cal’s defense held Indiana to 69 yards on 28 carries.

“I’ll tell you what I love about our team right now. They are battling.” said Cal head coach Gary Dunn. “We know they are going to come in and battle every day. I’m proud of them today.”

Kart Hunter, IUP’s starting quarterback, hurt his knee in the middle of the second quarter and did not return to the game. Hunter, a transfer from Colorado Mines, completed three of seven passes for 30 yards and two touchdowns. IUP head coach Paul Tortorella expects him to miss a couple of weeks at best.

When Hunter went down, the game was tied, 13-13, thanks to McKan’s TD run and two field goals by Anthony Beitko, who nailed a 22-yarder and 34-yarder before halftime.

Hunter’s replacement, Nico Marchitelli, completed just five passes in 14 attempts for 93 yards. But 53 came on a pass to Cyair Clark late in the game. Clark also had five kickoff returns for 152 yards.

Indiana linebacker Drew Dinunzo-Biss had a game-high 17 tackles.

Taylor Khalil took a blocked punt 10 yards for a score and Matt Charlton fell on a fumble in the end zone early in the third quarter. Beitko hit his third field goal, this one from 30 yards, to give the Vulcans a 30-13 lead with 6:36 to play.

Cal quarterback Davis Black completed 12 of 28 passes for 261 yards. He didn’t throw a touchdown but set them up with long completions.

“I didn’t know about the Coal Bowl before I came here,” Black said. “I did know that Cal and IUP were big rivals. This was the biggest game of the year because it was the next one. It’s big deal to a lot of people. It has a lot of tradition to it. It was a lot of fun today.”

IUP had 140 yards passing and 69 yards passing. Cal rushed for 146 yards and had 281 yards passing.