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Defense puts Cal back in semifinals
That was when the Hilltoppers pounded Edinboro in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs with a record-setting 84-63 victory.
Not only did Cal's players take notice, they seemed especially motivated. The Vulcans put together one of their best defensive performances of the season, picking off West Liberty quarterback Zach Amedro three times to spark a 57-35 victory at Russek Field.
The victory moves the Vulcans (11-3) into the national semifinals for the third consecutive season. They will play Northwest Missouri State, a 21-20 winner over Central Washington. The Vulcans have lost to the eventual national champion - Minnesota-Duluth last year and Valdosta State in 2007 - in two previous semifinal games.
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"Them scoring 84 points last week was tremendous for us," said Cal head coach John Luckhardt. "We knew this was going to be an emotional game. We have played 17 consecutive weeks and we were coming off a retribution win over Shippensburg. Honestly, I think if West Liberty wins 35-28 last week, I don't think we are focused as much."
Cal's defense allowed only one score and the offense scored six unanswered touchdowns to race out to a 43-7 lead two minutes into the third quarter.
"We saw they scored 84 points," said Cal cornerback Terrence Johnson, who had one of the three interceptions. "We knew this was going to be a challenge. Everyone knew they had to do a good job."
Amedro completed 29 of 45 passes for 365 yards but his two touchdown passes didn't come until the fourth quarter, when Cal was playing a prevent defense. Amedro became the first player in NCAA history to pass for 300 or more yards in each game of a season. He has passed for 4,945 yards and 49 touchdowns this season.
Keith Null of West Texas set the passing yardage record of 5,097 yards last year and Dusty Bonner of Valdosta holds the touchdown passing record of 54, set in 2001.
But Amedro was outplayed by Cal's Josh Portis, who completed 18 of 33 passes for 318 yards and five touchdowns. Portis set Cal's single-season passing yardage record with 3,054 and set the single-season touchdown mark with 33. Kevin McCabe set both records last season.
"I've been blessed to have people around me making plays," said Portis. "It's all coming together now."
Terrance Moore had a terrific day, catching five passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns. He opened the scoring with a 17-yard touchdown and later caught a 55-yard bomb that put Cal up 43-7.
In between, Portis hit A.J. Jackson from 26 yards out on the first play of the second quarter, then from two yards out with two seconds left in the half for a 36-7 lead. Portis found Blake Williamson from 22 yards for a score in a 23-point second quarter.
"They have some weapons," said West Liberty head coach Roger Waialae. "They made a couple nice drives. I think one of the keys was that they were able to get pressure on us with only their four guys up front. They tried to do things to confuse Zach and they did a nice job."
Nose tackle Steve Santia sacked Amedro twice and end Thomas Mulabah got him once.
"When you get behind like they did, it changes the dynamic of how you play," Luckhardt said. "I don't think we blitzed all day, maybe once. I know they wanted us to blitz but we got pressure from our front guys. We gave up points (later) but once we got ahead, they had to do things differently."
West Liberty tried to get back into the game by scoring the last two touchdowns in the third quarter to cut Cal's lead to 43-21. Kevin Calhoun scored his second touchdown of the game on a three-yard run, then Derrick Evans recovered a blocked punt in the end zone.
But Freddie Bacco scored the final two touchdowns for Cal, scampering across from seven yards with 12:41 to play, then getting over from six yards out on fourth down to make it 57-28. Bacco broke off a 71-yard run four plays before his final score and had 173 yards on 17 carries.
"We're happy to be back in the semifinals," Luckhardt said. "Now, we have to see if we can figure it out a little better this time."
Notes
West Liberty lost talented wide receiver Kashif Walls on the opening kickoff with a concussion. He came back into the game twice but was pulled in the third quarter. ... The Hilltoppers' Ryan Travis caught a game-high 14 passes for 85 yards. Cal's A.J. Jackson had five receptions for 67 yards. ... Tailback Windell Brown had 74 yards on 13 carries for Cal and Williamson finished with four catches for 47 yards.
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