Oct 8, 2015 5 min read

Heading to Slippery Rock Saturday to watch California University’s football team?

Bring a lot of antacids.

The Vulcans are making a habit of being involved in close games, winning the last three by a combined 19 points, and this one promises to be similar because these teams are similar.

“One of our administrators texted me the other night about that and I said, ‘This is why my hair is so gray.’ He texted me back, ‘That’s why I don’t have hair,'” Cal head coach Mike Kellar joked.

“We seem to be the Cardiac Kids of late. It’s our everyday life. … We’re never really out of a game, but we have never put one away either.”

California and Slippery Rock enter the 2 p.m. game with 4-1 records. But Cal has won both PSAC West Division games and The Rock has split their two.

Cal rallied from a 21-3 deficit to take a 38-34 win over Seton Hill last week; Cal frittered away a 30-9 lead to edge Edinboro 37-30 two weeks ago and was outscored 16-0 in the second half of a 34-28 victory against Shippensburg Sept. 19.

“That doesn’t bother me,” said Cal quarterback James Harris. “I love the pressure. I think we needed that to come together as a team. Have we played a 60-minute game? No. If we can execute for 60 minutes, then it will be fun the rest of the season.”

In the past three games, Harris completed more than half of his passes for 749 yards and eight touchdowns. He’s only been intercepted twice in those 94 attempts.

“He got really hot at times last year,” said Kellar. “At Slippery Rock last year, he was as hot as you can be. … He’s having a year that’s different from a year ago. Everything is on his plate this year. In my mind, his numbers might not be as good but he’s playing better. He’s gotten us out of some bad situations.”

Fortunately for Cal, the situation at running back seems to have settled. Injuries forced five different players into one of the two high-minute roles. Jimmy Wheeler, who led the WPIAL in rushing two years ago at West Mifflin, had a breakout game with Cal last week, gaining 105 yards on 13 carries. Against Edinboro, John Franklin had 31 carries for 196 yards – both career highs – and scored three touchdowns. Nate Goldschmidt, who missed the last two games with a back problem, returned to practice this week.

“They each have their strength and weaknesses, so you try to design that so you are taking advantage of them but not giving away anything to the (opposing) defense,” said Kellar. “It’s like putting together a Rubik’s Cube.”

Slippery Rock got Shamar Greene back from injury last week and he rushed for 102 yards on 26 carries and scored three touchdowns in a 41-14 rout of Gannon, the preseason favorite in the PSAC West. Dante Nania passed for more than 1,000 yards and has eight touchdowns. But he’s been intercepted six times. Cal will need to have a strong defensive effort to win the game.

“We really haven’t played a full game,” Kellar said. “It seems every game is like a tale of two halves. … I don’t feel like we put it together for the whole 60 minutes. That’s something that bothers you but also makes you feel good. You’re 4-1 and you really haven’t put together a whole game yet.”

Nothing salves the wounds of a loss like a victory the following week. Washington & Jefferson has that chance Saturday when Grove City arrives at Cameron Stadium.

The Presidents (1-1, 3-1) are behind four other teams in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference standings, including Thomas More, which defeated W&J 38-20 in a battle of unbeatens last week. Thomas More picked off four passes, a rare site for quarterback Pete Coughlin. But head coach Mike Sirianni said it wasn’t as bad as it seems.

“We threw for 360 yards, we dropped an reception that we tipped to their kid, (and) Pete missed a wide open player,” said Sirianni. “That was a good football team we played that has given up nothing defensively. We just didn’t finish. We didn’t score when we got inside the red zone. I’m not happy about the interceptions. … Pete has to be more careful with the ball but I don’t want to say I’m alarmed.”

Coughlin completed 34 of 58 attempts for 360 yards and a touchdown. Drops cost him two more. In four games, Coughlin has passed four 1,108 yards and thrown seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. Coughlin threw just six interceptions last season and had 31 TDs.

“I’m not concerned about it. We have to practice and get better,” said Sirianni. “After looking at the game, I think we played a really good football team, maybe top five. And we had chances to win the game. I am not going to push the panic button.”

Grove City is winless in four games, including two in the conference, and is in the bottom part of the PAC rankings in most categories. But Sirianni said this game is critical because W&J can’t afford another loss if it hopes to make the playoffs.

“We are in playoff mode,” he said. “This is a playoff game for us. Every one is now.”

Rick Shepas became Waynesburg’s winningest football coach and hopes to put a cushion between him and the others with a PAC game at Case Western Reserve.

The Yellow Jackets snapped a three-game losing streak last week with a 35-31 victory over Grove City, Shepas’ 66th since taking over as head coach 11 years ago.

Case Western came into the game tied with Thomas More for first place with a 3-0 record after a 59-20 win over Bethany. The Yellow Jackets are 1-2 in the conference and 2-3 overall.