Aug 31, 2017 4 min read

CALIFORNIA – For William Brazill, this was just another kick.

For the players on Ohio Dominican’s football team, it felt like a kick to the head.

Brazill, the 6-0 senior from Kansas City, nailed a 25-yard field goal with 49 seconds to play, then watched from the sideline as his counterpart was wide left from 50 yards out as time expired to give California a thrilling 36-34 victory in the season opener for both teams at Adamson Stadium Thursday.

“It’s what I do in practice every day,” said Brazill. “But expectations are expectations. It was a bad angle but that’s what you practice when you’re a kicker.”

Michael Keir, Cal’s senior quarterback, had one of his best games, completing 36 of a career-high 51 attempts for 398 yards and two touchdowns. He drove the Vulcans to ODU’s 17 after the Panthers took a 34-33 lead on a halfback option pass that Cedric Washington turned into his second 52-yard touchdown reception of the game.

“I threw it 51 times?” Keir asked. “Holy smokes. I had no clue. It’s the most I ever threw the ball. That was a quiet 51.”

Brazill said he prefers the ball on the right hash mark but Keir’s scramble on a third-down play positioned it on the left. After a Panthers timeout, Brazill sent the ball through the uprights. It was the second straight season one of his field goals won a game. He hit a 39-yarder with 55 seconds to play to push Cal past Indiana 31-28 in a game that eventually earned Cal the West Division title.

“We found a way to get it done and that will pay (dividends) down the road,” said Cal head coach Gary Dunn. “I thought that last drive was huge. We never blink. I told Micheal to trust his fundamentals. It’s funny because we practice this at camp, put five minutes on the clock and say, ‘OK, we gotta go score.'”

One of the key plays of the second half came off the foot of Keir, who landed a punt at the Ohio Dominican one in the third quarter. Two plays later, Cal nose tackle Malik Akins stopped E.J. Colson in the end zone for a safety that pushed Cal’s lead to 26-14 with 8:53 left in the quarter.

“It was a huge play,” Dunn said. “We didn’t play well on special teams and made some mental mistakes, but hey, we found a way.”

Cal’s lead stretched to 33-14 when Nick Grissom scored from one yard out with 6:26 remaining in the third quarter.

But Ohio Dominican scored 20 straight points, the final six coming when Cory Contini hit Washington on the halfback option. It was Contini’s first college pass attempt.

“It’s been a couple years since we used it,” said ODU head coach Kelly Cummings. “We hit it really nice.

“This game came down to a play here and there. Good teams overcome those things and that was what Cal did.”

Keir showed off his arm in the first half, completing 19 of 26 for 220 yards and two touchdowns as Cal built a 24-14 lead. Keir hit Dylan Stallings for a two-yard touchdown and Jordan Dandridge from 16 yards out to make it 21-7 in the first quarter.

Ohio Dominican stayed close in the first half, scoring on a weird play late in the second quarter when a pass intended for Contini was deflected into the hands of teammate Cedric Washington behind the secondary. Washington went 52 yards for the score that cut Cal’s lead to 21-14.

Those unexpected yards propped Russell’s numbers to 13 of 19 for 197 yards in the half. He finished 28 of 37 for 378 yards and two TDs. Washington caught five passes for 137 yards and Contini and David Turner each had nine receptions for 97 and 101 yards, respectively.

Tommy Greene had eight catches for 158 yards to lead Cal. Luke Smorey had 10 for 76 and Jordan Dandridge nine for 56.