Sep 20, 2018 5 min read

The pieces finally came together for California University’s football team last week.

Just in time to play undefeated Edinboro in the Vulcans’ PSAC West opener Saturday.

The 1-2 Vulcans put together a great passing performance with a strong running game, and backed it up with their best defensive effort of the season, which included an interception return for a touchdown.

That effort produced a 57-14 rout of Shippensburg last Saturday in a PSAC crossover game.

“It was the first time we felt we put four quarters together,” said Cal head coach Gary Dunn. “We played well in spurts the first two games but felt like we didn’t put four quarters together. We felt like we did that (against Shippensburg).”

Interestingly, the one question mark heading into the season was starting a true freshman at quarterback. But Noah Mitchell carried the offense in close losses to Ohio Dominican and Kutztown.

Mitchell passed for 325 yards and two touchdowns against Shippensburg. He also ran one in. Mitchell is the first Cal quarterback with three consecutive games of at least 300 passing yards in the same year since Peter Lalich accomplished the feat in five straight games in 2012. Mitchell ranks second in NCAA Division II with 1,072 passing yards and is one of only two quarterbacks with at least 1,000 passing yards this year.

“He’s a super-talented kid, who puts the work in,” said Dunn. “We knew his talent, but his work ethic … and talent is really beginning to show.”

Nelson Brown, a transfer from Lenoir-Rhyne, took over the starting tailback position and had his best game of the season, rushing for 132 yards and scoring three times. He is on pace to reach 1,000 rushing yards for the season. Brown was named PSAC West Offensive Athlete of the Week for his effort against Shippensburg.

The Vulcans’ defense, which allowed a combined 62 points in the first two weeks, shut Shippensburg out in the first half. Just as important, the defense picked off five passes, four from starter Brycen Mussina, and free safety Jimmy Pierce returned one for a 71-yard touchdown. Cornerback Jermal Martin had two interceptions.

Edinboro is off to its second 3-0 start in three years. The Fighting Scots lead the PSAC and rank eighth in the country in scoring offense at 46.3 points per game. They have wins over Lake Erie (69-0), Bloomsburg (21-16) and East Stroudsburg (49-24). Two juniors – running back Walter Fletcher and wide receiver Ta’Nauz Gregory – have combined for 11 touchdowns.

“They have a very explosive offense with one of the premiere running backs (Fletcher) in the league,” said Dunn. “They have one of the premiere receivers (in Gregory) in the league so we’ll have our hands full.”

Kickoff is 1 p.m. at Adamson Stadium.

Grove City at W&J

Kickoff: 1 p.m., Saturday

After a convincing win over Carnegie Mellon last week, Washington & Jefferson has to be careful not to overlook Grove City. The Wolverines are 1-2, defeating Juniata in the opener before lopsided losses to Bethany (27-7) and Case Western Reserve (49-23). W&J head coach Mike Sirianni doesn’t believe that will be a problem.

“It’s Division III football,” said Sirianni. “We have to win every game. If you lose one, two games, you’re done. You’re not in the playoffs, you’re not going to win a conference championship. You’ve got nothing. It’s totally different from every level of football. So the emphasis on every game is so great. We have to win every game.”

W&J showed a powerful offensive attack in the first half, building a 33-14 lead against CMU. The offense went conservative in the second half but the defense didn’t allow a point.

“We bent but didn’t break,” said Sirianni.

The Jacob Adams-to-Andrew Wolf connection produced three first quarter passing touchdowns and the running of Jordan West added 181 yards and two scores.

Grove City gave up 361 yards and five TD passes to Case Western quarterback Drew Saxton, a South Fayette graduate. The Wolverines had a 200-yard passer in Randall Labie (252), a 100-yard rusher in Wesley Schools (104) and a 100-yard receiver in Cody Gustafson (122).

Geneva at Waynesburg

Kickoff: 1:30 p.m., Saturday

Waynesburg gets another chance for a first win when Geneva visits John F. Wiley Stadium.

The Yellow Jackets were within three points of the Bison, 16-13, midway through the fourth quarter but gave up a long TD run with 4:34 to play. Tyler Perone and Jake Dougherty had similar stats at quarterback and neither threw an interception. But neither threw a touchdown pass.

Geneva is 2-1 with the two victories coming in the PAC against Saint Vincent and Thiel. The offense depends on the running game with Trewon Marshall and quarterback Levi Cook.