Vulcans rally late for victory at Lock Haven

Omari Hopkins caught two touchdown passes and Bobby Boyd ran for 95 yards in the win.

The California (Pa.) football team has enjoyed a strong start to the season, and it continued Saturday with a 27-20 win at Lock Haven.

The Vulcans (2-1) picked up the tight win by scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter and posting seven sacks.

Quarterback Davis Black went 14 of 24 with 202 yards and three touchdowns on the day as receivers Omari Hopkins (4-31-2TDs) and D’Avay Johnson (2-98-TD) dominated through the air.

McKeesport native Bobby Boyd Jr. led the Vulcans with 95 rushing yards on 18 carries.

Defensively, linebacker John Hutchinson had a team-high 11 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss. Armani Caraballo and Julien Laventure each posted two sacks for the dominant California pass rush.

It took just one offensive play for Cal to strike as Black found Johnson for an 82-yard score with 10:47 remaining in the first quarter.

Lock Haven (1-2) scored 10-straight points before the quarter expired to take a lead, but California’s Anthony Beitko connected on a 37-yard kick to make it 10-10 just after the second quarter started.

The Bald Eagles scored next on a 22-yard touchdown pass, but Black found Hopkins for a 10-yard score to tie it up at 17-17 going into halftime.

After no scoring in the third quarter, Beitko made another kick, this time from 35 yards, to give California a 20-17 advantage.

With 2:48 left to play, Black hit Hopkins for a 6-yard touchdown to give Cal a 10-point advantage.

Lock Haven managed to nail a kick with under a minute to play and even recovered an onside kick, but sacks from Malachi Thomas and both Naquan Crowder and Laventure combining for one more put the game to bed.

Non-conference play treated the Vulcans well, coming away with two road wins and a tough ranked loss at Charleston (W.Va.) California is also set for a clash with non-conference foe Shippensburg during the final week of the regular season.

Boyd is leading the Vulcans on the ground thus far with 298 yards in three games, just shy of averaging 100 per contest. Eric McKan III has also mustered 99 rushing yards, and both backs have contributed a touchdown.

Black has tallied a team-high four rushing scores along with 99 yards. Through the air, he is averaging over 203 yards per game and has four touchdowns to two interceptions.

Eric Willis III leads the Vulcans with 12 receptions for 204 yards so far this season while Hopkins paces the team with two receiving touchdowns.

Defensively, Hutchinson has 23 tackles, Khalil Taylor has 15, Dominic Solomon Jr. has 14, Grant Hopple has 13 and Keith Charney has tallied 12.

Caraballo (four), Taylor (two) and Laventure (two) have multiple sacks for Cal. Taylor, Rashan Murray and Alexie Sangster Jr. each have a pick.

The Vulcans are set to begin PSAC play next week against Gannon at Adamson Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon.