Black throws 4 TDs in Vulcans’ win

Cal (Pa.) defense forces four turnovers and scores in impressive 49-7 win over Gannon.

California (Pa.) head football coach Gary Dunn admitted he hasn’t been too happy the past couple of weeks with his team’s passing game heading into Saturday’s game against Gannon.

But after the Vulcans’ 49-7 win over the Golden Knights, all is well. At least for now.

Cal quarterback Davis Black threw four touchdown passes and completed 24 of 32 passes for 340 yards as the Vulcans smacked their opponents from the north 49-7 in their home opener at Adamson Stadium.

“I really didn’t think we’ve hit on our passing game,” Dunn said following the win. “I thought we’ve had a lot of opportunities the first couple of weeks, we just didn’t convert on them. I was really excited to see the passing game take the right step.”

The other thing Dunn was happy to see was how well his defense played.

The Vulcans (3-1, 1-0) allowed the Knights only 66 yards rushing and just over 200 total yards of offense. They forced four turnovers and scored a touchdown on an interception return. “I thought we got after the quarterback pretty good. We have to understand that not many teams are going to continue to try to run on us, so we’ve got to be better at our pass rush,” Dunn said.

The Vulcans picked up their first turnover on the opening drive of the game when Rashan Murray intercepted Jayden Whitaker at the Vulcans’ 13-yard line.

It led to a 16-play, 87-yard drive that was capped off by McKeesport native Bobby Boyd Jr.’s 5-yard touchdown run. His former Tigers teammate Anthony Beitko converted the extra point to make it 7-0.

The next Knights drive ended in a turnover as well with Cal’s Keith Charney recovering a fumble at the Gannon 22.

Four plays later Black threw his first touchdown pass of the day to Omari Hopkins from 3 yards out to help make it 14-0 early in the second quarter.

“That’s the thing about our passing game. I think receiver is our deepest position and I think you’re going to see a lot more kids stepping up,” Dunn said. “We tell those guys we’re not designing things to get the ball to (Eric) Willis. The ball goes where the defense tells us it does. I thougth Davis did a great job of reading that defense today.”

The Knights (0-4, 0-1) went on a long drive midway through the second and the Vulcans appeared to have them stopped after a sack by Julien Laventure on third-and-9. But an unsportsmanlike conduct call on Laventure kept the drive alive and Whitaker turned it into a 2-yard touchdown run two plays later.

“We gave up the one series and it was a mistake on our part that gave them the seven points,” Dunn said. “We have to learn and grow from that. I thought all around, though, our defense played really well.”

The Vulcans answered on their next drive with Black connecting with Willis on a 39-yard strike.

Things went from bad to worse for the Knights after they went threeand- out as the Vulcans put up another touchdown on Eric McKan’s 1-yard run with four seconds to go in the half, giving California a 28-7 lead at the break.

“I have to give it up to the offensive line,” Dunn said. “We didn’t allow a sack today. They protected Davis really well and it made us really efficient on offense.”

In the second half, the Vulcans punted for the first time on their opening drive. Ringgold graduate Clayton Rosensteel boomed a 48-yard punt to pin Gannon deep in their own territory.

Three plays later, Whitaker was hit hard as he threw by the Vulcans’ Naquan Crowder sending a wounded duck of a pass into the middle of the field. Linebacker Grant Hopple easily corraled it and took the 8-yard jaunt into the end zone for another Cal touchdown.

“It all started with the Valley guy crushing that punt and pinning them deep,” Dunn said of Rosensteel’s kick. “Again, the pressure is why that play happened and it was big coming off our first drive.”

After another Gannon punt, it took three place for Black to find big D’Avay Johnson on the sideline for a 22-yard catch and run to help increase the lead to 42-7.

Johnson finished with six catches for a game-high 103 yards. Willis had seven receptions for 87 yards.

The Vulcans’ next drive ended with Black hitting Natel Blessitt on a 4-yard touchdown pass at the pylon for the game’s final score.

“I’ll tell you what, it’s nice to be home after being on the road for three weeks,” Dunn said. “I drove through the parking lot and just to see all the tailgates, the tents and grills out. It was so great to be home at our stadium.

“Unfortunately, we’re away for two more weeks. But we have to take care of business. Clarion’s a good football team, so we have to be ready to go up there and play next week.”

VULCANS OVERTIME – Local products and Cal freshmen Jake Layhue (California) and Keith Spell (McKeesport) each had a tackle and played significant time in the fourth quarter. … Boyd finished with 11 carries for 34 yards and had a 5-yard reception. Reserve running back Kendrick Agenor had 40 yards on 10 carries. Black was the team’s leading rushing with six carries for 50 yards. … Black completed passes to nine different receivers.