Vulcans fall in close rematch with Frostburg State
CALIFORNIA 鈥� Unfortunately for the PennWest California football team, the rematch against Frostburg State wasn鈥檛 a replay of the game these two teams played a month ago.
The Vulcans came away with a five-point victory in a non-conference game that day.
On a cold Saturday afternoon, over a windswept field at Adamson Stadium, Frostburg got revenge for that loss, taking a 23-21 victory in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Unranked Cal finished the season with a 9-4 record while 24th-ranked Frostburg moved to 11-2 and will take on third-ranked Kutztown next week.
Harrison Fritz蘑菇视频 20-yard field goal with 4:06 to play provided the winning points.
鈥淲e just came up short,鈥� said Cal head coach Gary Dunn. 鈥淕ive Frostburg State credit. People were writing us off two or three weeks ago but I couldn鈥檛 be prouder of this group.鈥�
Cal made some critical errors in the second half, including the loss of a fumble that Frostburg turned into a touchdown that tied the score, 14-14, with 2:02 left in the third quarter. KJ Smothers scored on a 3-yard run to make it 20-14 as the extra-point attempt was no good.
Cal regained the lead, 21-20, when D鈥橝vay Johnson pulled in the second of his two touchdown receptions. After Fritz蘑菇视频 field goal, Cal drove to Frostburg蘑菇视频 28-yard line. But Harry Radcliffe蘑菇视频 45-yard field goal attempt was just short.
鈥淭he run game started working for them in the second half,鈥� Cal strong safety Keith Charney. 鈥淏ut they made more plays than us.鈥�
It took the Vulcans two plays to cover 93 yards and take a 14-7 lead at halftime.
Following a punt by Frostburg that gave Cal the ball at its own 7-yard line, the Vulcans needed just a 59-yard run by Kendrick Agenor to set up a 34-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Roman Purcell to Johnson with 30 seconds left in the half.
Cal opened the scoring after recovering the second Frostburg State fumble in the first 6:35 of the first quarter. Southmoreland graduate Da鈥橲jon Craggette bulled over from one yard out to cap a 62-yard, 11-play drive.
Frostburg evened the score with 4:43 left in the half when Cruiz Paul-Unstead caught a 7-yard pass from quarterback Jordan Brooks.
Cal saw another opportunity to score slip away when Radcliffe missed a 44-yard field goal with 10:31 left in the second quarter.
鈥淕etting a win, getting to a second-round game, we knew it was going to be a battle,鈥� said Frostburg head coach Eric Wagoner. 鈥淥ur first half looked like the last time we played. We talked about stopping the turnovers. Cal capitalized on our mistakes.鈥�
Purcell finished 15 of 28 for 196 yards while Agenor carried the ball 16 times for 121 yards. Johnson had four catches for 68 yards and two TDs.