Football | 9/24/2014 12:42:00 PM

EDINBORO Fighting Scots (0-3, 0-2 PSAC West) at CALIFORNIA(PA) Vulcans (2-1, 1-1 PSAC West)
 
Date:  Saturday, September 27, 2014
Site:  California, Pa.
Stadium:  Adamson Stadium (6,500)
Kickoff: 1:00 p.m.
Next:  Saturday, October 4 vs. Indiana(Pa.) -- 2:00 p.m. (Homecoming)
Radio:  WFSE FM 88.9 -- Mike Fenner (play-by-play) and Tyler Trumbauer (color commentary)
        http://www.boroonline.com. 
Live Stats:   http://www.sidearmstats.com/cup/football/
 
Edinboro Game Notes
California(Pa.) Game Notes
PSAC Weekly Notes 

The Game Story
Faced with a brutal early season schedule, Edinboro is off to an 0-3 start, its worst getaway since the 1955 team opened the year with five consecutive losses. The season started with a 38-24 loss at 16th-ranked Carson-Newman. That was followed by another long road trip to Shippensburg for the first PSAC game of the year. The Fighting Scots would fall 47-21 to a Red Raiders team that was 7-4 a year ago. A week ago Edinboro played its home opener against an East Stroudsburg team that was picked to finish second in the PSAC East in the Coaches Preseason Poll. The young Fighting Scots rallied from a 20-7 deficit after one quarter and would be tied at 34-34 in the fourth period before finally falling 47-34. Now they head back out on the road to play at California(Pa.). The Vulcans have won the last nine meetings between the two schools, and Edinboro has not won at Adamson Stadium since 2002.  Cal was picked to finish second in the PSAC West, and the following week the Scots meet preseason favorite Indiana(Pa.).  

California(Pa.) comes in with a 2-1 record and is 1-1 in the PSAC West. The Vulcans opened the year with a 33-24 win over Virginia State before suffering a 24-21 loss in overtime at then 21st-ranked Bloomsburg. A week ago the Vulcans rebounded with a 56-34 win at Shippensburg.

A young Edinboro defense that is playing five freshmen or redshirt freshmen has had the misfortune of facing three high-powered yet different offenses and has paid the price. First came the bruising veer option attack run by a Carson-Newman team that finished fourth in the country in rushing last year. The Eagles finished with 342 yards rushing.  The next week Edinboro had to try to slow down a multi-faceted Shippensburg offense that ended up rushing for 246 yards and passing for 233 more.  Last week they had to contend with East Stroudsburg's high-flying passing game.  ESU?quarterback Matt Soltes would throw for 502 yards as the Warriors finished with 590 total yards. After three games Edinboro has allowed 132 points. Only the 1928 team allowed more points over the first three games (133). In addition, this marks the first time since 2002 that the Fighting Scots have allowed 40-or-more points in back-to-back games.

The Edinboro offense continues to grow as it gets more acclimated with new offensive coordinator Mike Miller, who did not arrive until the beginning of August. Miller's resume' includes a stint as the offensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals. The unit has increased its total offense output each week and comes off a season-high 448 yards against East Stroudsburg.

Granted a sixth season of eligibility, Cody Harris is off to a strong start. He has thrown for 745 yards and has 9 TDs compared to just one interception. He has added two touchdowns rushing as he has accounted for all 11 Edinboro touchdowns. Harris played in just the first two games a year ago before suffering a season-ending injury. Edinboro averaged 35 points and 454.5 total yards in the first two games but just 19.6 points and 283.1 total yards over the final nine contests.  Harris was a second team All-PSAC?West selection in 2011 and '12.   

Edinboro was picked to finish sixth in the PSAC?West in the coaches' preseason poll for the second straight year. California(Pa.) received three first place votes and was picked to finish second in the West.

The Carson-Newman contest was the first of three Thursday games the Fighting Scots will play in 2014. Edinboro will also face local rivals Gannon and Mercyhurst on Thursday evenings. The Scots will host Gannon on Thursday, October 16 in the first Thursday night contest at Sox Harrison Stadium since 2008. A week later Edinboro will play for the first time at Erie Veterans Stadium since 1982 as Mercyhurst hosts the Scots on Thursday, October 23.
  
The All-Time Series
California(Pa.) leads 43-35-2
California(Pa.) holds a 43-35-2 lead in the all-time series with Edinboro thanks to winning the last nine meetings.  This marks the second straight year the two will play at Adamson Stadium. A year ago the Vulcans claimed a wet 20-7 victory.  The last time Edinboro defeated Cal was 2004, a 42-28 win at Sox Harrison Stadium.  Edinboro's last win at Adamson Stadium occurred in 2002, a 38-22 victory.  The Fighting Scots have lost five straight games at Adamson Stadium and seven of the last eight meetings.  
 
The Last Meeting
2013 -- California(Pa.) 20, Edinboro 7
With a heavy rain falling for much of the game and an offense missing four starters committing five turnovers for the second straight week, Edinboro dropped its PSAC West opener at California(Pa.). Edinboro played without starting quarterback Cody Harris, wide receiver Darren Massey, tailback D'Andrea Vaughn and left guard Kyle Lanich.  The youthful quarterback combination of redshirt freshman Jon Girvin and true freshman Matt Bodamer proved little match for the veteran Vulcan defense, combining for four interceptions. However, a much-maligned defense turned in a strong effort against the Vulcans, limiting Cal to 318 total yards.  With the exception of one long drive late in the third quarter that extended into the fourth, Cal was unable to sustain many drives against the Scots. Edinboro would manage just 202 yards in offense without Harris at the controls. Edinboro grabbed a quick 2-0 lead courtesy of a bad snap on a Cal punt on the first series of the game.  The Vulcans would respond with an eight-play, 60-yard drive that ended in a 25-yard field goal by Cody Nuzzo. With rain pouring down, neither team did much offensively until Cal's Dewey McDonald intercepted a Bodamer pass at the 50 and weaved his way for a 50-yard touchdown return midway through the second quarter. Freshman T.J. Hardy would close the gap to 10-5 early in the third quarter with his first career field goal, covering 29 yards, to cap a 13-play, 63-yard march. Cal would take advantage of a Girvin interception to build the lead to 13-5 on Nuzzo's 33-yard field goal. Cal's 17-play, 85-yard drive that ended on Derrick Fiore's one-yard touchdown run gave the Vulcans a 20-5 lead with 11:42 to play. Edinboro would pick up its second safety of the day when punter Andrew Cerett was unable to handle the snap and he was tackled in the end zone by James Jackson.  Girvin, in his first career appearance, completed 13 of 34 passes for 120 yards.  He threw three interceptions and was sacked three times.  Marcus Johnson caught 7 passes for 96 yards and Jeremy Donaldson ran for 89 yards on 22 carries. The Boro defense limited Cody Schroeder to just 14 completions in 34 attempts.  The Vulcans would run for 130 yards, but on 50 carries for an average of 2.6 yards per carry.  Jeff Knox, Jr. gained 92 yards on 21 rushes and Fiore had 68 yards on 22 carries
 
Last Week
East Stroudsburg 47, Edinboro 34
After falling behind 20-7 after one quarter Edinboro would rally tp take a 21-20 lead thanks to a one yard touchdown pass from Cody Harris to Nick Helmick and a spectacular six yard TD run by Harris. However, the Fighting Scots would be forced to punt in the final minute and East Stroudsburg scored on a 57-yard pass with 15 seconds remaining for a 27-21 halftime lead. The Warriors would go up 34-21 early in the third quarter but Edinboro would knot the score with a pair of touchdown connections from Harris to Darren Massey. The first covered 28 yards and the second two yards with 13 minutes, 58 seconds left in the game. Less than two minutes later ESU went up 40-34, with Jim Wilson blocking the extra point. Edinboro would drive to the ESU eight with just over seven minutes to play, but on 4th-and-3 Harris' pass to Massey fell short. The Warriors would tack on a sixth Matt Soltes touchdown pass with 46 seconds to play. The game featured over 1,000 yards in total offense as ESU totalled 590 yards, including 502 yards through the air, and Edinboro ended with 448 yards. Harris completed 26 of 37 passes for 268 yards and 4 TDs, with Massey hauling in 10 passes for 103 yards and 3 TDs. Freshman TB Anfreenee Williams paced a resurgent ground game with 139 yards on 18 carries. 

California(Pa.) 56, Shippensburg 34
Cal scored 35 unanswered points in the first half en route to a 56-34 victory at Shippensburg. Junior QB James Harris completed 24 of 33 passes for 439 yards and two touchdowns, finishing only four yardsshy of tying the single-game school passing record. Sophomore RB Nick Grissom (139 yards) and senior RB Terrell Roberson (89 yards) each rushed for three touchdowns and combined for 228 rushing yards on 33 attempts. Sophomore WR Garry Brown and junior WR Kowan Scott each eclipsed the 100-yard mark with Brown catching 10 passes 190 receiving yards, the sixth-highest total in school history. Scott added 7 catches for 149 yards and 2 TDs. The teams combined to amass 1,174 yards of total offense with the Vulcans posting 660 yards of total offense, their highest single-game mark since the 2005 season. Cal scored touchdowns on all five of its trips inside the red zone.
         
The Coaches
Scott Browning (Ohio State '81) took over as Edinboro's 13th head coach on January 5, 2006, and in his first six seasons he tied the record for most wins by a coach during that period.  Browning is in his ninth season with a 54-38 record, and is in his 29th season as a member of the Edinboro staff.  With last year's season-opening 35-34 win over Walsh, he became the third coach at Edinboro to reach 50 wins, joining Tom Hollman and Bill McDonald.   The win over Clarion was his 54th, tying him with McDonald for second in career victories.  Browning was certainly no stranger to Fighting Scot football when he was hired as head coach, serving as an assistant coach for the previous twenty years. While at Edinboro he has coached the offensive linemen, defensive backs and running backs, along with serving as the offensive coordinator.  Browning became the first head coach at Edinboro to debut with a win since McDonald in 1969 when the Fighting Scots opened the 2006 season with a 28-14 win at West Chester.  He went on to lead Edinboro to a 6-5 finish, the most wins ever by a first-year coach.  That was followed by a 7-4 finish in 2007.  His next two Fighting Scot editions recorded a school-record tying nine wins.  In 2008 Edinboro ended the year at 9-2 and was ranked 20th in the final AFCA?Top 25.  The Fighting Scots had a 9-4 record in 2009, making the NCAA?playoffs for the first time in his tenure.  Edinboro would end the year 24th in the AFCA?poll.  The Boro posted back-to-back 7-4 finishes in 2010 and 2011.  The 4-6 finish in 2012 represented Browning's first losing season as head coach. 

Mike Kellar (Fairmont St. '96) is in his third season as the head coach at California(Pa.), taking over for legendary John Luckhardt.  His first Cal edition finished at 8-3, followed by a 7-4 record a year ago. He now owns a record of 17-8 at Cal. This is Kellar's second stint at California(Pa.) after originally serving as the offensive coordinator from 2004-08.  He spent two years as the head coach at Concord, finishing with a 6-5 record in 2009 and an 8-3 record in 2010, before returning to Cal as the associate head coach and offensive coordinator in 2011.  
    
Browning Comments ... on the Fighting Scots
"We made too many mistakes down the stretch. They made the plays we didn't. Our youth probably showed toward the end . That's not an excuse. We had an opportunity to come back on offense and just didn't make the plays."
 
Browning Comments ... on the Vulcans
"I think up to this point in the season Cal may be the best team we've played. They have a lot of speed. Cal is a really good football team. Very good."