Oct. 14, 2006

Final Stats

California, Pa. - Hosting California U. of Pa. (5-2, 3-0 PSAC-W) intercepted four passes and won the special teams battle Saturday afternoon en route to a 24-14 win over The Rock in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division action.

The turnover-plagued effort was the second successive recorded by The Rock and opened the trap door to a second straight loss on the heels of a four-game win streak.

SRU (4-3 overall, 1-2 PSAC-West) turned the ball over five times (3 INTs, 2 fumbles) the previous week in a 28-21 loss to Shippensburg.

Were it not for a pair of special teams blunders, though, The Rock may well have rung up a win in California.

Cal's Marc Huddleston returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to give the hosts a quick 7-0 lead.

The Vulcans' final touchdown was scored 10 plays after a roughing the punter penalty on SRU gave the hosts new life late in the fourth quarter.

On the plus side, the special teams unit set up The Rock's first touchdown of the game. Anthony Walls returned the kickoff following Cal's second TD 61 yards to the Vulcans 28-yard line. Three plays later, Nate Crookshank hooked up with Luke Wetzel for a 31-yard touchdown that trimmed the hosts' lead in half, 14-7.

After California extended its lead to 17-7 with a third-quarter field goal, The Rock cut the difference to three points (17-14) with a 10-play, 63-yard scoring drive. Damarcus Cleckley capped off the drive with a one-yard burst on fourth down with 5:50 left in the third period.

California then iced the win with interceptions on back-to-back Rock possessions, the second of which ultimately set the stage for California's final TD.

The first interception thrown by Crookshank was also costly in that it came on a second-and-10 play at the California 21-yard line on SRU's first possession of the second half with SRU trailing by a 17-7 score.

The other three INTS came on plays that started at the Cal 47, Rock 40 and Cal 43 yard lines.

Crookshank finished the game with a 14 completions in 25 attempts for 183 yards and one TD. Colin Golden caught five passes for 46 yards, Wetzel four for 60 yards, Terry Grossetti three for 40 and Paul Favers one for 41.

The Rock running game managed to gain only 29 yards on 24 rushing attempts as California outgained SRU by a 354-212 total yardage margin.

The Rock defensive effort was led by Jerome Whiting's eight solo and five assisted tackles, including two tackles for loss (-2 yards).

Cory Lacek, the national leader in tackles for loss, had 1.5 TFLs; Larry Lee recorded a quarterback sack (-10 yards) and Andy Valentine had an interception (13-yard return).

The Rock will seek to end its two-game skid next Saturday when it hosts PSAC-West rival Lock Haven in SRU's Homecoming Weekend game. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.

Notes: Crookshank now ranks third at SRU in career pass completions (345), fourth in both career pass attempts (624) and career passing yards (4525) and fifth in career TD passes (31) ... Wetzel ranks ninth in career pass receiving yards (1301), while Golden ranks 10th in career pass receptions (84).