SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 10th ranked Slippery Rock University football team locked up the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division title in dramatic fashion when Jake Chapla booted a game-winning 24-yard field goal as time expired to lift The Rock to a 31-28 win over California University (Pa.) Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
Chapla was in position to boot the game-winner after Slippery Rock marched 70 yards in just 1:10 on the final drive after Cal U tied the game at 28-28 with just 1:14 to play.
 
Slippery Rock led 21-14 at halftime and 28-14 until late in the third quarter when a pair of offensive miscues gave life to the Vulcans. SRU fumbled the ball away midway through the third quarter near midfield, resulting in a flip in field position for the rest of the quarter. Cal took advantage of it when Derrick Caraway took a punt 31 yards to the SRU nine-yard line to set up a Nelson Brown touchdown run that made it 28-21 with 1:27 to play in the third.
 
SRU failed to extend the lead on two separate possessions in the second half, both resulting in missed field goals, including one that was blocked with 10:47 left in the fourth quarter.
 
Cal's offense struggled to turn those missed field goals into points the other way, finishing with just 91 total yards in the second half, but Slippery Rock handed the Vulcans a second gift with another lost fumble at the SRU 47-yard line with 5:49 to play.
 
The Vulcans ate up 4:39 and scored the tying points when backup quarterback Josh Dale connected with JaQuae Jackson from 21 yards out on fourth and seven to make it 28-28 with 1:14 to play. Dale played just one play in the entire game and threw a perfect strike at the front of the end zone to Jackson for the tying touchdown. Dale had to enter the game for that play after starter Noah Mitchell was injured and had to leave the field on third down.
 
Slippery Rock started its final drive at its own 23-yard line with 1:10 left on the clock. Roland Rivers III rushed for 38 yards on the first two plays and added another 10-yard rush into Cal territory with around 30 seconds to play. Rivers was shoved after going out of bounds on that play, resulting in an additional 15 yards for unnecessary roughness. That took the ball to the Cal 16-yard line. Three plays later, after a pair of timeouts with two seconds left, Chapla booted the game-winning 24-yard field goal. His kick was tipped by a diving Lamont McPhatter II, but McPhatter didn't get enough of the ball and it still made its way through the uprights. It marked the second straight home game against Cal U that Chapla kicked a game-winning walk-off field goal after his winner in overtime in 2017 to upset the then fifth-ranked Vulcans.
 
Slippery Rock improves to 9-0 overall and 6-0 in PSAC West games with its 15th straight divisional win and picks up the 17th PSAC West title in program history and its fifth in the last seven years. The 9-0 start marks the second in program history for SRU and the first since 1924. Cal U drops to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in PSAC West play.
 
Regardless of next week's results, SRU will represent the division in the PSAC Championship game Nov. 16 at Eastern Division winner Kutztown. It will mark the sixth title game appearance for SRU since the game was reinstated by the league in 2008, the most of any program.
 
Slippery Rock scored the first points of the game Saturday after Dalton Holt intercepted Cal U on the SRU four-yard line to stop the opening drive. The Rock then marched 74 yards in 10 plays with Rivers connecting with Henry Litwin from nine yards out for a 7-0 lead with 6:08 to play in the first.
 
Cal answered that drive with a 19-yard touchdown run from Brown with 2:43 to play in the first quarter as Brown racked up 71 rushing yards on nine carries on the first two Cal drives. He would be limited to 66 rushing yards the rest of the way.
 
SRU retook a 14-7 lead after a 16-play, 76-yard drive was capped by a short touchdown pass to tight end Colton Richards with 10:58 to play in the second. Again, Cal answered with its own touchdown drive, this time going 70 yards in eight plays with Brown punching it in from two yards out to tie it at 14-14 with 7:18 to play in the half.
 
The Rock scored the final points of the opening half when Rivers hit Litwin for a 55-yard strike down the right sideline that made it 21-14 with 2:35 to play in the second. SRU added to the advantage early in the third quarter when Rivers threw his fourth TD pass of the day, hitting Cinque Sweeting for a 46-yard touchdown to make it 28-14 with 8:16 to play in the third, setting up the finish.
 
Rivers had one of his best all-around performances of the season to account for 416 yards of total offense and four touchdowns with no turnovers. He rushed for 135 yards and averaged 7.5 yards per carry against the nation's best rushing defense, as Cal entered the game allowing just 38.6 rushing yards per game. Rivers also completed 17-of-28 passes for 281 yards with four touchdowns, in the process tying the SRU single-season (32) and career (60) TD passing records.
 
SRU posted a 494-320 advantage in total offense after throwing for 281 yards and rushing for 213 yards. The Cal defense hadn't allowed more than 94 rushing yards in any game this season before Saturday and hadn't allowed any individual 100-yard rushers before Rivers. Cal threw for 152 yards and rushed for 168 yards.
 
Litwin finished with four catches for 97 yards and two touchdowns to lead the SRU receivers. Sweeting added six grabs for 79 yards and one touchdown. Qaadir Dixon caught three passes for 78 yards and Richards caught his second TD pass of the season. DeSean Dinkins took all the running back carries in the game and finished with 78 yards on the ground.
 
The Rock defense was paced by Brad Zaffram with a career-high 13 total tackles to go along with one forced fumble. Dalton Holt added a career-high 12 tackles and one interception. Tyree Spearman and Chad Kuhn each had six stops, with Kuhn recording one solo sack.
 
Brown led Cal U with 137 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Mitchell completed 14-of-29 passes for 131 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. Jordan Dandridge caught six passes for 44 yards and Jackson caught three passes for 67 yards and one score.
 
Slippery Rock will close out PSAC West play next Saturday at Gannon University, where it will look to wrap up back-to-back perfect seasons in divisional play.
 

NOTES: SRU is 9-0 for the second time in program history and the first time since 1924 ... SRU won its 15th straight PSAC West game and has not lost a divisional game since Oct. 21, 2017 … SRU won its second straight PSAC West title, its fifth in the last seven years and its 17th in program history … SRU will play in the PSAC Championship game for the fifth time since 2013 and the sixth time since the league brought back the game in 2008 … no other PSAC team has appeared in the PSAC Championship since 2008 more than SRU … SRU won its third straight meeting against Cal U and its second straight home game against Cal U in walk-off fashion after also beating No. 5 Cal U 47-44 in OT in 2017 … SRU improved to 36-3 in its last 39 home games … Roland Rivers III threw four TD passes to bring his season TD passing total to 32, tying Tanner Garry (2017) for the SRU record … he also brought his career TD total at SRU to 60 passing TDs in just 21 games, tying the SRU record owned by Nate Crookshank (2004-07) … Henry Litwin caught two TD passes to bring him to 12 on the year, moving him up to fourth on the SRU single-season ledger and fifth on the SRU career TD ledger with 20 … Jake Chapla booted his second walk-off field goal to beat Cal U … Chapla scored seven points to increase his SRU career records to 356 points, 212 PATs and 48 field goals … he is now just five points shy of the PSAC record for scoring by a kicker, currently owned by Bloomsburg's Dan Fisher at 361 points … SRU ran for 213 yards and Rivers ran for 135 yards against Cal's defense, which was ranked first in the nation against the run at just 36.8 yards per game … Cal had not allowed more than 94 rushing yards in a game all season … Shawn Lutz improved to 35-10 as SRU head coach.
 
 

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