Vulcans breeze past Kutztown, 45-10
California running back Derrick Fiore eludes a tackle during Saturday’s game against Kutztown at Adamson Stadium.
Dave Rafferty
California's Kowan Scott makes a touchdown reception against Kutztown defensive back Alex DiNolfi during Saturday's game at Adamson Stadium.
California's Nick Grissom eludes Kutztown's Zach Greenwald for a gain in the first quarter of play Saturday at Adamson Stadium.
CALIFORNIA — After coming from behind to win its season opener, the California University of Pennsylvania football team dominated the first half and breezed to a 45-10 victory over Kutztown Saturday afternoon at Adamson Stadium.
“The most growth you have as a football team is from Week 1 to Week 2,” Cal coach Mike Kellar said. “We have really matured as a team this week and we were focus today. We had a good week of preparation and we executed our game plan.”
In the opening 30 minutes of play, the Vulcans (2-0) outgained the visitors 294-138 margin and held the Golden Bears (0-2) to negative one-yard rushing in the first half.
Cal’s quarterback Cody Schroeder turned in a fine day under center, throwing for 267 yards on 20-of-28 passing with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
The first two touchdowns of the day was off of the arm of Schroeder in the opening quarter, an eight-yard pass to tight end Paul Butler and a fantastic 36-yard grab by wideout Kowan Scott.
Late in the second stanza, the Vulcans defense forced two turnovers and the offense converted those miscues into 10 points.
Defensive back C.J. Townes recorded an interception deep into Cal’s territory, and kicker Cody Nuzzo tallied a 34-yard field goal on the ensuing possession.
On the next possession for Kutztown, their quarterback was sacked by defensive end B.J. Stevens, who had 3.5 sacks on the day, and fumbled on the play.
“Our defensive front controlled the game,” Kellar said. “We got pressure up the middle and around the edge. Kutztown threw the ball 67 times last week and they are a pass-happy offense. We got pressure with our front four and our secondary didn’t get beat deep.”
Cal’s defensive linemen Paul Everson recovered the loose ball, and three plays later Schroeder found a wide open Mike Williams for a 41-yard score.
“Kuztown played a lot of Cover-4 and we wanted to attack that with the post,” Williams said. “We attacked them vertically and wanted to come out strong. We have a lot of athletes on offense, and everybody can make a play on the ball.”
Williams had eight receptions for a team-high 132 yards.
The Vulcans’ defense got into the scoring in the second half, as defensive linemen Noah Taylor returned an interception for a score at 9:36 of the third.
After Kutztown avoided the shutout with a field goal on its next drive, Schroeder connected on his fourth touchdown of the day, a six-yard scoring toss to receiver C.J. Goodwin on the first play of the fourth quarter.
“We are just gaining confidence on offense every drive,” Schroeder said. “We are moving the ball and are being smart with our decision making. We started off quicker this week than last week and it’s always good to play with the lead.”
Cal’s back-up signal collar James Harris threw a 59-yard strike to wideout Garry Brown to end the scoring for the home team, as Kuztown put together a late score in the fourth.