Agenor’s late TD run lifts No. 8 Vulcans over No. 4 Slippery Rock
Kendrick Agenor’s 14-yard touchdown run with one minute left capped a clutch, nine-play, 80-yard drive that gave No. 8 PennWest California a 45-38 victory at No. 4 Slippery Rock in a PSAC West Conference battle on Saturday night.
The Vulcans (1-0, 4-0) squandered a 21-point lead and fell behind 38-35 after Kevin Roberts’ 37-yard field early in the fourth quarter.
Cal tied it on a 19-yard field goal with 9:38 left by Laurel Highlands graduate Harry Radcliffe.
The Rock (0-1, 3-1) had a chance to reclaim the lead but Roberts missed a 23-yard field goal attempt, giving California the ball at its own 20 with 5:11 remaining and it drove to the winning score.
D’avay Johnson had six receptions for 134 yards and a touchdown and Agenor carried 12 times for 103 yards for the Vulcans. Bobby Boyd Jr. ran 16 times for 88 yards and a score and Roman Purcell completed 13 of 26 passes for 233 yards, two touchdowns and one interception and also had 15 carries for 45 yards and a TD.
DaOne Owens connected on 17 of 29 passes for 253 yards and four touchdowns with one interception for Slippery Rock. JayJay Jordan had 22 carries for 130 yards and two catches for 43 yards and a TD.
Cal led 21-14 after an explosive first quarter.
Owens got the Rock on the board first with a 25-yard touchdown pass to John Sabo.
The Vulcans tied it on Purcell’s 34-yard TD toss to Lloyd Penn then took a 14-7 lead when Keith Charney picked off an Owens pass and returned it 40 yards for a score. Purcell’s 6-yard touchdown run made it 21-7 but Owens countered with a 33-yard TD pass to Sabo with 1:44 left in the opening quarter.
California pushed the lead out to 35-14 in the second quarter on Purcell’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Johnson and Boyd’s 7-yard TD run.
Slippery Rock sliced the gap to seven by halftime after Owens’ 35-yard touchdown pass to Latrell Sutton and his 8-yard TD run.
Jordan completed the comeback by pulling in a 5-yard scoring pass from Owens with 9:59 left in the third quarter, knotting the score at 35-35.
Malachi Thomas had eight tackles and a sack for the Vulcans.
The win snapped Cal’s seven-game losing streak at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium and was only the second time it defeated a top-five team in the AFCA Top 25 poll.
The loss was Slippery Rock’s first in a home night game since 2012, snapping a streak of 29 consecutive victories.