West Chester dominated the first quarter of play. On the fourth play of the game, Shawn Krautzel forced a fumble that was snatched up by John O'Donnell and returned 48 yards for a touchdown. After the WCU defense forced a three-and-out, the offense went on a 12-play drive that consumed almost six minutes and ended in a quick Mike Mattei to Jim Kelly 7-yard touchdown pass.
Ahead 14-0, the Rams were poised for more as Anthony McCloskey dropped into coverage from his nose guard position and picked off a Peter Lalich pass, setting up the offense at the Cal 36. But after moving the ball just eight yards, kicker Shawn Leo's 45-yard field goal attempt banged off the right upright.
Although Cal failed to score on the ensuing possession, they pinned the Rams at the five-yard line after a punt and a penalty. After a sack pushed the Rams back to the one-yard line, punter Rich Bruno did a great job to get a 38-yard punt away. But the short field was too much for the defense to overcome and Cal got into the end zone to make the score 14-7.
The teams continued to trade touchdowns on their next three possessions and the yards and points began to mount. West Chester's 22-yard Mattei to White touchdown pass was answered by Cal's 44-yard Lalich to Kawon Scott touchdown strike which was answered by Mattei's 51-yard catch-and-run touchdown to Kelly.
The Golden Ram defense forced another three-and-out and after the Cal punt went into the end zone with 35 seconds left, West Chester seemed content to run the half out. But when White went up the middle for 16 yards on the first play of the drive, they decided to try to score once again. But the field was too long and the clock was too short and the score would remain at 27-13 in West Chester's favor at the half.
If the first quarter was all West Chester and the second was even, the third quarter was all California. Cal converted two rare West Chester turnovers - a Mattei interception and a White fumble - into 14 points to tie the contest at 27. The momentum was clearly in California's favor as the quarter came to a close.
Earlier in the game, the teams exchanged touchdowns on four consecutive possessions. At this point in the game, they exchanged punts on four possessions. Finally the Rams broke through as Mattei again found Kelly, this time for 31 yards. The drive stalled at the 26 and the field goal unit was sent on again. This time, Leo was true on the 43-yard attempt and West Chester took the lead for good, 30-27.
The defense forced yet another Cal three-and-out and West Chester, with the lead and the ball at their own 40 and six and a half minutes left, looked to consume some clock. White picked up 31 yards over four consecutive rushing attempts and then Mattei completed a 28-yard pass to LaRonn Lee who made a great diving catch at the one. It was Lee's only reception of the game, but it was a big one. On the next play, White stretched over the goal line to extend West Chester's lead to 37-27.
But the game was far from over. Lalich engineered an incredible comeback for Cal last week against IUP and he looked to do it again. He completed four straight passes to take the Vulcans 78 yards in less than a minute to make it a three-point game.
O'Donnell covered the ensuing onside kick at the Cal 44-yard line. Although West Chester was unable to get a first down, they forced Cal to burn all of their timeouts. After the West Chester punt, Cal started at their own 17. Lalich's second pass attempt was batted high in the air and picked off by Ronell Williams to effectively end the game.
Notes - Returning from last week's neck injury, Eric Edwers played an inspiring game, registering five tackles and a sack...This is West Chester's biggest win since a 24-21 win at #4 Bloomsburg in 2008...Mike Labor left the game early in the third quarter with an apparent ankle injury and did not return...Mattei was tagged with two interceptions, but one was on a Hail Mary in the end zone to end the first half and the other bounced off his intended receiver's hands...After having a punt partially blocked against Kutztown, Bruno had a great game - he punted one from the back of his own end zone, he booted one 51 yards and he had one downed at the Vulcan one-yard line with under two minutes left, but it was negated by a penalty...Kelly had 8 catches for 123 yards and 2 TD's...Bob Sabol and Nate Pagan were the primary kick return men in the game...Carl Barnes led the defense with seven tackles...Sabol was credited with six tackles and two pass breakups...Kelly finished with eight catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns.
West Chester Athletic Site - West Chester Upsets No. 6 Cal, 37-34
California Athletic Site - No. 6 Vulcans edged by West Chester, 37-34
Daily Local News - Late splurge helps WCU pull off upset of No. 6 Cal
Observer-Reporter.com - Vulcans short in comeback - West Chester deals first loss to California
HeraldStandard.com - Cal rally falls short in loss to West Chester
D2football - PSAC Columnist - West Chester upsets #6 California