Box Score
Game Highlights (Cal TV)
WEST CHESTER, Pa. - Rondell White rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 17/19 West Chester to a 38-31 non-league victory over visiting California (Pa.) at sun-splashed John A. Farrell Stadium Saturday afternoon.
West Chester (5-0) has now won its first five games of the season for the first time since 1974 while Cal (3-2) suffered its second straight loss to a nationally ranked opponent. The Vulcans dropped a 20-7 verdict last week at Indiana (Pa.).
“I thought our kids really hung in there in tough conditions. It was hot and humid,” West Chester head coach Bill Zwaan commented afterwards. “(Cal) is a really good football team, and I just think that our offensive line did an unbelievable job in that fourth quarter.”
Brandon Monk returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, right after Cal had brought back a kickoff 100 yards for a score that kept the Vulcans at bay. Monk's kickoff return for a TD was the longest such play in school history. Cal’s 100-yard kickoff return marked the 18th time in PSAC history that a player returned a kickoff 100 yards.
“That was such a big play because it came right after their kickoff return,” Zwaan explained. “Because of when it happened and the circumstances surrounding it, it was probably the biggest play of the game.”
Monk’s scamper down the West Chester sideline restored the host’s 11-point lead at 28-17 heading into the fourth quarter. There, the Golden Rams made sure that Cal would not have too many opportunities with the football. West Chester went on a pair of touchdown drives that ate up a combined 12 minutes, 18 seconds of the game clock.
Shawn Leo kicked a 23-yard field goal to make it a 31-17 contest with 9:49 left. That capped a 12-play, 73-yard drive that took 5:19. Cal answered when Mike Williams hauled in an over-the-shoulder 51-yard TD reception in the back corner of the end zone with 8:38 to go. The Vulcans’ drive took just 1:11, and the visitors were back to just a one-touchdown deficit.
That is when West Chester took the ensuing kickoff and marched 76 yards on 14 plays, killing nearly seven minutes of the fourth-quarter clock. Rondell White plunged over the goal line from one yard out for his second score of the game to make it 38-24 with 1:39 to go. On that drive, West Chester converted four third-down plays, including a catch out of the backfield by fullback Camille Max on a 3rd-and-1 from the Rams’ 33-yard line. It was the junior’s first career catch.
“I have all the confidence in the world in Camille,” Zwaan said. “Normally that is (Sr., FB Jared Bonacquisti) running that route. But, we had him playing on the line in the double-tight end set. The ball was supposed to go to LaRonn Lee, but Max was wide open. He made the catch, which turned out to be a really big play.”
It took just 1:04 for Cal to answer once again. Trey Johnson caught a 7-yard pass from James Harris (16-for-31 for 273) to pull the Vulcans back to within seven with :39 left. The ensuing onside kick bounced out of bounds, and West Chester ran out the game clock to come away with the win.
LaRonn Lee snared a 37-yard scoring pass from Sean McCartney with 6:26 to play in the third quarter. That TD gave West Chester a 21-10 lead and immediately preceeded the back-to-back kickoff returns. All three TDs in the third quarter were scored within 28 seconds of one another.
Sean McCartney went 12-for-20 for 184 yards and one TD. LaRonn Lee caught three passes for 85 yards and a TD. Ronell Williams registered 10 tackles, including one sack, defensively, for West Chester.
White finished with 181 all-purpose yards, and Monk finished with 152.
West Chester hosts East Stroudsburg next Saturday afternoon on Homecoming Weekend. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at John A. Farrell Stadium.
NOTES: West Chester (5-0) opens the season with five wins for the first time since 1974 when the Golden Rams started the year 8-0 … the win marked the second in as many years over Cal – the first time West Chester has accomplished that feat since 1994 and 1995 … So., Brandon Monk’s 97-yard kickoff return for a TD was the longest kick return in school history … it also marked the first time since November 1999 that West Chester returned a kickoff for a touchdown – a span of 157 games) … Sr., RB Rondell White went over 100 yards rushing for the third time this season and 13th time in his career … White became the seventh player in school history to rush for 3,000 yards in a career … White moved up to sixth place on WCU’s all-time rushing chart with 3,111 career rushing yards … White now has 5,755 career all-purpose yards, which ranks fourth all-time at WCU … his two TD runs upped his mark to 43 career TDs overall – putting him fourth all-time … he has 30 rushing TDs, which ranks sixth all-time at WCU … Sr, PK Shawn Leo converted all five extra point attempts … he is now third all-time in extra-point attempts with 145 … his eight points in the game runs his career number to 265 – which ranks fifth all-time at WCU and is the most by a place-kicker … Jr., MLB Ronell Williams registered 10 tackles in the game … he now has 240 career tackles – which is two stops away from the Top 10 in school history … the two teams combined for 711 kickoff return yards in the game and two TDs.
