Weidl, Morgan Spark
Offensive Surge in Win over California
Click here for complete game stats and play-by-play
Kevin Weidl completed 13 of 15 passes for
256 yards and two touchdowns, and Chris Morgan rushed for 157 yards and
a pair of scores to lift IUP to a 35-23 win over California in the
regular season finale for both teams.
The win enabled the
Indians (7-3, 5-1 PSAC West) to earn a share of the PSAC West title with
Shippensburg and Edinboro, marking the 14th time in the past
19 years that IUP has either won outright or shared the division crown.
California, which has lost 20 in a row to IUP, finished its season 6-4
overall and 2-4 in the PSAC West.
Despite the win,
IUP is unlikely to receive a bid to the NCAA Division II playoffs. The
Indians entered the game ranked ninth in the Northeast Region, with the
top six earning trips to the postseason, but did not receive the help it
needed to advance.
Weidl set a school
record by hitting on 86.7 percent of his pass attempts, breaking the old
mark of 85.0 (17 of 20) by Scott Woods against Clarion in 1993. He
threw touchdown passes of 40 yards to Joe Slappy and 20 to LeRon McCoy
while also sneaking in from a yard out on IUP’s first possession of the
game.
Morgan went in from
the one early in the second quarter and his eight-yard touchdown run
with 4:26 left gave IUP its final margin of victory.
After forcing
California to punt on its first possession, Weidl hit McCoy for a
51-yard gain on IUP’s initial play from scrimmage, taking the ball to
the Vulcan one. The IUP signal caller snuck it in to give the Indians a
7-0 lead just 1:36 into the contest.
California came
right back, marching 93 yards on 16 plays, taking 7:22 off the clock,
and tying the contest on a one-yard run by Harlon Hill regional finalist
Antoine Bagwell. The Vulcans converted three third down plays on the
drive.
IUP retook the lead
on the Weidl-to-Slappy hookup with 4:42 left in the opening quarter
before Gary Amos kicked the first of his three field goals, a 28-yarder
that made it 14-10 in the opening stages of the third quarter. Morgan
exploded on a 43-yard gallop on IUP’s first play of its next possession,
and capped the drive by scoring from the one to give the Indians a 21-10
cushion.
Following an
exchange of punts, California drove 62 yards to the IUP 12, from where
Amos booted a 29-yard field goal to pull the Vulcans within 21-13 at
halftime. But the Indians rebuilt their lead to 15 points by marching
79 yards on 14 plays at the outset of the third quarter, capped by the
Weidl-to-McCoy touchdown. The drive included third down completions of
17 yards to McCoy and 15 to Pete Smith.
The touchdown
reception was the 25th of McCoy’s career, the third highest
figure in IUP history. He also became the seventh player in school
annals with 2,000 receiving yards, finishing the game with 2,096. McCoy
had four catches for 106 yards against the Vulcans.
California made it
28-20 on a one-yard run by quarterback Matt Humbert with 3:37 left in
the third quarter and then got to within 28-23 on a 21-yard field goal
by Amos with 10:24 to go in the game. But IUP drove 88 yards to paydirt,
with Morgan accounting for 35 yards on the ground, including the final
eight. Kris Griffin forced a Bagwell fumble to seal the victory.
Slappy finished
with 95 receiving yards on four receptions. Bagwell led California with
172 rushing yards while Robert Calhoun gained 84. Humbert completed 12
of 24 passes for 173 yards. Victor Callahan created California’s other
turnover when he intercepted a Humbert pass while IUP did not turn the
ball over.
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