Box Score

CALIFORNIA, Pa. – No. 4 California held a one-point lead on visiting East Stroudsburg University at halftime, then scored 24 unanswered points in the second half to earn a 45-20 win over the Warriors in Saturday's non-conference football game at Adamson Stadium.

ESU (1-2) scored 17 straight points after falling behind 14-0 early in the first quarter, and freshman kicker Taylor Groff made a career-long 45-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to bring the Warriors within 21-20 at the break. The Vulcans responded with a two-play scoring drive on their second possession of the second half as they pulled away after intermission.

The game marked a rare meeting between 200-win coaches in Division II football. ESU's Denny Douds, the dean of PSAC coaches with a conference record 227 victories, matched up against California's John Luckhardt, who finished the day with 208 wins between his stints at Cal and Washington & Jefferson.

The Vulcans (3-0) improved to 35-4 in regular season games since the start of the 2006 season and had 500 yards of total offense, 237 rushing and 263 passing. Lamont Smith carried 31 times for 163 yards and a two touchdowns and quarterback Josh Portis completed 14-of-26 passes with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Chedrick Cherry hauled in four passes for 139 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

ESU was led by redshirt senior quarterback Matt Marshall, who was 20-for-40 for 257 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He also gained 55 yards on the ground and was sacked five times for a net of 26 rushing yards.

Defensively, redshirt senior outside linebacker Matt Freed had 10 tackles for his 18th career game in double figures in 26 starts. The two-time All-American is the fifth player in school history to go over the 300-tackle mark for his career.

Sophomore defensive back D'Jon Tillman came up with two straight interceptions to end Cal drives in the second quarter and senior defensive end Alex Figueroa had a sack and forced fumble that was recovered by junior defensive end Brett Moss, also in the second period.

Cal jumped out to its 14-0 lead before ESU picked up a first down. Portis threw a 15-yard TD to Chedrick Cherry to complete an eight play, 81-yard drive on the Vulcans' first possession and Brett Diamond had a 32-yard interception return for a score two plays later, but the Warriors managed to recover.

A poor punt by Derek Fiorenza gave the Warriors possession at the 34-yard line after ESU senior punter Greg Knauss dropped a 51-yard punt on the one-yard line. The change in field position set up a 32-yard field goal by Groff, who is 5-for-6 on field goals and 11-for-11 on extra points this season.

Marshall turned the three straight turnovers into a pair of touchdown passes as the Warriors went ahead 17-14 with just over nine minutes left in the first half. Groff's field goal came with 3:38 left in the first quarter, then Marshall threw TD passes of 57 yards to freshman tailback Dusty Reed and 15 yards to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Wade Williams to give ESU the lead.

California went back in front on Smith's one-yard run with 1:32 remaining in the half before Groff connected on his 45-yard field goal after Marshall directed an efficient two-minute offense.

Both teams exchanged three-and-outs to open the third quarter before Portis hit a pair of quick pass plays, 24 yards to Terrance Moore and 28 yards to Cherry for the score, to extend the California lead to 28-20. After an ESU fumble, Portis went back to Cherry on the Vulcans' next offensive play, hooking up for 52 yards, to set up a 19-yard field goal by Marc Domonkos.

The Warriors went to their bag of tricks while backed up to their own four-yard line late in the third quarter, with Marshall hitting redshirt senior wide receiver Jeff Giglio for a 54-yard gain on a flea flicker. The play gave the offense new life, but the Cal defense came up with a fourth-down stop at the 35-yard line and Portis put his team back in the end zone six plays later with a 39-yard TD pass to Derrick Jones.

California forced another three-and-out and ground out a 15 play, 67-yard drive that erased 9:02 off the fourth-quarter clock to seal the victory, with Smith recording the scoring play from two yards out.

Marshall reached a couple of career milestones, going over 300 completions and surpassing the 4,500-yard mark for passing yards and the 5,000-yard mark for total offense. His 44 career passing touchdowns are one away from tying Bill Dukett (1967-69) for the fifth most in school history.

Marshall hit nine different receivers, including five catches for redshirt senior wide receiver Ed Kiser, who leads the Warriors with 14 receptions this season and has caught a pass in 26 straight games.

Wade Williams caught his first TD pass and had career-highs with four catches for 35 yards. Reed's 57-yard TD catch was ESU's second-longest offensive play this season, and gives him four catches for 106 yards and two scores in his first three career games.

Sophomore tailback Kendrick Williams was the Warriors' top rusher with eight carries for 54 yards, including a season-long 45-yard jaunt on the go-ahead TD drive in the second quarter.

ESU dropped its first two games against the PSAC West after a 23-17 loss to IUP last Saturday, but will look for a 1-0 start to PSAC East action next Saturday with a 1 p.m. match-up with West Chester at Eiler-Martin Stadium.

Game Notes
* ESU was 9-1 in its last 10 road games entering Saturday's game
* ESU played a team ranked in the AFCA Top 10 for the sixth time since 2000, falling to 1-5 in those games (52-39 win at No. 2 Bloomsburg in 2005 NCAA Playoffs)
* Warriors were ranked No. 25 when they played IUP last week (L 23-17) and have lost consecutive games for the first time since midway through 2008
* ESU is now 3-2-1 in six meetings vs. California, which has won the last two games (26-3 in 2007 season opener at Cal)
* R-Sr. QB Matt Marshall has 2+ touchdown passes in eight straight games, and 15 times in his career
* Marshall has thrown a TD pass in 18 straight games back to week 10 vs. Millersville in 2008
* He has 13 career games with 200+ passing yards (12 times in 17 starts)
* R-So. WR Wade Williams caught his first career TD pass and is the fourth Warrior to score his first career TD in the first three weeks (Eric Deery, Joe Klebon, Dusty Reed)
* R-Sr. OLB Matt Freed has 305 career tackles, trailing only Jeff Johnson (520), Kevin Nagle (477), Dan Murray (358) and Mike Reichenbach (335)
* Freed has 284 tackles in 26 career starts, and had 21 tackles on special teams and as a backup linebacker as a redshirt freshman in 2007
* Fr. K Taylor Groff's only missed kick this year came on a bad hold on a 43-yard attempt at Pace, he has hit from 29, 32, 33, 33 and 45 yards this season
* ESU's first three opponents have compiled a 35:50 to 24:10 advantage in time of possession
* ESU has surrendered 200+ yards rushing and passing in consecutive games since the 2005 NCAA Playoffs (both victories) - 641 yards of total offense vs. Southern Conn. State (W 55-33) and 540 yards at Bloomsburg (W 52-39)