KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Check another box for head coach Jim Clements. His Kutztown University football team took down California University (PA) for the first time in his tenure Saturday – a first for the program in 21 years. Kutztown overcame a second-half deficit with 15-unanswered points in the third quarter, and had marquee stops on defense down the stretch in KU's 34-31 win at Andre Reed Stadium in the team's home-opener.
 
The Golden Bears move to 2-0 for the first time since they started 4-0 and won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship in 2011. KU improves to 17-4 in their last 21 games with its first win over California (PA) since 1997.
 
Nearly 1,000 yards of total offense was posted Saturday – 489 apiece. Both teams were effective and efficient with the football, until Kutztown's defense stood its ground in the fourth quarter.
 
Kutztown had only won twice when trailing at halftime under Clements entering Saturday – a 2-10 record. After trailing 24-19 at halftime Saturday, Kutztown scored 15 unanswered off two touchdowns in the third to build a 10-point, 34-24 lead late in the third quarter – its largest lead of the game. The Vulcans responded, however, with a 97-yard touchdown drive to claw within three with more than 10:00 to play.
 
In last week's win on the road at Assumption, Kutztown posted seven sacks over the nationally-ranked Greyhounds. This week, it took KU until there were 7:00 left in the game to register its first sack of the game, but it couldn't have come at a bigger time. With California (PA) driving up to the 50, KU senior defensive end Adam Krauter (Springfield, Pa./Springfield Township) stepped up in his first start of the season with a sack around the edge to force a Vulcan punt.
 
Kutztown was forced to punt three times in the fourth quarter to give California (PA) a chance at taking the lead, but its defense stood tall all three times. In addition to the Krauter sack, KU forced back-to-back incompletions to stop the Vulcans on fourth down. Dean Krcic (Saylorsburg, Pa./Pleasant Valley) pinned the Vulcans inside their own 3-yardline with 2:05 to play, and two plays later, senior safety Jake Perry (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) hauled in his 11th career interception, seventh-most in school history, to ice the KU win.
 
Kutztown's offensive line didn't allow a sack to quarterback Collin DiGalbo (Secane, Pa./Monsignor Bonner) all game Saturday, helping DiGalbo post career numbers. He completed his first 15 passes to finish with 256 yards through the air. On the ground, DiGalbo made monumental plays throughout the game to the tune of 133 yards and two touchdowns, including a 52-yard scamper down the sideline, breaking his own school-record for rushing yards in a game by a quarterback. He has rushed for two touchdowns in each of his first two games this season and has 16 for his career.
 
Craig Reynolds (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) ran for a game-high three touchdowns and eclipsed 2,000 career rushing yards with 85 Saturday. He is the 13th player in school history to run for 2,000 and moves into fifth in school history with 23 career rushing touchdowns.
 
Reynolds now has five touchdowns through two games this season. The combination of DiGalbo and Reynolds accounted for the majority of Kutztown's 233 rushing yards, while KU held the Vulcans to 71. Clements moves to 15-2 at KU when holding opponents to less than 100 rushing yards.
 
At receiver, Amadou Barry (Upper Darby, Pa./West Catholic Prep) posted his first 100-yard game of the season with 100 yards off six catches. Jack Pilkerton (La Plata, Md./La Plata (Golden West)) had 50 yards and Reynolds added 34 yards receiving.
 
Defensively, Shawn Turber-Ortiz (Northumberland, Pa./Shikellamy) was aggressive from his safety position with a career-high 13 tackles – largely due to the success of the Vulcan passing attack, who threw for 418 yards – the first 400-yard game against KU since 2016. Turber-Ortiz added a half-tackle-for-loss and was followed by captain Tajier Jefferson (East Orange, N.J./Queen of Peace) with seven tackles for KU, moving him up three spots to 12th in school history with 249 career tackles.
 
Freshman quarterback Noah Mitchell threw for 418 yards for California (PA). He connected with five different receivers, led by Chad Livingston's 163 yards and two touchdowns and Tyson Hill's game-high eight catches and 113 yards.
 
Clements adds another PSAC Western Division win to his resume, leaving only Gannon (next week) and Edinboro as his remaining unbeatens (Week 11 matchup). For his career, Clements is 7-5 against the West all-time, including winners of four-in-a-row.
 
Kutztown looks ahead to its second overnight trip of the season – Saturday, Sept. 15, at Gannon University. Kickoff in Erie is set for 12 p.m.