TIM WEIGHT/Special to the Sun-Gazette From left, Lock Haven’s Ronnie McNulty, Damir Green and Durrell Ceaser runs off the field during a home football game against Glenville State earlier this season.

CALIFORNIA — Lock Haven capped off the second game of their early season road stretch by driving over three hours down to California (PA) to take on the No. 8 Cal Vulcans on Saturday, Sept. 20.

After getting off to a slow start, the (1-2) Bald Eagles didn’t have enough time to recover, as they fell to Cal, 42-6. Lock Haven’s only score came thanks to a 21-yard touchdown catch by former Central Mountain Wildcat Conner Fultz.

Here are five takeaways from the game.

OFFENSE SEEMED TO FIND RHYTHM IN SECOND HALF

Coming into Saturday’s game, Lock Haven had gone six quarters without a touchdown. It didn’t get much better early on against the Vulcans either, with their opening drives ultimately stalling.

Then, after falling behind 35-0, it seemed like The Haven offense managed to find some life. On their last drive of the first half, they ran a perfectly executed two-minute drill, scoring thanks to a 21-yard catch by receiver Conner Fultz.

In the second half, even though they could not find the end zone, the Lock Haven offense strung multiple drives together and showed an ability to run the ball that they were lacking against IUP. In total, Lock Haven ended with 270 yards of total offense, 110 of those yards coming on the ground.

“If we just play the way we can play, we will be fine,” Lock Haven head coach Joe Battaglia said after the game when asked about what changed that led to the offense playing better in the second half.

PENALTY PLAGUE CONTINUES

It was yet again another week of unnecessary penalties costing Lock Haven throughout Saturday’s game. In total, the team racked up nine penalties for 86 yards, many of those coming on key downs.

In the offseason, it was a major focus all spring to clean up the penalty problems that plagued them last season, and it started off good in 2025.

In the team’s opener against Glenville State, the Bald Eagles did a great job staying disciplined. But as each ensuing game has gone on. it feels like they have regressed back to last year’s tendencies.

Multiple holding calls brought back big runs on Saturday. And on defense, a roughing the passer penalty on the Vulcans’ second offensive drive nullified what would have been a third down stop on a drive that ultimately ended in a Cal Touchdown.

If Lock Haven wants to get back into the win column next week, that is one area they will need to improve.

THIRD DOWN DEFENSIVE STRUGGLES

The Bald Eagle defense was facing maybe their toughest test of the season so far, as the Vulcans’ vaunted offense proved a unique challenge. Dual-threat quarterback Roman Purcell and running back Bobbie Boyd are a two-headed rushing attack that has kept the Cal offense humming all year long.

That being said, coming into Saturday’s game, the Vulcans had been struggling on third down, boasting the worst third down conversion rate in the entire PSAC. All things considered, Lock Haven did a good job getting Cal into third-down scenarios. But time and time again, it just could not get them off the field.

The Vulcans did not punt in the entire first half, and Boyd and Purcell combined to rush for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Cal would only punt twice in the entire game, and their ability to control the clock and wear down the Haven defense made it feel like the Vulcans were in control throughout the entire game.

NEW FACES ON BOTH SIDES OF BALL

For the second week in a row, the Bald Eagles began to rotate more and more players into the game as it got out of hand, notably making some changes along the offensive line and the secondary.

Names like Q McMillan, Tyler Merwarth and Elijah Alexandre saw increased playing time as it looked like Lock Haven began to move some pieces around. Meanwhile, offensive names like Fultz, Davante Embry-Banks, Blake Wanless and Tucker Teats saw an uptick in snaps as well.

After the game, Coach Battaglia said it was due to the heat on the field, and that they knew they would need to rotate more guys in and out of the line-up. Time will tell if names like Fultz or McMillan end up seeing more snaps as the year goes on, as those two ended up making some stand out plays.

BALD EAGLES’ GOALS ARE STILL AHEAD OF THEM

With the non-conference slate out of the way for Lock Haven, and PSAC East play set to start next week, Lock Haven knows that all their goals are still ahead of them.

“We control our own destiny, east play starts now,” coach Battaglia said after the game. “It’s fortunate for us that the two crossover games technically don’t count in PSAC standings, so we still have everything in front of us. That’s pretty encouraging.”

NEXT UP

Lock Haven will return home on Saturday, Sept. 27, to take on the (2-1) East Stroudsburg Warriors for their annual “Youth Football Day”. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.