Bloomsburg Falls to California, PA in Football

CALIFORNIA, Pa. -- California, Pa.'s Brandon Lombardy rushed for a season-high 133 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Joe Ruggiero threw for 208 yards and a pair of TDs as the 19th-ranked Vulcans (3-0) upset the 12th-ranked Bloomsburg Huskies (1-1) in non-league football action Saturday at Cal's Adamson Stadium.

The Vulcans beat BU for the first time since the 1984 PSAC Championship game in Hershey (21-14) and handed the Huskies their first regular-season loss against a Division II team since 2004, when Bloomsburg suffered a 35-24 setback at West Chester.

Lombardy opened the scoring with a 17-yard run to cap Cal's 82-yard first drive of the game, then added a two-yard scoring burst midway through the third quarter that gave Cal a 24-7 lead.

Ruggiero, who completed 21-of-29 passes for 208 yards, added second-half TD passes of 10 yards to Cory Garver and a 30-yard strike to Nate Forse with 3:42 left in the game.

Bloomsburg was led by Jamar Brittingham (Levittown/Neshaminy), who rushed for 62 of BU's 219 yards of total offense, and quarterback Dan Latorre (Elysburg/Southern Columbia), who completed 2-of-5 passes for 89 yards. 

Brittingham ran for an eight-yard TD late in the first quarter, cutting Cal's lead to 10-7, then threw a 38-yard scoring pass to Brahin Bilal (Philadelphia/Lincoln) with 5:49 left in the third period, cutting Cal's lead to 24-13.

BU's defense was led by Rob Biernat (Bristol/Conwell Egan), who had game-highs of nine solo tackles and 11 total hits.