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It's been a rough two-game stretch for Lock Haven's football team. On Oct. 10, the Bald Eagles stunned Indiana (Pa.), which at the time was ranked No. 10 in the country, 35-20.
There was a ton of momentum and confidence following that win. But a week later at home against Edinboro, the Bald Eagles stumbled and suffered a 42-35 setback.
A week later, it was a lopsided 66-7 loss to No. 7-ranked Slippery Rock on the road in a disappointing performance.
After sitting at 4-2 after the Indiana (Pa.) upset, the Bald Eagles are now 4-4 and are hoping to once again get back over .500. And that starts with a 6 p.m. game on Halloween night against California (Pa.) at home.
Lock Haven will be in for a tough test, and history is not on Lock Haven's side as the Bald Eagles have dropped 14 consecutive games to California (Pa.). The last time Lock Haven beat the Vulcans came in 2003.
Last week was obviously a tough showdown for the Bald Eagles as Lock Haven had to face its second top-10 nationally ranked team in a three-week span. That's tough for any team to do, but no doubt the Bald Eagles learned from that loss last week and is eager to get back on the field and prove it can win and compete.
Ezequiel Johnson leads Lock Haven's ground game with 429 rushing yards while Cureem Hathcock and Tucker Teats have shown they can have success moving the chains with 135 and 134 rushing yards this year, respectively.
Rob Footman Jr. has 1,474 passing yards with 15 touchdowns. In the lopsided loss last week, Bald Eagle Area graduate Carson Nagle came in and threw for 83 yards. Slippery Rock limited the Bald Eagles' offense overall and a 28-point first quarter helped Slippery Rock get out to a quick start and never looked back.
California (Pa.) enters tonight's matchup with a 5-3 record and 3-2 in PSAC competition. The Vulcans also are riding a three-game win streak. After a 29-0 loss at Seton Hill on Oct. 3, California (Pa.) has beaten Edinboro (30-20), Clarion (26-20, double overtime) and cruised past Indiana (Pa.), 49-0.
The Vulcans have three talented players who can run the ball in Bobby Boyd Jr. (544 yards, five touchdowns), Jay Pearson (259 yards, two touchdowns) and Da'sjon Craggette (129 yards, two touchdowns). Eric Gibson Jr. has been outstanding at quarterback, throwing for 1,879 yards with 16 touchdowns as he has a 61.1% completion percentage (179 for 293).
Gibson Jr. has spread the offense around as well. The Vulcans have six receivers with at least 140 yards in Kenny Lewis Iv (681), Lloyd Penn (415), Amire Spencer (295), Jay Pearson (171) and Tyler Long (143).
Lock Haven knows that it has to play great start to finish on both sides of the ball if it wants to beat the Vulcans at home tonight and move to 5-4.
Lock Haven has two more games remaining after playing California (Pa.) tonight with a road trip on Nov. 7 to Seton Hill and a regular-season finale at home against East Stroudsburg on Nov. 14.