It's not a coincidence that quarterback Josh Portis has found his comfort zone and the California Vulcans are riding a six-game winning streak.

"He keeps getting better and better and better," California coach John Luckhardt said of Portis, a graduate student in his first season at California who spent time at Florida and Maryland.

California keeps getting better, too.

The Vulcans (6-2, 5-0) won their sixth consecutive game with a 38-14 victory against visiting Edinboro (6-2, 4-1) yesterday at Adamson Stadium. The victory was the 200th for Luckhardt, who coached for 17 seasons at Washington & Jefferson College and is in his eighth year at California.

"I was hoping we'd get to 200 before the end of the season," he said with a smile. "But I wasn't sure because of our rocky start."

California, which got off to a shaky start against Edinboro, moved into sole possession of first place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division and can expect to move up from its current No. 6 position in the NCAA regional rankings.

Edinboro dropped out of a tie for first place in the West and will drop from No. 2 in the rankings. The top six finishers at the end of the season will receive bids to the Division II playoffs.

Thanks to Portis, the Vulcans have established themselves as the team to beat in the West. They had to overcome deficits of 14-3 in the second quarter and 14-10 at halftime with a near-flawless second half in which they scored touchdowns on their first four possessions.

"If you could draw up [a second] half, that's how we'd draw it up," Luckhardt said.

"Because we ran the ball and ate up the clock, we kept [Edinboro quarterback] Trevor Harris off the field. That's the best way to stop him."

Harris' touchdown passes of 17 yards to Shawn Harris and 15 yards to Marcus Johnson gave the Fighting Scots a 14-3 lead against the Vulcans, whose offense stalled after a 20-yard field goal by Marc Domonkos on their first possession.

California put together a 93-yard, 11-play drive in the closing minutes of the first half with Portis accounting for 62 of those yards -- 39 passing and 23 rushing. Portis scored the touchdown on a 9-yard draw play to pull the Vulcans to within 14-10 at the intermission.

Both coaches gambled on fourth-and-1 situations at the outset of the second half. Edinboro's didn't work; California's did.

Facing a fourth-and-1 on California's 44 to open the half, Harris was stopped for a 1-yard loss on an option play. California then marched 43 yards -- all on six carries by Windell Brown -- to take a 17-14 lead on Brown's 19-yard scamper on fourth-and-1.

Brown, limited by an injured right ankle for most of the season, carried a season-high 21 times and rushed for 148 yards and two touchdowns.

"The ankle felt real good," he said. "I needed a game like this."

Portis, whose cousin Clint is a running back for the Washington Redskins, completed 10 of 16 passes for 177 yards and a score and carried eight times for 81 yards and a touchdown.

With Portis throwing and running, A.J. Jackson catching (6 receptions, 113 yards) and Brown and Freddie Bacco (34 yards, 1 touchdown) rushing, California dominated the second half.

"I try not to force plays," Portis said. "I've gotten in a groove and feel much more comfortable. I'm just making plays, trying to spread the ball around. The best part is we're not in our prime yet as a team. I know I can improve."

Luckhardt agreed.

"I'd say he's tapped about 70 percent of his potential," he said.

"He struggled early, but he's learning. He's really developing."

So are the California Vulcans.

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