California University of Pennsylvania earned at least a share of a fifth consecutive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division title and a trip to the PSAC championship game with a 44-7 victory at Slippery Rock yesterday afternoon.

With one week remaining in the regular season, California (7-2, 6-0 PSAC) holds a one-game lead over Clarion and Edinboro and has defeated both.

Slippery Rock lost for the third consecutive game and dropped to 5-4 overall, 2-4 in the West.

California, ranked No. 23 by the American Football Coaches Association, rolled up 416 yards of total offense in winning its seventh in a row. Quarterback Josh Portis completed 16 of 28 passes for 219 yards and a touchdown and receiver A.J. Jackson hauled in 10 passes for 163 and a touchdown.

Windell Brown paced California in rushing with 69 yards on 12 carries and scored on a 20-yard run in the first quarter. Chedrick Cherry scored a touchdown on a blocked punt for the Vulcans.

Slippery Rock managed just 68 yards rushing and 217 yards total offense.

• Clarion 30, IUP 28: Alfonso Hoggard had 292 all-purpose yards and scored two touchdowns as the Golden Eagles (6-3, 5-1) won a home PSAC West contest. IUP (4-5, 1-5) held a 21-10 lead in the second quarter but could not stop Hoggard, who rushed for 162 yards.

• Edinboro 32, Mercyhurst 22: Fighting Scots (7-2, 5-1) quarterback Trevor Harris threw for 261 yards and a touchdown and ran for another 40 in the PSAC West game at Mercyhurst (4-5, 3-3).

• Gannon 27, Lock Haven 0: Jon Richardson rushed for 155 yards and three touchdowns, becoming Gannon's (4-5, 2-4) career leader in points (222) and all-purpose yards (3,720) in the home PSAC West win against Lock Haven (0-8, 0-6).

• Fairmont State 34, Seton Hill 13: Seton Hill (1-8, 0-7) jumped out to a 6-0 lead at home against Fairmont State (3-6, 3-3) but couldn't hang on in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest. Nick Monteleone and D.J. Lenehan shared time at quarterback for Seton Hill and combined to complete 15 of 23 passes for 164 yards.

• Washington & Jefferson 49, Westminster 7: W&J (7-0, 3-0) scored two touchdowns on interception returns and another off a fumble recovery in winning the Presidents' Athletic Conference contest at Westminster (3-5, 2-3). It was the Presidents' ninth consecutive win against the Titans. W&J entertains undefeated Thomas More Saturday.

• Waynesburg 52, Bethany 13: Waynesburg (4-3, 1-2) ended a two-game losing streak with the home PAC victory. Brad Dawson completed 10 of 14 passes for 184 yards and four touchdowns for the Yellow Jackets. Teammate Billy Becker rushed for 129 yards on 11 attempts and scored twice.

• Wittenberg 28, Carnegie Mellon 7: The Tartans (4-3) managed just 67 yards rushing and only 168 yards of total offense in losing at Wittenberg (7-0).

• Allegheny 21, Kenyon 18: Quarterback T.J. Salopek completed 33 of 43 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns in leading Allegheny (6-1, 3-1) to a North Coast Athletic Conference win at Kenyon (3-5, 2-3). Jake Vite caught 11 passes for 105 yards for the Gators.

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