CALIFORNIA, Pa. — Punters aren’t generally known for making plays with their arms.

But Slippery Rock University punter Kyle Butts made a huge one — fluky as it may have been — to help send The Rock on its way to a 42-24 PSAC West football victory over California (Pa.) Saturday at Adamson Stadium.

The Rock (7-1, 4-1) had built a 21-3 lead earlier in the first half on Noah Grover touchdown passes of 10 yards to Cohen Russell, 85 yards to Kyle Sheets and 45 yards to Bryce Profitt. California (4-4, 3-2) threatened to come back as Davonte Williams capped a 79-yard drive with a 4-yard scoring run and Jacob Seigle intercepted a Grover pass at SRU’s 39 with 5:06 left in the half.

SRU’s defense forced a three-and-out. The Rock was then forced to punt itself on 4th-and-8 — and Butts tried fielding a low snap along the turf, only to see the ball bounce away from him.

“There were two California players bearing down on him,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said. “Kyle showed a lot of poise there in a tough situation.”

Butts scooped up the ball and fluttered a shovel pass forward just before being taken to the ground. Jake Miller, a sophomore linebacker playing deep protection for the punt team, caught the ball and rambled toward the right sideline. He gained eight yards and a first down before being knocked out of bounds.

Grover found tight end Max Maciejewski for a 59-yard touchdown pass down the middle of the field on the next play. SRU had a 28-10 lead and was never threatened again.

“I never saw any receiver. I wasn’t throwing that ball to anybody,” Butts admitted. “I didn’t know he (Miller) was even there. I had no chance to kick the ball away, so I figured, throw an incompletion and we live with it.

“Next thing I know, I see us getting a first down and keeping the ball. Total fluke. Sometimes you just get lucky.”

“Sometimes the ball bounces your way. It bounced our way on that play,” Lutz said.

The Vulcans couldn’t force their own luck in losing their homecoming game for only the second time in the last 17 years.

“That punt play was one missed opportunity we had,” California coach Gary Dunn said. “We didn’t take advantage of turnovers in the first half and we had four 3rd-and-1’s and didn’t convert any of them.”

Russell muffed a punt in the first quarter, giving California a first dwn at the SRU 13. The Vulcans had to settle for a field goal.

Jawon Hall returned the second-half kickoff 54 yards to the California 39. Chris D’Or’s 1-yard touchdown run capped the short drive and opened up a 35-10 lead.

“That long kick return and touchdown to start the third quarter was the back-breaker for us,” Dunn said. “I felt good about our situation and felt like we could get back in the game before that happened.

“Our defense played well today. They hurt us with some big plays. Credit goes to Slippery Rock for making them.”

The Rock struggled to run the ball all day, managing only 42 yards on the ground. But Grover’s big pass plays ruled the day.

“They were bringing the heat at him, yet Noah was very calm, cool and collected back there,” Lutz said.

Grover said he knew the blitz would be coming and credited his line for giving him time to make plays. SRU played without top receiver Jacob Odom (lost for season with broken ankle) and Hall’s playing time being limited.

“Their blitz package loads the box with more guys than we can block. But our receiving corps is so deep and talented,” Grover said. “It almost doesn’t matter who’s out there. All of those guys can make plays, especially in single coverage.

“My pass to Kyle was behind him and he turned it into an 85-yard touchdown. That’s one example.”

Sheets had four catches for 115 yards on the day. His 85-yard touchdown play occurred along the left sideline.

“We had to win the one-on-one battles,” Sheets said. “When they blitz the way they do, it leaves single coverage on the receivers. Single coverage is no coverage. That’s how we look at it. We’re going to win those every time.”

Notes: SRU defeated California for the fifth time in a row. ... The Rock has not allowed a touchdown in the first quarter in seven of its eight games this year and is outscoring the opposition 73-12 in the first quarter. ... Brandon Tuck-Hayden led The Rock with nine tackles and recovered a fumble. ... Seneca Valley graduate Gabe Miller had six tackles for California, two for loss. ... The Rock is 26-2 in its last 28 PSAC West games and travels to Clarion for a noon kickoff this Saturday.

Slippery Rock 14 14 14 0 — 42

California 3 7 7 7 — 24

First Quarter

SRU — Cohen Russell 10 pass from Noah Grover (DJ Opsatnik kick), 9:24

C — Anthony Beitko 30 field goal, 6:53

SRU — Kyle Sheets 85 pass from Grover (Opsatnik kick), 1:08

Second Quarter

SRU — Bryce Profitt 45 pass from Grover (Opsatnik kick), 8:17

C — Davonte Williams 4 run (Beitko kick), 5:36

SRU — Max Maciejewski 59 pass from Grover (Opsatnik kick), 2:05

Third Quarter

SRU — Chris D’Or 1 run (Opsatnik kick), 13:02

C — JaQuae Jackson 5 pass from Noah Mitchell (Beitko kick), 9:33

SRU — Chris Wells 4 run (Opsatnik kick), 6:45

Fourth Quarter

C — Jackson 11 pass from Mitchell (Beitko kick), 2:22

Individual Statistics

Rushing: SRU, Tim Smith 6-17, Chris D’Or 11-16, Chris Wells 7-15, TEAM 1-(-1), Noah Grover 4-(-5). California, Davonte Williams 17-80, Eric McKan III 8-11, JaQuae Jackson 1-9, Mylique McGriff 5-1, Noah Mitchell 6-(-9).

Passing: SRU, Noah Grover 17-27-297-1, Kyle Butts 1-1-8-0. California, Noah Mitchell 30-44-302-2.

Receiving: SRU, Cohen Russell 5-32, Kyle Sheets 4-115, Bruce Profitt 3-71, Max Maciejewski 3-68, Jawon Hall 1-9, Jake Miller 1-8m, Gavyn Barnes 1-2. California, Cam Tarrant 9-79, JaQuae Jackson 7-84, Davonte Williams 4-44, Malik Langley 3-54, Mylique McGriff 3-11, Donavan Grier 2-15, Junior McConahy 1-8, Eric McKan III 1-7.