CLARION GRIDDERS OPEN 2002 SEASON AT #8 YOUNGSTOWN ST. THURSDAY NIGHT

Fall camp is finally over... Let the games begin!

Clarion's 2002 football team is ready to open the season on the road at NCAA Div. I-AA powerhouse Youngstown State on Thursday, August 29th. Kickoff at YSU's Stambaugh Stadium, also referred to as the "Ice Castle", is set for 7:30pm. The game is the season opener for both teams.

The game can be heard on WCCR-FM, 92.7 and on the internet at Redzonemedia.com. with Mike Kalinowski and Dave Katis describing the action.

The two teams met last year on September 8th with YSU defeating Clarion 44-0.

CLARION RETURNS 19 STARTERS & 32 LETTERMEN

Ninth year Clarion head coach Malen Luke returns 19 starters and 32 lettermen from a solid 2001 squad that posted a deceiving 4-7 overall record and a 2-4 mark in the PSAC-West.

The 2001 Eagles defeated Cal, Kutztown, Lock Haven and Tiffin, while losing an overtime game to NCAA bound IUP (35-34), and five close losses decided in the final minutes.

Coach Luke has led Clarion to PSAC-West titles in 2000 and in 1996. The 2000 Golden Eagles posted a 7-4 overall record and tied for first in the PSAC-West with a 5-1 league record. In 1996 Clarion was 11-3 overall, 5-1 in the PSAC-West and lost in the NCAA Division II Semifinals to Northern Colorado (19-18), who eventually won the D-II National Title.

YSU RETURNS 13 STARTERS & 33 LETTERMEN/8-3 IN 2001

YSU begins its second season under coach Jon Heacock with 13 starters and 33 letterwinners returning. The Penguins are ranked 8th in the pre-season by The Sports Network and 9th by Football Gazette. YSU recorded a fine 8-3 overall record and finished tied for second in the Gateway Conference with a 5-2 mark, but narrowly missed the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs for the first time in three seasons. YSU was ranked #6 entering the final game against top 20 ranked D-I Marshall but lost 38-24 and a spot in the playoffs.

The Penguins won four NCAA I-AA National Championships in the 1990's including 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1997 and have made 10 NCAA Playoff appearances. That legacy was left by former head coach Jim Tressel who had a 15-year record of 135-57-2 (70%) and is currently the head coach at Ohio State. Heacock, 41, was defensive coordinator at YSU in 2000, defensive coordinator at Indiana University (1997-99) and defensive backs coach at YSU from 1991-96.

LUKE PREPARES EAGLES FOR I-AA PENGUINS

"Youngstown has a veteran team that has quality athletes on both sides of the ball," said Clarion's Luke. "They have an outstanding running game to lead the offense," he continued. "The defense has always been a strong unit that pursues well to the football and we expect the same type of play there again this year. We know

we'll have to be at our best on Thursday night, but we're certainly looking forward to the opportunity to play such an outstanding program."

CLARION'S OFFENSE GETS READY

Clarion's offense returns 8 starters and 14 lettermen from a unit that averaged 353 yards and 22.3 points per game. The 2001 Eagles ranked 16th in Division II in rushing yards averaging a whopping 240.5 yards per game, along with 112.6 passing yards per game. Clarion rolled to impressive rushing totals of 318 yards versus Slippery Rock, 310 yards versus California and 264 yards against IUP, who was the #8 total defense and #2 scoring defense in the nation at that time.

Directing the offense is senior quarterback Adam Almashy. A multi-dimensional qb and a three-year starter, Almashy has hit on 295 of 670 career passes for 4,111 yards and 36 td's. He ranks 7th in passing yards and td passes. He has also run for 826 yards and 12 td's on 415 carries. He could become the first qb in Clarion history to run for 1,000 yards. Last year Adam was a 2nd team PSAC-West choice while completing 78 of 201 aerials for 1,173 yards and 8 td's with 447 rushing yards and 4 td's. He passed for 1,700 yards and 16 td's in 2000.

The backfield returns senior Robert Walker at tailback, and sophomores Glenn Lovelace and Ben Culver at the halfback spots. Walker, a two-year starter, has rushed for 1,136 yards and 15 td's on 172 carries (6.6 p/c). Last year he ran for 504 yards and 10 td's on 97 tries. In 2000 he had a single game high of 211 yards against West Chester.

Lovelace rushed 82 times for 452 yards and 3 td's, while Culver gained 122 yards on 18 carries, caught 6 passes for 113 yards and 1 td, and le the team with 16 punt returns for 172 yards (10.8) and 17 kickoff returns for 362 yards (21.3).

Also hoping to make a comeback is senior Justin Sickeri, who missed 9 games with a knee injury in 2001. He gained 347 yards on 57 carries in 2000 (6.1 p/c).

The receiving corps will be led by juniors Mike McCullum and Ed Rivers. McCullum has been a steady receiver grabbing 27 passes for 456 yards and 4 td's in 2001, and 27 aerials for 616 yards and 6 td's in 2000. Rivers meanwhile caught 8 passes for 126 yards and 1 td. Also looking to catch passes are freshman Roger McClinton and sophomore Cori Johnson. Johnson grabbed 15 passes for 249 yards and 4 td's in 2000, plus returned a kickoff 100 yards against East Stroudsburg. Tom Pore has been moved to tight end after starting two years on the defense and will start there.

The offensive line returns four starters including Football Gazette HM All-American Reggie Wells (Sr. 6-4, 300) at tackle and two-time All PSAC choice Ryan Duchon (Sr. 6-3, 310) at guard. Also back are tackle Brandon Price (Sr. 6-3, 280) and center Drake D'Angelo (Jr. 6-3, 310). Also expected in the starting lineup is guard Sean Finnerty (So., 6-5, 280) who started two games at center in 2001.

GOLDEN EAGLE DEFENSE PREPARES TO STOP YSU RUNNING ATTACK

Ten starters and 16 lettermen return on a Clarion defense that has led the PSAC in sacks and tfl's the last two seasons. In 2001 Clarion notched 34 sacks and 102 tfl's, while in 2000 the Eagles had 51 sacks and 128 tfl's.Last year the Eagles yielded 306.9 yards of offense including 165.5 rushing & 141.4 passing per game.

The Eagles are preparing for Youngstown State's powerful running attack. Last year the Penguins rushed for 451 yards on 55 carries, plus tacked on 90 passing yards for 541 yards of total offense.

The defensive front will be led by 2000 first team PSAC-West noseguard Troy Bowers, along with senior George O'Brien and sophomore Tim Connolly.

Bowers sat out last year but posted a PSAC-West leading 20 tfl's for -77 yards and 8 sacks in 2000. O'Brien had 41 stops, 9 tfl's and 2 sacks last year and sports 76 career tackles with 20 tfl's and 8 sacks.

Connolly contributed 14 tackles, and 2 sacks as a freshman last year.

The perimeters are guarded by senior Kevin Platz and junior Jabari Weatherspoon. Platz, already a two-year starter, posted 39 hits, 12 tfl's and 4 sacks last year. In 2000 he notched 15 tfl's and 10 sacks. He has 87 career hits, 29 tfl's and 16 sacks. Weatherspoon had 23 hits and 2 tfl's last year in the secondary. Junior Derek Puchalsky will see time and contributed 2 sacks a year ago, along with red-shirt freshman Brock Luke.

Senior inside linebacker Scott McGrady returns to anchor the middle of the defense. Last year Scott had 36 hits, 2 sacks and 2 break ups, while in 2000 he notched 41 stops and 4 tfl's. Also returning after a year off will be sophomore Shaun Saad. He collected 15 stops, 3 tfl's and 1 sack in 2000 and is ready for duty along with freshman red-shirt Justin Conklin.

Junior Myron Hargon returns at corner, while senior Korey Eppinette and junior Emil Johnson should start at the safety spots.

Hargon, a two-year starter, was a second team PSAC-West choice in 2001 while contributing 22 tackles, 4 interceptions and 4 break-ups. In 2000 Hargon had 26 jolts, 12 break-ups and 1 interception.

Eppinette, who transferred to Clarion and played strong safety, was second on the team in tackles last year with 83, grabbed 2 interceptions, broke up 5 passes and had 5 tfl's. Johnson was fourth in tackles with 60 in 2000, while collecting 2 break-ups and 2 tfl's.

The Eagles return punter Ken Crawford. Crawford, a first team PSAC-West choice in 2000, led the PSAC that year with a 40.6 yard average. He averaged a solid 36.2 last year. The placekicking chores will be handled by freshman Chris Carlton from Wilmington, Delaware.

MAYS RETURNS TO LEAD YSU RUNNING ATTACK

Youngstown State's offense is coming off one of its best seasons in its history. The Penguins averaged 33.5 points per game in 2001 and scored over 30 points in 8 of 11 games. YSU's offense averaged 407.1 yards per game including 280.3 on the ground and 126.8 through the air. In the Clarion game last year YSU rushed for 451 yards and had a total offensive output of 541 yards.

Four-year starting qb Jeff Ryan has graduated. Ryan may be hard to replace since he set the career record for total offense with 8,098 yards while passing for 6,226 and 50 td's. Ready to take over the signal-calling chores will be senior Colby Street. Last year Street ran for 286 yards and 2 td's on 32 carries (8.9 p/c) and completed 14 of 25 passes for 194 yards with 3 interceptions. He has started one game in his career against Illinois State.

The Penguins are stacked at running back with senior P.J. Mays set at tailback and junior Chris DeMauro at fullback. Mays, the Gateway Conference "Player of the Year", ranked 12th in I-AA in rushing last year with 1,446 yards on 227 carries (6.4 p/c) and ranked 5th in scoring with 22 td's, including 21 on the ground. He also caught 11 passes for 141 yards and 1 td. Mays now has 2,284 career rushing yards on 411 carries with 31 rushing td's. DeMauro, who had 31 tackles at linebacker last year, has moved over to lead the blocking for Mays. Also expected to see time at tailback are 2001 red-shirt Josiah Dolby (459 yards, 4 td's in 2000), Mike Burns (61 carries, 399 yards, 1 td) and Darius Peterson (339 yards, 5 td's).

Red-shirt freshman qb Aaron Marshall was moved to wide receiver in Fall camp. The Penguins have high hopes to use his overall athletic abilities on the field. Sophomore Matt Rycraft, also a qb recruit, has been moved to a receiver position and has earned a starting role. Talented senior wideout Jerald Burley returns for 2002, but may miss the Clarion game after injuring his ankle in camp. He has not participated in any scrimmages thus far. Burley grabbed 21 passes for 314 yards and 3 td's last year.

The tight end spot will once again be shared by John Schumacher and Dennis Dlugosz. Schumacher had 11 catches for 102 yars and Dlugosz 16 aerials for 285 yards last year.

TALENTED LINEBACKERS LEAD YSU DEFENSE

The YSU defense runs a 3-4 scheme and the Penguins yielded 292.5 yards of total offense per game last year, including 136.1 yards rushing and 156.5 yards passing.

Up front the "D" will be led by seniors Matt Mechling, Guy Mazard and Martin Stachowicz. Mechling, a two-time all-conference pick, battled through injuries last year and posted 22 tackles in 8 games. He had 64 tackles in 1999 and 35 stops with 6 tfl's in 2000.

Mazard notched 28 hits and 7 tfl's last year, while Stachowicz posted 24 tackles and 6 tfl's last year and 47 jolts with 9 tfl's in 2000.

The senior linebacking corps may be one of the best in I-AA with top hitters Jon Tekac and Russell Stuvaints both returning. Tekac posted 69 tackles and 5 tfl's last year, while Stuvaints also notched 69 jolts plus 15 tfl's, 5 sacks and 4 fumbles caused. Also back are Justin Dellarose (33 stops) and Brandon Byers.

The secondary features Anthony Barone (65 hits, 6 b-ups, 1 int) at free safety and Mike Bracken (16 stops, 2 tfl's) at strong safety, with Jake Godec and Waymann Peters at the corners. Godec and Peters played sparingly last year.

CLARION NOTES: Jhermel Goss, a 2 year letterwinner and projected starter at corner back, sustained a knee injury in Fall Camp and is expected to be out for the season... He had 24 stops and 7 break-ups last year.

Clarion has an 0-5 record against YSU... Prior to last year's 44-0 loss Clarion was defeated at YSU in 1998 (50-6), 1996 (51-10), 1992 (48-7) and 1938 (46-0)... In last year's game Clarion was led by Robert Walker who gained 57 yards on 4 carries, while Lovelace ran for 42 yards on 5 attempts ... Almashy hit on 5 of 15 passes fpr 62 yards, plus ran for 47... P.J. Mays rushed for 180 yards and 2 td's on 9 carries including a 77-yard td run on the opening play of the game and an 83 yard run later in the first quarter ... Darius Peterson had 111 yards & 2 td's on 12 carries, while sub qb Colby Street ran for 61 yards on 7 attempts ... YSU was ahead 37-0 at halftime ...In the 1998 game, Clarion scored the first td on a Chris Weibel to Alvin Slaughter 21-yard td pass with 12:52 left in the second and a 6-0 lead... YSU scored 23 unanswered points to lead 23-6 at halftime... the Penguins then scored one third quarter and three, fourth quarter td's to win the game 50-6 ... Clarion's coach Luke has spent plenty of time in Ohio during his career... Along with his 6 years at Defiance (1988-93), he coached at Canfield High (Offensive Coordinator) from 1976-80 and coached defensive backs at YSU (1984-85) under former Penguin coach Bill Narduzzi...The 1996 squad under coach Luke won the NCAA D-II East Region and advanced to the NCAA semifinals before losing to eventual national champion Northern Colorado 19-18... Luke was named PSAC-West "Coach of the Year" in 2000 and 1996 ... Clarion is tradition rich in football ... 27 straight non-losing seasons from 1961-87, a 41-year (1961-01) record of 245-152-6, 61.5% and 10 PSAC-West titles (1966, 67, 69, 77, 78, 80, 83, 92, 96 and 2000).