Clarion's 2003 football team, in the midst of a five-game losing streak, will look to rebound this Saturday, November 1st, as the Golden Eagles travel to California for a PSAC-West game. Kickoff at Adamson Stadium is set for 7pm.

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.

EAGLES (1-7; 0-3)/LUKE 49-57 IN 10 YEARS AT CLARION

Clarion enters the game with a 1-7 overall record in 2003 and an 0-3 mark in the PSAC-West. Clarion opened the season with a 31-21 loss to East Stroudsburg, then lost a 13-10 overtime decision to Millersville. Bouncing back to defeat Glenville 23-20, the Eagles lost a gut-wrenching 20-19 game against Kutztown, and lost in the final minutes to #4 ranked IUP 24-20. The Eagles then dropped a 35-17 decision at West Chester, a 35-6 loss to Edinboro 35-6 and last week lost a tough 13-0 decision at Shippensburg. Head coach Malen Luke has a ten year record of 49-57 at Clarion and is in his 16th year overall as a head coach with a record of 86-78. Clarion has won the PSAC-West in 1996 and 2000 under Luke, while the 1996 squad advanced to the NCAA semifinals.

CALIFORNIA (3-5; 1-2)/ JOHN LUCKHARDT IN 2ND YEAR AT CAL

California head coach John Luckhardt is in his second season with the Fire Gods and has an overall record of 9-10 entering Saturday's contest. Coach Luckhardt had a great 17-year career at NCAA Division III Washington & Jefferson (1982-98) before being hired at Cal. He led W&J to a 137-37-2 record while winning 13 PAC titles, 5 Regional Championships and 11 NCAA appearances. W&J also was the D-III runner-up in 1992 and 1994. Luckhardt's 19-year career record currently stands at 146-47-2. Cal enters the game with a 3-5 overall record and a 1-2 PSAC-West mark. The Vulcans lost their season opener at Eastern Illinois 27-0, defeated Fairmont State (42-12), lost to WV Wesleyan (16-14), then won two straight over Cheyney (20-3) and Slippery Rock 22-19 in overtime. Cal has lost its last three games including a 30-25 defeat at Lock Haven, a tough 14-7 defeat against IUP and last week's 14-7 loss at Mansfield.

CLARION LEADS SERIES 37-32-3 DATING BACK TO 1927

Clarion leads the overall series between the two schools by a 37-32-3 margin dating back to 1927. In the last ten seasons Clarion leads by a 6-4 margin and has won the last four straight meetings. Clarion wins over that span came in 1995 (20-10), 1996 (45-14), 1999 (28-14), 2000 (32-28), 2001 (29-22) and 2002 (31-6). Cal wins came in 1993 (26-14), 1994 (41-31), 1997 (30-0) and 1998 (30-28).

CLARION OFFENSE #7 IN RUSHING

Clarion's offense is getting 273.4 yards per game (#12 in PSAC) including 178.6 rushing yards (#7 in PSAC) and 94.8 passing yards (#14 in PSAC) per game.

Any of four potential signal callers could play at quarterback this Saturday. Freshman Felton Woulard, who missed last week's game with an injury, will be re-evaluated this week. Woulard leads the Eagles with 435 rushing yards on 119 carries with 2 td's, plus has hit on 38 of 80 passes for 623 yards and 3 td's. Also seeing playing time last week were red-shirt freshmen Brad Reifsnyder and Grant Gourley, along with senior Frantz Charles. Reifsnyder this season has connected on 9 of 19 passes for 81 yards, while Gourley has hit on 2 of 6 for 15 yards. Frantz Charles, who started the first game of the year and played in the IUP game and sparingly against Shipp last week, has missed 5 games with a leg injury. He has rushed for 151 yards on 41 tries and completed 2 of 5 passes for 39 yards.

The running game will be led by halfbacks Brandon Sweeney (56 carries, 296 yards, 4 td's; 8 catches, 74 yards, 1 td) and Glenn Lovelace (54 runs, 209 yards; 5 catches, 139 yards, 1 td) and fullbacks Jason Warner (56 rushes, 200 yards, 1 td) and Marcus Lowe (43 carries, 151 yards, 1 td).

The receiving corps has wideouts Pierre Odom (14 grabs, 240 yards, 1 td), Ron Rivage (9 catches, 171 yards) and Ed Rivers (8 receptions, 63 yards).

CLARION DEFENSE LED BY BOWERS

The Golden Eagle defense is yielding 344.6 yards per game (#8 in the PSAC) including 150.2 rushing yards (#9 in the PSAC) and 194.4 passing yards (#12 in PSAC) per game.

Leading the defense up front is 2002 PSAC-West Defensive "Player of the Year" Troy Bowers. The Eagle senior has 53 tackles this season and leads the PSAC in tackles for loss (19) and sacks (8). In his career he now has 197 hits, 72 tfl's and 32 sacks.

Also playing well up front are Tim Connolly (38 stops, 10 tfl's, 4 sacks), Ben Heisel (24 hits, 8 tfl's, 4 sacks) and Matt Niedbala (10 stops).

The linebacking corps will be led by Jabari Weatherspoon. The talented senior leads the team with 63 tackles and also has 1 interception for a td, 5 tfl's and 1 sack. Matt Morris has 50 stops, 6 tfl's and 4 fumble recoveries, along with Dale McCall (17 hits, 5 tfl's, 2 sacks) and Brock Luke (10 tackles).

The Eagle secondary has Bo Busch (57 hits, 1 int, 4 fumbles caused) at free safety and Emil Johnson (48 jolts, 8 tfl's, 1 int) at strong safety, with Myron Hargon (18 stops, 2 tfl's), James Charles (25 stops, 1 int for a td) and Kerwin Cledanor (3 int's) at the corners.

CAL'S "O" LED BY RB WESLEY CLEMONS

California's offense is getting 262.9 yards of total offense per game (#13 in PSAC), including 144.1 yards rushing (#10 in PSAC) and 118.8 passing yards (#12 in PSAC).

The Vulcans have also had some injury problems this season at quarterback. The likely starter on Saturday will be red-shirt freshman John Aitken. He has completed 22 of 43 passes for 184 yards and 1 td with 3 int's. He is backed up by Jared Dumm ( 0-3 passing). Cal's other two qb's appear to be out for the season with injuries including Dustin Strayer (16 of 26 for 205 yards and 2 td's) and Greg Dapper (53 of 109 for 561 yards and 2 td's).

The running game is led by tailback Wesley Clemons. Clemons has rushed for 826 yards and 7 td's on 178 carries (4.6 per carry), while his backup Tayon Mitchell has also gained 307 yards and 3 td's on 57 rushes.

The receiving corps will be led by Brandon Jackson (20 grabs, 277 yards, 3 td's), Tony Hoskins (20 catches, 148 yards) and David Cole (15 receptions, 172 yards), plus tight end Matt Rado (10 catches, 79 yards).

CAL "D" #2 IN TOTAL DEFENSE IN THE PSAC

The Vulcans have a talented defensive unit in 2003. Cal is giving up only 263.5 yards per game (#2 in PSAC) including only 104 rushing yards (#2 in PSAC) and 159.5 passing yards (#5 in PSAC). They are also only giving up 16.9 points per game (#3 in the PSAC).

Up front the Vulcans are led by noseguard Dan Smith (27 stops, 5 tfl's) and tackles Chris McKnight (15 hits, 4 tfl's) and Alex Sevensma (26 tackles, 7 tfl's).

The linebacking corps has Brian Oddi (87 hits, 12 tfl's) and T.J. Carden (28 stops, 4 tfl's) in the middle, with Matt Onyshko (40 tackles, 5 tfl's) and Jason Ellis (28 jolts, 5 tfl's) on the outside.

The secondary features All-America free safety Jon Arnold (55 hits, 1 int) and Jared Dumm (33 hits, 7 tfls) at strong safety, with Jaison Cook (35 tackles, 4 int's) and Jerry Ntakrah (26 stops, 2 int's) at the corners.

CLARION NOTES: Clarion returns home to host Lock Haven on Saturday, November 8th at 1pm on Senior Day ... The season finale is November 15th at Slippery Rock (1pm)... The next win for coach Luke will be his 50th at Clarion ...Last year Clarion rushed for 265 yards, outgained Cal 351-136 and held the ball for 39:07 in the 31-6 win over Cal... Brandon Sweeney blocked a punt in the second quarter that teammate Brandon Whitman caught in mid-air and returned 5 yards for a td to give Clarion a 14-6 halftime lead... Clarion added 17 unanswered second half points ... Robert Walker rushed for 169 yards and 2 td;s on 27 carries... Adam Almashy hit 5 of 14 passes for 86 yards and 1 td... Cal's Wesley Clemons gained 35 yards on 12 carries... QB Brandon LeDonne completed 3 of 26 passes for 81 yards... Two years ago Clarion topped the Vulcans 29-22 at Memorial Stadium ... The Eagles rallied from a 22-14 halftime deficit with a third quarter td from Glenn Lovelace and a 2-yard run in the fourth from Demetric Gardner with 9:01 left... Clarion outgained Cal 362-292 ... Adam Almshy ran for 120 yards and 2 td's and completed 2 of 9 passes for 52 yards ... Cal QB LeDonne completed 7 of 20 passes for 80 yards, while Strayer came on and was 2 for 2 for 78 yards and 1 td... In 2000 at Cal the Eagles won 32-28... Clarion had 422 yards to Cal's 350 ... Almashy completed 11 of 24 passes for 177 yards ... Mike McCullum grabbed 4 for 104, including a 75-yarder to the Cal 16 with about one minute to play, setting up Almashy's game-winning 2-yard run with 46-seconds left... Clarion's defense caused a critical Cal fumble in that game at the Clarion 6 yard line prior to the game-winning td drive... Dennis Yu recovered the fumble with 1:50 remaining in the game ... Cal All-America running back Wesley Cates rushed for a game high 182 yards and 2 td's on 26 carries ... Clarion also won at Cal in 1999 by a 28-14 margin.