Clarion's 2003 football team, in the midst of a six-game losing streak, will look to rebound this Saturday, November 8th, as the Golden Eagles host Lock Haven in a PSAC-West game that will also serve as Senior Day at Clarion. Kickoff at Memorial Stadium is set for 1pm.

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.

5 SENIORS HONORED

Honored in pre-game ceremonies will be six important seniors including captains TROY BOWERS (NG, 6-0, 290, Columbus, Oh., Westerville South HS), JABARI WEATHERSPOON (OLB, 6-3, 245, Pensacola, Fla., B.T. Washington HS) and ED RIVERS (WR, 6-3, 190, Pittsburgh, Westinghouse HS), along with EMIL JOHNSON (SS, 5-10, 190, Brookville, Brookville HS) and FRANTZ CHARLES (QB, 6-2, 210, Miami, Fla., Archbishop Curley HS).

EAGLES (1-8; 0-4)/LUKE 49-58 IN 10 YEARS AT CLARION

Clarion enters the game with a 1-8 overall record in 2003 and an 0-4 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, a tough 13-0 decision at Shippensburg and last week lost a 13-7 game at California. Head coach Malen Luke has a ten year record of 49-58 at Clarion and is in his 16th year overall as a head coach with a record of 86-79. Clarion has won the PSAC-West in 1996 and 2000 under Luke, while the 1996 squad advanced to the NCAA semifinals.

LOCK HAVEN (3-6; 1-3)/ COACH MARK LUTHER IN 4TH SEASON

Lock Haven head coach Mark Luther is in his fourth season as the Bald Eagles head coach and enters the game with a 2003 record of 3-6 overall and 1-3 in the PSAC-West. In four years he has a record of 13-29. In 2003 Lock Haven opened the year with a 50-19 loss at Towson State and a close 73 loss to Kutztown. Then the Eages won three of their next four games including an impressive 17-15 win over Bloomsburg, a 27-23 loss to Mansfield, then wins over Cheyney (42-7) and California (30-25). LH enters Saturday's game on a three game losing streak having been defeated by Shippensburg (49-13), IUP (45-20) and Slippery Rock (24-13).

CLARION LEADS SERIES 38-13-1 DATING BACK TO 1928

Clarion leads the overall series between the two schools by a 38-13-1 margin dating back to 1928. In the last ten seasons Clarion leads by an 8-2 margin and has won the last four straight meetings. Clarion wins over that span came in 2002 (34-31), 2001 (13-0), 2000 (42-20), 1999 (44-41 overtime), 1996 (57-3), 1995 (49-32), 1994 (41-20) and 1993 (37-26). Lock Haven wins came in 1998 (35-28) and 1997 (33-32).

CLARION OFFENSE #7 IN RUSHING

Clarion's offense is getting 278.1 yards per game (#11 in PSAC) including 186.6 rushing yards (#7 in PSAC) and 91.6 passing yards (#14 in PSAC) per game.

Freshman Brandon Dando (New-Castle - Laurel) will likely call the signals for the Golden Eagles offense. Expected to red-shirt this season, Dando started his first collegiate game last week at California and rushed 20 times for 80 yards, plus hit on 9 of 22 passes for 66 yards. His backup this week will be freshman Felton Woulard who 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. Dando is the fifth qb the Eagles have used this season, Also seeing playing time have been injured senior Frantz Charles and red-shirt freshmen Brad Reifsnyder and Grant Gourley.

The running game will be led by halfbacks Brandon Sweeney (66 carries, 360 yards, 5 td's; 9 catches, 78 yards, 1 td) and Glenn Lovelace (55 runs, 207 yards; 6 catches, 144 yards, 1 td) and fullbacks Jason Warner (57 rushes, 230 yards, 1 td) and Marcus Lowe (53 carries, 215 yards, 1 td).

The receiving corps has wideouts Pierre Odom (18 grabs, 265 yards, 1 td), Ron Rivage (10 catches, 176 yards) and Ed Rivers (8 receptions, 63 yards).

CLARION DEFENSE LED BY BOWERS

The Golden Eagle defense is yielding 324.1 yards per game (#6 in the PSAC) including 140.2 rushing yards (#8 in the PSAC) and 183.9 passing yards (#10 in PSAC) per game.

Leading the defense up front is 2002 PSAC-West Defensive "Player of the Year" Troy Bowers. The Eagle senior has 58 tackles this season and leads the PSAC in tackles for loss (21) and sacks (9). In his career he now has 202 hits, 74 tfl's and 33 sacks.

Also playing well up front are Tim Connolly (40 stops, 10 tfl's, 4 sacks), Ben Heisel (28 hits, 9 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 68 tackles and also has 1 interception for a td, 8 tfl's and 1 sack. Matt Morris has 57 stops, 6 tfl's and 4 fumble recoveries, along with Dale McCall (25 hits, 9 tfl's, 4 sacks) and Brock Luke (10 tackles).

The Eagle secondary has Bo Busch (65 hits, 1 int, 4 fumbles caused) at free safety and Emil Johnson (52 jolts, 9 tfl's, 1 int) at strong safety with James Charles (29 stops, 1 int for a td) and Kerwin Cledanor (3 int's) at the corners.

LH OFFENSE LED BY WALKER/BURKLEY

Lock Haven's offense is averaging 274.3 yards per game (#12 in PSAC) including 120.1 rushing yards (#12 in PSAC) and 154.2 passing yards (#11 in PSAC).

LH's Troy Wile will call the signals on Saturday. Wile has completed 65 of 118 passes for 622 yards and 6 td's.

The running game is led by Maurice Walker (135 carries, 554 yards, 3 td's) and Christian Marshall (65 rushes, 279 yards, 3 td's).

The receiving corps is paced by veteran Marcus Burkely. He has grabbed 42 passes for 526 yards and 5 td's, while Rafael Smith (22 grabs, 334 yards, 5 td's) and Scott Anderson (8 catches, 136 yards, 1 td) also latch onto passes.

LOCK HAVEN "D" ANCHORED BY METZ

The Lock Haven defense is yielding 359 yards (#11 in PSAC) per game including 189.4 rushing yards (#11 in PSAC) and 169.6 passing yards (#8 in PSAC).

The Bald Eagles are led up front by tackles Jarrod Hendricks (22 stops) and Jason Kasheta (2.5 tfl's) and ends Dustin Shaffer (26 tackles, 5.5 tfl's) and Devin O'Rourke (28 jolts, 5.5 tfl's, 3 sacks).

The linebacking corps is anchored by leading tackler Derrik Metz (70 hits, 11 tfl's, 2 int's), Dan Wissinger (54 hits, 3.5 tfl's) and Charles Cannon (38 stops, 6 tfl's).

The secondary will be led by strong safety Rob Carey (47 stops) and free safety Will Jones (33 tackles), along with corners Matt Shealy (20 stops) and Ngoyi Mukusa (41 tackles, 1 int).

CLARION NOTES: Last year Clarion topped Lock Haven 34-31 at Lock Haven... Clarion scored 27 second half points including 20 n the fourth to seal the win... QB Adam Almashy ran for 163 yards and 1 td, plus passed for 66 yards... Robert Walker also ran for 151 yards and 1 td as Clarion rushed for 468 yards, the second most in school history... LH QB Tim Storino passed for 290 yards and 2 td's ... Burkely grabbed 5 passes for 124 yards and 1 td.... In 2001 Clarion topped Lock Haven 13-0 at Lock Haven ... Demetric Gardner ran for 112 yards and 1 td ... Adam Almashy completed 13 of 20 passes for 164 yards ... Clarion had 427 yards, while Lock Haven had 106 yards of offense ... Clarion won (42-20 in 2000) and (44-41 in 3 overtimes in 1999) - Both games were in Clarion due to new PSAC schedules taking over ... In 2000 Clarion rushed for a school record 443 yards including 177 and 2 td's by Robert Walker and 169 by fullback Tab Musser ... Almashy completed 8 of 14 for 104 yards and 2 td's... LH QB Ed Galiczynski completed 19 of 35 for 248 yards and 1 td... In 1999's Senior Day game, Clarion placekicker Frank VanWert booted a 34-yard field goal in the third overtime to give Clarion a 44-41 lead ... On Lock Haven's possession LHU runner Jamie Allen fumbled at the 10 yard line and Clarion corner Kervin Charles recovered to preserve the victory ... Clarion had 356 total yards including 210 rushing ... Gardner had 61 rushing and 1 td, while Almashy completed 12 of 24 passes for 146 yards and 2 td's... Lock Haven had 420 yards of total offense including 201 rushing and 219 passing... Clarion ends its season on the road at Slippery Rock on November 8th at 1pm.