October 13, 2007
(Slippery Rock, Pa.): Clarion jumped out to leads of 9-0 and 12-7 in the first half, but Slippery Rock rallied in the second and third quarters and went on to defeat the Golden Eagles 41-18 on Saturday afternoon.
Held at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium, Slippery Rock raised its overall record to 6-1 and 1-1 in the PSAC-West. Clarion dropped to 0-7 overall and 0-3 in the PSAC-West.
Clarion took a 3-0 lead on its opening possession when Nick Sipes (Fr. Curwnesville) booted a 30-yard field goal at 10:16 of the first quarter, capping a 39-yard drive in 8-plays. The Eagles had first and goal on the SR 6, but a penalty and a sack pushed the Eagles back and had to settle for a field goal.
Slippery Rock fumbled the kickoff and Quintyn Brazil (Jr. Pgh. - Oliver) recovered for the Golden Eagles at the Rock 40. In the ensuing drive Clarion qb Tyler Huether (So. Penn Trafford) rushed for 10 yards and passed 17 yards to Alfonso Hoggard (Fr. Phila.) to the Rock 9. On fourth and goal at the 1, Clarion head coach Jay Foster went for the touchdown and got it on a straight handoff to tailback Eddie Emmanuel who bulled over for the Eagle touchdown. The PAT failed and Clarion led 9-0 at 6:58 of the first.
Slippery Rock answered with a 74-yard drive in 6 plays and scored on a Nate Crookshank 23-yard td pass to Paul Favers, cutting the lead to 9-7.
Clarion's offense answered again. The Eagles drove from their own 42 to the SR 9 before the drive stalled. Kicker Robert Mamula (Fr. Canon Mac) came on and booted a 28-yard field goal at 14:18 of the second quarter to give Clarion a 12-7 advantage.
Slippery Rock scored another td on their second possession, this time behind the running of Ryan Lehmeier. The 75-yard drive saw Lehmeier carry 6 times for 63 yards, and capped the drive with a 7-yard td run to give the rock a 14-12 lead with 10:18 left in the second.
Clarion had a chance to take the lead right back, as the Eagles marched from their own 35 to the SR 1. A 15-yard pass from Huether to Fred Robinson (Jr. Belle Glade, Fl.) and a 24-yarder to Jaques Robinson (Fr. Pgh - Oliver) helped Clarion get a first and goal at the SR 10. On fourth and goal at the 1, Clarion went for the touchdown again, but this time the Eagles called on Huether to try and dive left off the option and he was held out of the endzone by the Rock defense right at the goal line.
Late in the second quarter Lehmeier scored his second rushing td, this time from 15-yards out and Slippery Rock led 21-12 with only 1:42 remaining before intermission.
Clarion wasn't done though. The Golden Eagles, in their no huddle offense, drove from their own 27 to the SR 4, led by qb Tyle Huether. When the Eagles failed of second and third downs from the 4, coach Foster called on Mamula for a 20-yard field goal attempt. But the Clarion freshman faded the kick right and the Rock held its 21-12 lead at halftime.
SR's Lehmeier scored on a 22-yard run with 4:30 left in the third quarter to push the Rock lead to 28-12.
But just as the Rock faithful began to feel comfortable about their lead, Clarion put themselves right back in the game. Huether drove Clarion 80 yards in 9 plays to paydirt. Tailback Eddie Emmanuel rushed for an 8-yard td on the drive's final play, going untouched off left tackle into the endzone. The Eagles went for the two-point conversion, but failed, and the scored was 28-18 with 53 seconds left in the third. On that drive Huether completed 6 of 6 passes for 77 yards.
Slippery Rock came right back and scored in two plays to put the game out of reach. On the scoring play, Nate Crookshank faked a handoff, then ran around right end and went 32-yards to the endzone for the score giving Sr a 35-18 lead at the end of the third quarter.
SR added another score to make the final 41-18.
Clarion's offense totaled 383 yards on the day including 80 yards rushing and 303 passing. Tyler Huether had his best day as a qb at Clarion completing 23 of 34 passes for 303 yards. He also rushed for 43 yards on the day.
Alfonso Hoggard caught 5 passes for 78 yards, and Jaques Robinson grabbed 5 for 41. Nine different Clarion receivers caught passes.
Eddie Emmanuel rushed 15 times for 37 yards and 2 scores.
Slippery Rock had 493 yards of offense including 382 rushing yards and 111 passing yards.
Tailback Ryan Lehmeier rushed 23 times for 210 yards and 4 td's. QB Nate Crookshank completed 10 of 15 passes for 111 yards and 1 td, while Colin Golden latched onto 3 passes for 37 yards.
Leading the Clarion defense was Garrett McMullin with 9 tackles, 2 tfl's and 1 sack, along with Shawn Sopic (Fr. Curwensville) who had 8 hits. Clarion Area's Kyle Cathcart had 7 stops, and Nick Sipes had 5 jolts.
The Golden Eagles travel to Fairmont State next week for a 6pm game, while Slippery Rock heads to Shippensburg.
