Aug. 28, 2008

Final Stats

(CLARION, PA.): Fairmont State placekicker Alex Ashley booted a 39-yard field on the game's final play, lifting Fairmont State to a 23-20 victory over Clarion in an NCAA Division II game.

Held at Clarion's Memorial Stadium and the season opener for both teams, Fairmont State is now 1-0 and Clarion is 0-1.

Clarion tied the game at 20-20 with only 3:29 remaining when sophomore Nick Sipes (Curwensville) scored on a 34-yard touchdown run. The td was set up after noseguard Bob Kail recovered an FSC fumble at the Clarion 34. Clarion qb Gino Rometo completed an 11-yard pass to Tyler Huether, one for 16 to Jaques Robinson and one for 5 yards to tight end Matt Foradora.

From the Fairmont 34, Sipes rushed up the middle, broke three tackles, and then broke free to score the game-tying td.

Fairmont took the ensuing kickoff and returned it to their own 31. After getting a first down, backup running back Cody Reed rushed twice for 22 yards to the Clarion 33. On third and 13 from the 34, Doug Brazill ran off left tackle for 12 yards to the Clarion 22. FSC took a timeout with 2.6 seconds left and Ashley came on to boot his game-winning field goal.

Fairmont State opened the scoring with a 36-yard field goal by Ashley with 2:28 left in the first.

Clarion took its first lead on a Jaques Robinson (Pgh - Oliver) 28 yard td pass from Gino Rometo (Pgh - Plum) with 11:27 left in the second quarter. Rometo was flushed from the pocket, rolled right, and lofted a high pass into the endzone where Robinson made a great catch with a player on him.

Fairmont came right back and scored on its first play from scrimmage when Perry Baker grabbed a 72-yard td pass from Vick Bradford at 11:04 of the second.

Clarion's Alfonso Hoggard returned a punt 47 yards to the Fairmont 6 late in the first half. Clarion settled for a 22-yard field goal from Robert Mamula with 6 seconds left in the half, tying the game at 10.

Fairmont scored ten consecutive points to take a 20-10 lead in the third quarter. Zack Page caught a 24-yard td pass from Vick Bradford with 9:52 left in the third for a 17-10 advantage.

A Clarion fumble was recovered by Fairmont at the Clarion 30. Four plays later Alex Ashley booted a 42-yard field goal with 7:31 remaining in the third to make it 20-10 Fairmont.

On its next possession the Golden Eagles drove from its own 41 to the FSC 5. Unable to get the ball I the endzone, Mamula booted a 25-yard field goal with 4:24 left in the third to make it 20-13. In the fourth the Eagles tied the game on Sipes' 34-yard run with 3:29 left, setting up Ashley's game-winning boot.

Clarion had 271 yards of offense including 47 rushing and 224 passing. Quarterback Gino Rometo completed 21 of 31 passes for 224 yards and 1 td. Jaques Robinson grabbed 7 passes for 89 yards and 1 td, Matt Foradora had 5 catches for 35 yards and Alfonso Hoggard caught 4 balls for 71 yards. Hoggard also returned 4 punts for 61 yards.

Clarion's Jimmy Simmons, a 2006 All-America defensive tackle who missed last season, came out with a great performance with 14 tackles (6 solo), 5 tfl's, and one pass deflection. Chris Smeltzer had 8 stops with 1 tfl's and a fumble recovery, and Mike Verdun had 6 stops, and 4 tfl's.

Fairmont's Bradford ran 17 times for 53 yards, plus connected on 10 of 22 aerials for 184 yards and 2 td's.

Clarion travels to Kutztown next Saturday for a 3:35 start. FSC hosts Lake Erie College next Saturday at 1pm

Box Score (Fairmont State vs Clarion University (Aug 28, 2008 at Clarion, PA)

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score ----------------- -- -- -- -- ----- Fairmont State...... 3 7 10 3 - 23 Record: (1-0) Clarion University.. 0 10 3 7 - 20 Record: (0-1)

Scoring Summary:

1st 02:28 FSU - Alex Ashley 36 yd field goal, 9-45 4:01, FSU 3 - CLAR 0

2nd 11:27 CLAR - Jaques Robinson 28 yd pass from Gino Rometo (Robert Mamula kick), 7-68 3:19, FSU 3 - CLAR 7

11:04 FSU - Perry Baker 72 yd pass from Vick Bradford (Alex Ashley kick), 1-72 0:16, FSU 10 - CLAR 7

00:06 CLAR - Robert Mamula 22 yd field goal, 2-1 0:16, FSU 10 - CLAR 10

3rd 09:52 FSU - Zack Page 24 yd pass from Vick Bradford (Alex Ashley kick), 10-59 5:00, FSU 17 - CLAR 10

07:31 FSU - Alex Ashley 42 yd field goal, 4-5 2:06, FSU 20 - CLAR 10

04:24 CLAR - Robert Mamula 25 yd field goal, 7-44 2:59, FSU 20 - CLAR 13

4th 03:29 CLAR - Nick Sipes 34 yd run (Robert Mamula kick), 4-66 1:44, FSU 20 - CLAR 20

00:00 FSU - Alex Ashley 39 yd field goal, 10-47 3:23, FSU 23 - CLAR 20

FSU CLAR FIRST DOWNS................... 14 14

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 44-118 26-47

PASSING YDS (NET)............. 184 224

Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 23-10-0 31-21-0

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 67-302 57-271

Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0

Punt Returns-Yards............ 5-33 4-61

Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 5-100 5-105

Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 0-0

Punts (Number-Avg)............ 7-34.6 7-37.7

Fumbles-Lost.................. 3-2 3-2

Penalties-Yards............... 5-55 6-40

Possession Time............... 31:37 28:23

Third-Down Conversions........ 2 of 14 4 of 13

Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 1 0 of 0

Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 0-0 2-4

Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 3-22 1-5

RUSHING: Fairmont State-Vick Bradford 17-53; Doug Brazill 19-45; Cody Reed 4-29; Micah Bigelow 2-minus 3; Demetrius Davis 2-minus 6. Clarion University-Nick Sipes 3-35; Eddie Emmanuel 10-20; Alfonso Hoggard 6-13; Gino Rometo 7-minus 21.

PASSING: Fairmont State-Vick Bradford 10-22-0-184; Darius Green 0-1-0-0. Clarion University-Gino Rometo 21-31-0-224.

RECEIVING: Fairmont State-T. Hawthorne 4-56; Perry Baker 2-78; Demetrius Davis 2-7; Zack Page 1-24; Stephan Johnson 1-19. Clarion University-Jaques Robinson 7-89; Matt Foradora 5-35; Alfonso Hoggard 4-71; Tyler Huether 3-29; Nick Sipes 2-0.

INTERCEPTIONS: Fairmont State-None. Clarion University-None.

FUMBLES: Fairmont State-Zack Page 1-0; Doug Brazill 1-1; Demetrius Davis 1-1. Clarion University-Gino Rometo 1-0; Alfonso Hoggard 1-1; Nick Sipes 1-1.