(Erie, Pa.): Clarion qb Gino Rometo tossed three passes into the Gannon endzone on the final three plays of the game, the final one as time ran out, but the Knight defense was up to the challenge, knocked all three passes to the ground and held on for a 31-24 victory over the Golden Eagles on Saturday night.

Held at University Field, Gannon upped its overall record to 3-2 and 1-1 in the PSAC-West, while Clarion dropped to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the Western Division.

Clarion rallied from deficits of 28-10 and 31-17 in the second half to have a chance to tie the game.

Down 28-10 in the third quarter, Clarion's defense scored a big touchdown. Linebacker Steven Moyemont sacked GU quarterback Bob Bartley at the Gannon 44, the ball popped loose and defensive end John Hackel scooped up the pigskin at the 46 and ran the ball into the endzone for a Golden Eagle touchdown. Robert Mamula's PAT was good and Clarion trailed 28-17 with 7:20 left in the third quarter.

Gannon boosted its lead to 31-17 on a 33-yard field goal from Jeremy Ditzler with 14:20 left in the game.

Clarion bounced back with a 52-yard, 8 play touchdown drive to cut the deficit to 31-24. QB Gino Rometo tossed a 20-yard td pass to Jaques Robinson, who went high in the air to catch the ball, with only 5:10 left in the game.

After Gannon's offense went three and out, Clarion's Alfonso Hoggard, who had 58-yard punt return for a td called back for holding early in the first quarter, in the first half, electrified the crowd again in the fourth when he returned a Gannon punt 58 yards to the GU 23.

Eagle qb Rometo hit Robinson for 7 yards to the GU 16, but on third down Rometo accidentally downed the ball at the 21, and then Gannon defensive back Tony Poma knocked down a fourth down pass intended for Hoggard, giving the ball back to the Knights.

Clarion's defense held one more time, giving the Eagle offense one last chance, starting from its own 28 with 44 seconds left in the game. Rometo hit Robinson for 13 yards to the Clarion 41 on third down. Two plays later Rometo connected over the middle with tight end Matt Foradora for 33 yards to the GU 26.

After downing the ball to stop the clock on first down, Clarion took three cracks at the endzone, but all three failed and Gannon had its victory.

Clarion took its opening possession to the Gannon 18, but Rometo's pass into the endzone intended for Tyler Huether was intercepted by Aaron Roberson.

After the Clarion defense held, Hoggard returned a punt 58-yards to paydirt, breaking several tackles on the way, but holding called the play back.

Later in the first, Clarion tried to convert a fourth and 5 at its own 27, but the attempt failed and Gannon used the field position to get its opening score of the game. Jon Richardson scored on a 15-yard run with 1:30 left in the first.

Robert Mamula booted a 26-yard field goal to make it 7-3 with 10:26 left in the second quarter, but Gannon then drove 68-yards to paydirt. Richardson again scored on an 8-yard td run and Ganon led 14-3 with 6:56 left before halftime.

Clarion drove 60 yards on its next possession for a td. Rometo hit Alfonso Hoggard on a 16-yard td pass, and with 1:53 left before halftime, the Eagles were within 14-10.

Gannon drove 62yards and took a 21-10 halftime lead when Bob Bartley hit Jacobe Smith over the middle for a 28-yard td pass with only 42-seconds left in eth second.

Gannon went ahead 28-10 in the third when Zach Boedicker ran 8 yards for a td, setting the stage for Clarion's near comeback.

Clarion had 247 yards of offense and saw Rometo connect on 20 of 40 passes for 208 yards and 2 td's with 2 interceptions. Hoggard had 6 catches for 59 yards and 1 td, ran 4 times for 7 yards, returned 7 punts for 89 yards and 2 kickoffs for 55 yards, and had a 58-yard punt return for a td called back. Jaques Robinson caught 5 for 45 yards and Foradora grabbed 4 for 53 yards.

Defensively, Clarion's Jimmy Simmons posted 9 taackles, 2 tfl's (1 sack) and recovered a fumble. Garrett McMullin had 2 tfl's and Steve Moyemont had 2 sacks.

Gannon qb Bob Bartley was 6 of 12 for 81 yards and 1 td, while Zach Boedicker hit 4 of 9 for 94 yards and also ran for 39 yards and 1 td.

Running back Jon Richardson rushed for 83 yards and 2 td's, while Jacobe Smith caught 4 passes for 90 yards and 1 td.

Clarion returns home next Saturday to host California in the Homecoming Game which starts at 2pm.

Box Score (Final)

Clarion University vs Gannon University (Sep 27, 2008 at Erie, Pa.)

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score ----------------- -- -- -- -- -----

Clarion University.. 0 10 7 7 - 24 Record: (1-4,0-2)

Gannon University... 7 14 7 3 - 31 Record: (3-2,1-1)

Scoring Summary:

1st 01:30 GAN - Jon Richardson 15 yd run (Jeremy Ditzler kick), 4-27 2:11, CLAR 0 - GAN 7

2nd 10:26 CLAR - Robert Mamula 26 yd field goal, 6-32 2:38, CLAR 3 - GAN 7

06:56 GAN - Jon Richardson 9 yd run (Jeremy Ditzler kick), 11-78 3:30, CLAR 3 - GAN 14

01:53 CLAR - Alfonso Hoggard 16 yd pass from Gino Rometo (Robert Mamula kick), 9-60 4:54, CLAR 10 - GAN 14

00:42 GAN - Jacobe Smith 28 yd pass from Bob Bartley (Jeremy Ditzler kick), 5-62 1:06, CLAR 10 - GAN 21

3rd 09:18 GAN - Zach Boedicker 8 yd run (Jeremy Ditzler kick), 6-58 2:52, CLAR 10 - GAN 28

07:20 CLAR - John Hackel 46 yd fumble recovery (Robert Mamula kick), , CLAR 17 - GAN 28

4th 14:20 GAN - Jeremy Ditzler 33 yd field goal, 12-71 4:27, CLAR 17 - GAN 31

05:10 CLAR - Jaques Robinson 20 yd pass from Gino Rometo (Robert Mamula kick), 8-52 2:29, CLAR 24 - GAN 31

CLAR GAN

FIRST DOWNS................... 16 18

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 31-39 46-134

PASSING YDS (NET)............. 208 175

Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 40-20-2 21-10-0

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 71-247 67-309

Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 1-46 0-0

Punt Returns-Yards............ 7-89 2-50

Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 5-137 5-90

Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 2--2

Punts (Number-Avg)............ 6-36.3 8-41.5

Fumbles-Lost.................. 0-0 2-2

Penalties-Yards............... 9-84 6-62

Possession Time............... 30:41 29:19

Third-Down Conversions........ 6 of 16 5 of 14

Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 3 0 of 0

Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 3-5 4-4

Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 5-42 5-29

RUSHING: Clarion University-Eddie Emmanuel 12-47; Nick Sipes 6-11; Alfonso Hoggard 4-7; Tyler Huether 1-3; Nicholas Perla 1-0; TEAM 1-minus 5; Gino Rometo 6-minus 24. Gannon University-Jon Richardson 26-83; Zach Boedicker 9-39; Anthony Weaver 7-25; Bob Bartley 4-minus 13.

PASSING: Clarion University-Gino Rometo 20-40-2-208. Gannon University-Bob Bartley 6-12-0-81; Zach Boedicker 4-9-0-94.

RECEIVING: Clarion University-Alfonso Hoggard 6-59; Jaques Robinson 5-45; Matt Foradora 4-53; Matt Ward 2-26; Nick Sipes 1-16; Tyler Huether 1-7; Craig Bunney 1-2. Gannon University-Jacobe Smith 4-90; Jon Richardson 3-43; Sylvester Burel 2-30; Vinnie DeLuca 1-12.

INTERCEPTIONS: Clarion University-None. Gannon University-Aaron Roberson 2-minus 2.

FUMBLES: Clarion University-None. Gannon University-Jon Richardson 1-1; Bob Bartley 1-1.

Stadium: Gannon Univ. Field Attendance: 2168 Kickoff time: 7 p.m. End of Game: 9:55 pm Total elapsed time: 2:55 Officials: Referee: Steven Dobis; Umpire: Thomas Tierney; Linesman: Robert Schuster; Line judge: Tom Meehan, Sr.; Back judge: Jack Zilles; Field judge: John Svorinich; Side judge: Chuck Costanza; Scorer: Dan Teliski; Temperature: 70's Wind: 5-10 E Weather: Clear

2008 Gannon Home Opener and first-ever PSAC home game.

Clarion University vs Gannon University (Sep 27, 2008 at Erie, Pa.)

SACKS (UA-A): Clarion University-S. Moyemont 2-0; Jimmy Simmons 1-0; G. McMullin 1-0; Ben Maund 1-0. Gannon University-Matt Ward 1-1; Chris Murphy 0-2; Dave Postwaite 1-1; Randy Colling 0-1; Tom Johnson 0-1.

TACKLES (UA-A): Clarion University-Jimmy Simmons 6-3; G. McMullin 4-3; Alex Evans 3-4; J. Baldwin 2-4; Joseph Fox 1-5; S. Moyemont 3-2; John Hackel 0-5; Ben Maund 1-3; Shawn Sopic 1-3; Patrick Pettis 3-0; Bob Kail 2-1; Dane Williams 1-2; Cliff Simon 2-0; Josh Stegena 1-1; Alex George 0-2; Dan Wirkowski 1-0; B. Morrison 1-0; Reggie Robinson 1-0; James Eckels 0-1; Nick Sipes 0-1; Chris Smeltzer 0-1; Chris Wilson 0-1. Gannon University-Matt Ward 5-4; Dave Postwaite 4-4; Tony Poma 4-2; Chris Cook 3-3; Chris Murphy 0-6; MatthewNealMink 3-2; Tom Johnson 2-2; Randy Colling 0-4; Connor Kimball 3-0; Tomar Pettis 3-0; Johnny Jones 1-2; Parris Williams 0-3; Cory Borden 0-3; Aaron Roberson 2-0; Ray Harris 1-1; Danny Giegerich 1-1; Mick Sheehan 1-0;