Oct. 3, 2009
Final Stats
(CLARION, PA.): Clarion's Alfonso Hoggard (Jr. Philadelphia/Caravel Academy) rushed for 134 yards and 3 td's, plus returned a kickoff 87-yards for a touchdown to lead Clarion to a 42-21 win over Gannon on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
Clarion's Homecoming Day game, the Golden Eagles raised their overall record to 3-3 and 2-1 in the PSAC-West, while Gannon dropped to 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the PSAC-West.
Hoggard led the way for Clarion with 257 all-Purpose yards and 4 td's on the afternoon including 134 rushing yards, 2 kickoff returns for 104 yards and caught 2 passes for 19 yards.
Clarion took the opening kickoff and drove 84 yards in 13 plays to take a 7-0 lead.. Clarion qb Tyler Huether (Sr. Irwin/Penn Trafford) completed 6 of 6 passes for 46 yards on the drive. Five completions were to Jacques Robinson (Jr. Pgh - Oliver) for 31 yards, and the final completion was to Hoggard for 15 yards to the 6-inch line, where Huether sneaker over for the td. Robert Mamula's PAT gave Clarion a 7-0 lead with 8:06 left in the first.
Gannon came back late in the first and started a drive at its own 15 yard line and drove 85-yards to paydirt. Running back Jon Richardson capped the drive with a 1-yard run and Jerey Ditzler's PAT tied the game 7-7 at 13:10 of the second quarter.
Clarion took the lead for good on its next possession going 65-yards in only 8 plays. Huether was 4 for 4 passing in the drive which included a 16-yarder to Robinson, a 13-yarder to Rob Irwin (Fr. Bellefonte), and 2 passes for 24 yards to Craig Bunney (Jr. Freedom/Ambridge). With first and goal at the Gannon 7, Hoggard took the handoff and sprinted off right tackle and into the endzone for the Clarion td. Clarion led 14-7 with 8:50 left before halftime.
Clarion took a 21-7 lead with the offense going 69 yards in only 6 plays. Huether rushed for 31 yards to the Gannon 38. After a penalty put the ball back to the 48, Hoggard took a direct snap in the wildcat formation and ran for 15 and 30 yards to the Gannon 3. Hoggard scored two plays later from the 1 and the Eagles led 21-7 at halftime.
Gannon tried to take the momentum back with a 35-yard td pass from qb Zach Boedicker to Geoff Hicks in the third quarter bringing Gannon back to within 21-14 at 6:09 of the third.
On the ensuing kickoff Hoggard took the pigskin at his own 13 yard line, found a hole in the middle of the field at his own 30, cut to the left, then at about the Gannon 40, cut back to the right and sprinted down the right hash for an 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that gave Clarion a 28-14 lead at 5:56 of the third quarter.
A short Gannon punt early in the fourth quarter had Clarion in good field position at their own 48. Hoggard ran three times for 11 yards to the Gannon 41, then took a draw handoff up the middle, broke three tackles and sprinted into the endzone for a 41-yard td run. Mamula's PAT gave Clarion a 35-14 lead at 12:32 of the fourth quarter.
Clarion's safety Aaron Gluvna (Fr. Corry) intercepted a Boedicker pass at the Gannon 30 and returned the ball to the Knight 2, where John Fuhrer ran in on the first play to pad Clarion's lead to 42-14.
Gannon added a late td to make the final Clarion 42 Gannon 21.
Clarion had 365 yards of offense including 217 rushing and 148 passing. Huether completed 15 of 22 passes for 148 yards, with Robinson catching 9 passes for 83 yards.
Hoggard rushed 18 times for 134 yards and 3 td's - and again had 257 All-Purpose Yards on the day. His 87-yard kickoff return for a td was Clarion's first since Brandon Sweeney went 82 yards for a td against East Stroudsburg on September 6, 2003.
Nick Sipes led the Clarion defense with 10 tackles and 1 tfl. Chris Wilson had 8 stops, while Shawn Sopic made 7 tackles and 1 tfl.
Gannon had 355 yards of offense including 120 rushing and 235 passing. Boedicker completed 13 of 23 passes for 134 yards and 1 td. Corey Bradley had 5 catches for 53 yards and Evan Twombly had 5 for 50. Jon Richardson was held to 68 yards and 1 td on 18 carries.
Clarion travels to Slippery Rock on Thursday night for a 6pm kickoff.
CLARION NOTES: Hoggard, a Second Team All-American in 2008 as an All-Purpose Player, set single game bests today in All-Purpose Yards (257) and in rushing (134) ... He had 217 All-Purpose at Mercyhrst last year ... Robinson had 9 catches for 83 yards... He now leads the entire PSAC with 46 catches, good for 495 yards and 3 td's... In his career he now has 139 career catches passing for greats Gary McCauley (135, 1978-81) and Jim Becker (130, 1966-68) and ranks 7th in catches at Clarion ... He also has 1,575 receiving yards (12th at Clarion) ... QB Tyler Huether has completed 415 of 811 career passes for 4,996 yards and 27 td's ... He ranks 2nd in pass attempts, 3rd in completions and 3rd in passing yards... He passed Tim Myers (4,948 yards; 1988-92) in passing yards and needs only 101 yards to reach Pat Carbol (5,097; 1982-85) in yards and 5 completions to tie Adam Almashy (816; 1999-2002).
