Sept. 26, 2009
Final Stats
(CALIFORNIA, PA.: Clarion's Jacques Robinson scored on a 44-yard td pass with 4:40 left giving the Golden Eagles a 31-28 lead, but Cal's Chedrick Cherry scored on a 47-yard td pass with 1:01 left and Cal's Mike Brown posted an interception at the Cal 1 on the game's final play as the Vulcans escaped with a 35-31 PSAC-West win over Clarion on Saturday afternoon.
Held at Adamson Stadium, Cal raised its record to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the PSAC-West, while Clarion dropped to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the West.
The game was a typical Clarion - Cal, hard-hitting, backyard brawl. The game saw 8 lead changes before the horn sounded the end of the game.
Behind 21-16 at halftime, Clarion battled back in the third quarter on a 44-yard field goal by Robert Mamula to narrow the deficit to 21-19 with 10:45 left in the third.
Cal QB Josh Portis fumbled the ball late in the third and the Eagles John Hackel recovered at the Cal 39. Clarion QB Tyler Huether hit Matt Ward for 21 yards to the Cal 18, then Huether ran for 14 yards to the Cal 4. On the next play Alfonso Hoggard took a sprint draw handoff to the right, then cutback into the middle untouched for a touchdown and a 25-21 Clarion lead with 41-seconds left in the third. The Eagles, who earlier had a PAT blocked, went for a two-point conversion pass but missed and left the score 25-21.
Clarion's defense came up with a big goal-line stand early in the fourth quarter. Cal had a first and goal at the Eagle 7, and third and goal at the 2. But Anderson was stopped at the 2 by James Eckles and Ben Maund, and a fourth down pass play fell incomplete in the endzone.
Clarion's offense couldn't get a first down, and after a 38 yard punt from Nathan Conway and a 15-yard return by Cal's Josh Gumbert, the Vulcans had great field position at the Clarion 28. Cal's Freddie Bacco capped a 4-play, 28-yard drive by scoring on an 8-yard td run with 5:01 left in the game to give the Vulcans a 28-25 lead.
Clarion's Alfonso Hoggard returned the ensuing kickoff 46 yards to the Cal 44. On the first play from scrimmage the Eagles caught Cal in a blitz, and Huether hit Jacques Robinson at the line of scrimmage with a screen pass, and Robinson did the rest weaving his way in the middle of the field, then cutback to the right and dove inside the right pylon for a Clarion td and a 31-28 lead. The Eagles were called for holding on the PAT, and the second try by Mamula missed to the left. Clarion led the Vulcans 31-28 with 4: 40 remaining.
On Cal's next possession the Vulcans had fourth and 1 with about 1:25 remaining and Shawn Johnson gained two yards to put the ball on the Clarion 47. On the next play Portis rolled left, then threw back deep to the left and Cherry caught the pass on the Eagle 5 and went into the endzone for the go-ahead score. Mark Domonkos PAT with 1:01 left gave Cal a 35-31 lead.
Hoggard returned the kickoff to the 34, and a personal foul put the ball up at the Clarion 49. A 7-yard pass to Foradora and an 11-yard pass on fourth down to Robinson had Clarion at the Cal 33 with 16-seconds left. After an incomplete pass, Hoggard ran for 6 yards to the Cal 27 and Clarion called its last timeout with 5 seconds left.
On the game's final play Huether lobbed a pass to the right side of the endzone toward Robinson, but Brown intercepted at around the 1 and the game was over.
"We played a great game today against a really good team," reflected Clarion head coach Jay Foster. "I was very proud of the way we responded to the challenge, stuck to the game plan, played a very disciplined football game and gave ourselves a chance to win. We made a lot of really good plays today. We just needed one more."
Clarion made a statement in its opening drive of the game. The Golden Eagles went 70 yards in 7 plays to take a 7-0 lead. Huether completed two passes in the drive, the first for 10 yards to Robinson, and the last for 21 yards to Foradora to the Cal 11. Huether faked a run to Hoggard and kept the ball himself, running off right tackle and into the endzone for the score.
Cal answered when Portis hit Moore for 37-yards and a touchdown to make it 7-7.
Clarion took a 10-7 lead with a 43-yard field goal from Mamula at 1:59 of the first quarter.
Cal went up 14-10 when Portis hit AJ Jackson for an 11-yard score, then upped that to 21-10 when Portis hit Moore for a 17-yard td pass with 5:29 left before halftime.
Clarion answered with a 90-yard drive in 12 plays to find paydirt. Robinson made an unbelievable one-handed grab on third and 6 from the Clarion 14 for 15 yards and a key first down. He also kept the drive alive in 3rd and 5 at the Clarion 34 with another 9-yard diving catch. He grabbed the next pass for 12 yards to the Cal 45, followed by an 11-yarder to Foradora, a 15-yarder to Matt Ward and the 16-yard td strike to Foradora to make it 21-16 with 19-seconds left before intermission.
"That second quarter scoring drive I felt was the key for us heading to the locker room," said Foster. "From that point on we really believed we could win."
Clarion had 359 yards of offense. Huether completed 21 of 37 passes for 271 yards and 2 td's. Robinson caught 9 passes for 123 yards and 1 td, with Matt Foradora grabbing 6 passes for 70 yards and 1 td. Alfonso Hoggard had 19 rushes for 50 yards and 1 td.
Cal's Portis completed 13 of 23 passes for 201 yards and 3 td's. Terrance Moore caught 5 for 84 yards and 2 td's, AJ Jackson 5 for 41 and 1 td and Cherry 2 for 70 and the game-winning td.
Nick Sipes led the defense with 14 tackles and 1 sack, while Chris Wilson and Shawn Sopic had 9 hits each.
Clarion returns home to host Gannon next Saturday at 2pm. The game will also serve as Clarion's Homecoming Day game.
