CLARION SQUARES OFF AGAINST #14 IUP SATURDAY

The PSAC-West is ready to open and no game will be bigger than Clarion traveling to #14 ranked IUP on Saturday, October 5th. Kickoff at George P. Miller Stadium is set for 2pm in a game that will also be IUP's Homecoming contest for 2002.

Both squads are riding winning streaks and steamrolling toward each other in anticipation of a big matchup.

HEAR EAGLES ON WCCR-FM & REDZONE

Saturday's game can be heard on WCCR-FM, 92.7 and on the internet at Redzonemedia.com with Mike Kalinowski and Dave Katis describing all the action.

CLARION ENTERS GAME WITH 3-1 RECORD

Ninth year Clarion head coach Malen Luke enters the game with a 3-1 overall record. Last week the Golden Eagles traveled to Kutztown and defeated the Golden Bears 31-7. Prior games saw Clarion win an offensive shootout two weeks ago against Glenville State (WV) 59-38, while downing Millersville 24-3 three weeks ago. Clarion opened the season with a 27-14 loss to Div.I-AA #8 ranked Youngstown State on August 29th. Luke enters the game with a 44-47 record at Clarion and a 15-year career collegiate record of 81-68.

IUP RANKED #14 WITH 4-1 OVERALL RECORD

IUP is led by 17th year head coach Frank Cignetti who enters the game with a career record of 153-40-1. The Indians enter the game with a 4-1 overall record and riding a four game winning streak. IUP started the year with a tough 37-34 loss at Findlay, then rebounded with four impressive wins over Bloomsburg (37-18), Catawba (27-26), New Haven (42-6) and Millersville (43-16). In the Catawba game, IUP rallied with three, fourth quarter td's against the #8 ranked team in the nation to win that game.

IUP HOLDS 6-4 LEAD IN LAST TEN GAMES BETWEEN TWO SCHOOLS

In the last ten years the series between the two schools has certainly been an exciting one. IUP leads the series by a 6-4 margin during the last ten, including last year's overtime thriller that IUP won 35-34 when Clarion missed its extra point to send the game to double overtime. In 1992, when the Golden Eagles won their final 6 games to win the PSAC-West title on the field, Clarion defeated IUP 35-26 in the season finale to cap a tremendous comeback year. Most of the game in between were also exciting.

The Eagles have won in 1992, 1996 (49-15), 1997 (21-6) and 2000 (21-13). Both the 1997 and 2000 wins came at IUP. Indian wins have come in 1993 (44-7), '94 (44-17), '95 (14-9), '98 (52-14), '99 (26-0) and 2001 (35-34 OT). The overall series shows IUP leading 47-22-3.

ALMASHY DIRECTS RUN ORIENTED OFFENSE

Clarion's offense is averaging 360 yards (# 7 in PSAC) and 32.0 points (#4 in PSAC) per game in 2002. The Eagles are #1 in rushing offense in the PSAC getting 298.8 yards per game (#4 in the nation), but last in the PSAC in passing offense with 61.2 yards per game.

Senior qb Adam Almashy directs the offense. He has rushed 52-times for 150 yards and three td's, while completing 25 of 49 passes for 204 yards and 1 td. He has 976 career rushing yards and is only 24 shy of becoming Clarion's first qb to rush for 1,000 career yards. He has also completed 320 of 719 career passes for 4,315 yards and 37 td's. He is tied for 5th in career td passes with Pat Carbol (1982-85) and Doug Emminger (1984-87).

Clarion will likely use 6 running backs in the game. Tailback Robert Walker leads the team with 413 yards and 5 td's on 75 attempts. His 103.2 average is second in the PSAC. Walker has pushed his career rushing total to 1,551 yards (8th all-time) and has run for 20 td's (3rd all-time). He is backed up by Jason Warner who has rushed 13 times for 40 yards.

The Eagles will also use four halfbacks including Brandon Sweeney (32 rushes, 246 yards, 3 td's), Kareem Shelton (17 carries, 99 yards, 1 td), Glenn Lovelace (11 attempts, 46 yards) and Justin Sickeri.

Clarion's receiving corps will be led by wideouts Cori Johnson (6 catches, 61 yards) and Ben Culver (4 grabs, 37 yards), along with tight end Tom Pore (3 catches, 18 yards).

BOWERS & HARGON LEAD EAGLE DEFENSE

Clarion's defense is yielding 285.2 yards (#3 in PSAC) and 18.8 points (#2 in PSAC) per game this season. The Eagles are giving up 121.8 rushing yards (# 5 in PSAC) and 163.5 passing yards (#7 in PSAC) per game.

Anchoring the defensive front will be noseguard Troy Bowers. Bowers leads the linemen with 23 tackles, 10 tfl's and 4 sacks. He is joined up front by Tim Connolly (17 hits, 4 tfl's, 2 sacks), George O'Brien (10 stops, 3 tfl's) and Ben Heisel (10 jolts, 3 tfl's, 1 sack).

The perimeters are guarded by Jabari Weatherspoon (16 tackles, 5 tfl's, 1 sack), Kevin Platz (2 sacks), Derek Puchalsky (2 tfl's) and Brock Luke (6 hits).

Inside linebackers Scott McGrady (28 tackles, 3 tfl's, 1 sack), Shaun Saad (16 jolts) and Justin Conklin (1 tfl) anchor the middle.

The secondary s paced by veteran corner Myron Hargon. Hargon has 11 stops and 2 interceptions this season. Freshman Kerwin Cledanor has 3 interceptions to go with 13 tackles on the other side. Clarion's safeties include top hitter Bo Busch (33 tackles), Emil Johnson (10 jolts, 1 int), Steve Devennie (8 hits) and Korey Eppinette (6 stops).

The Eagles special teams have junior Ken Crawford averaging 42.7 yards per punt, including 8 punts downed inside the 20, and freshman placekicker Chris Carlton who has booted 3 of 4 field goals and 13 of 14 PAT's. Ben Culver is averaging 10.1 yards per punt return.

EYERMAN LEADS WELL BALANCED INDIAN OFFENSE

IUP's offense enters the game averaging 407 yards per game (#2 in PSAC) and 36.6 points per game (#1 in PSAC). The Indians are getting 164.6 rushing yards (#5 in PSAC) and 242.4 passing yards (#4 in PSAC) per contest.

Leading the way is senior qb Brian Eyerman. The veteran has completed 79 of 134 passes (59%) for 1,195 yards and 18 td's with only 4 interceptions. He has a qb rating of 172.2 this season. In his career Eyerman has connected on 442 of 803 passes (55%) for 7,880 yards and 66 td's.

His top receiver is Carmelo Ocasio who enters the game with 27 catches for 501 yards and 10 td's. Ocasio in his outstanding career has latched onto 132 passes for 2,390 yards and 28 td's. He has averaged 18.1 yards per catch throughout his career.

Also grabbing passes will be LeRon McCoy (14 catches, 23 yards, 3 td's), J.R. Thomas (14 receptions, 184 yards, 3 td's) and Dave Davis (13 grabs, 169 yards), plus tight end Pat Liebert (7 catches, 86 yards, 3 td's).

The running game is paced by Elice Parker (81 rushes, 511 yards, 4 td's) and Justin Spence (50 tries, 312 yards, 1 td). Parker is a transfer from LSU and is in his senior year, while Spence came in from Uconn and is a sophomore.

JACKSON LEADS ATHLETIC IUP DEFENSE

The IUP defense is yielding 298.4 yards of total offense per game (#6 in PSAC) along with 20.6 points (#3 in PSAC) per game. The "D" is giving up 145 rushing yards (#6 in PSAC) and 153.4 (#4 in PSAC) passing yards per game.

Up front IUP features nose tackle Craig Prince (25 hits, 4 tfl's), tackle Brian Harris (15 stops, 3 tfl's) and ends Neal Wood (26 jolts, 7 tfl's, 5 sacks) and Andrew Battle (26 stops, 4 tfl's, 3 sacks).

Linebackers Jeff Jackson and Kris Griffin lead the team in tackles with 48 and 36 respectively. Both have 2 tfl's, while Griffin has 2 int's and Jackson 1. They are joined by Walt Mosteller (22 hits) to anchor the second line of defense.

The secondary features corners Kairi Cooper (25 hits) and Mike Howard (2 int's), while strong safety Trent Jones (18 hits, 3 int's) and free safety Dave Deneen (31 stops, 2 int's) patrol down field. IUP's defense has posted 11 interceptions in 5 games.

Placekicker Josh Telenko is 2 of 4 in field goal attempts and 21 of 23 PAT's, while punter Brian Burke is averaging 38.1 per punt.

CLARION NOTES: The Eagle running game has been in high gear the last three weeks... Clarion has rushed for 243 yards against Millersville, 519 against Glenville and 306 last week at Kutztown ... that gives the Eagles 1,068 yards in the last three weeks and 825 in the last two ... In last year's 35-34 overtime loss to IUP at Memorial Stadium, Clarion outgained IUP 382-330... Clarion posted 264 rushing yards and 118 passing... Almashy ran for 11 yards and 2 td's, with Demetric Gardner getting 65 yards and 1 td and Glenn Lovelace 64 yards and 1 td... Almashy hit on 10 of 28 passes for 118 yards and 1 td... IUP QB Brian Eyerman completed 12 of 30 for 195 yards and 3 td's... 8 catches for Carmelo Ocasio for 123 yards and 1 td... J.R. Thomas had 2 td grabs... Aamir Dew rushed for 166 yards and 2 td's... Clarion outscore IUP 22-7 in the second half to tie the game at 28-28... Dew scored on an 8-yard run in overtime, then Demetric Gardner on a 2-yard run before the Eagles missed the PAT... In 2000 at IUP Clarion posted a 21-13 win... IUP led that game 13-0 entering the 4th quarter when Cori Johnson grabbed a 55-yard pass from Adam Almashy at 13:59; then Almashy hit tight end Andy Pore on a 23-yard pass for a 14-10 lead... Almashy capped the scoring with 1:00 left on a 9-yard run... Clarion had 291 yards total offense to 233 for IUP ... Clarion rushed for 155 and passed for 136 ... Almashy ran for 58 yards and 1 td and completed 10 of 17 passes for 136 yards and 2 td's ... Brian Eyerman was 9 of 10 for 125 yards in that game before suffering a season ending injury late in the second quarter ... The Eagles posted 7 sacks in that game - 3 by Kevin Platz... Clarion returns home next Saturday to host West Chester in the annual Homecoming Day Game... Kickoff is set for 2pm.