Box Score
STATS & SCORING SUMMARY
(Millersville, Pa.): Clarion junior running back
Patrick Graham-Murphy (Pgh Brashear) rushed for a school record 266 yards and 5 td's in leading the Golden Eagles to a 34-20 win at Millersville on Saturday afternoon.
Held at Biemesderfer Stadium, Clarion finished the 2011 season with a record of 3-8 and 2-5 in the PSAC-West, while Millersville ended 3-8 overall and 2-5 in the PSAC-East.
Graham-Murphy, who was a starting cornerback through 7 games for the Golden Eagles, was switched four weeks ago to running back when both Clarion's starters went down with injury. Graham-Murphy was moved to running back and ohhh… what a find.
On Saturday Graham-Murphy toted the pigskin 35 times for 266 yards and 5 td's. His 266 yards broke the school record of 257 yards set by Demetric Gardner against Slippery Rock in 2001. Mickey Catello had 256 rushing yards against IUP in 1966. Graham-Murphy's 5 rushing td's tied the school record of 5 by Robert Walker in 2002 against Glenville State. His 35 carries are 8
th most in a single game.
Clarion jumped on the scoreboard on its second possession of the game when Graham-Murphy bolted 79-yards for a td with 9:04 left in the first quarter.
Tyler Ruark's PAT gave Clarion a 7-0 lead.
Millersville's Antony Kassab booted a 25-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-3 with 1:05 left before intermission, and had a chance to make it 7-6 on the final play of the first half, but strong safety
James Eckels blocked a 33-yard attempt and Clarion led 7-3 at halftime.
On Clarion's first drive of the third quarter the Golden Eagles went 60 yards in 7 plays, with 6 runs from Graham-Murphy. His 45-yard scamper got Clarion to the 4, and then on third and goal at the 3, Graham-Murphy scored on a toss-sweep at 11:43 giving the Eagles a 13-3 lead. Ruark's kick failed.
Clarion drove 45-yards t paydirt on its next possession, this time Graham-Murphy capping the drive on a 16-yard td run. Ruark's PAT at 7:16 gave the Eagles a 20-3 advantage.
Clarion went ahead 27-3 with 2:25 left in the third quarter when Graham-Murphy scored on a 10-yard run capping a short – 11-yard drive. Millersville's Lou Brown fumbled a punt return and
Aaron Gluvna (Jr. Corry) recovered for the Eagles at the Marauder 11.
Millersville came back and made a game of it, scoring on a Marquis White 83 yard run at 2:07 of the third, and Kassab's 22-yard field goal at 10:32 of the fourth to make to a 27-13 Clarion lead.
The Marauders made it 27-20 when Marquis White scored on a 6-yard run, capping a 27-yard drive with 7:59 remaining.
Clarion's
Patrick Graham-Murphy came to the rescue. On third at one for the Golden Eagles at midfield, Graham-Murphy electrified the crowd with a 50-yard td run to give Clarion a 34-20 lead with 3:32 left and put the game away.
Clarion's offense totaled 324 yards including 302 on the ground and 22 passing. The Eagles were without the services of starting qb
Ben Fiscus (So. Indiana) and backup
Ryan Voisey (So. Hermitage/Hickory) who were out with injuries. Freshman
Anthony Omogrosso (Beaver Falls) played the entire game and completed 3 of 5 passes for 22 yards, plus rushed 3 times for 3 yards.
Clarion's defense was led by the PSAC's 4
th leading tackler
Nate Sipes (Jr. Curwensville), who led the team with 11 tackles and 2 tfl's.
Andy Paronish (Hastings/No. Cambria) had 9 hits. Linebacker
Brian Palmiere (Fr. Tarentum/Deer Lakes) posted 6 tackles, 4 tfl's that included 3 sacks, while
Chris Wilson (Sr. Phila.) had 1 interception.
Millersville posted 344 yards of offense including 176 rushing and 168 passing. Marquis White rushed for 108 yards and 2 td's, while qb Sean Quarterman completed 6 of 12 passes for 92 yards.
CLARION NOTES: Graham-Murphy, who only was a running back in four games, ended the season with 702 rushing yards and 10 td's in those four games on 105 carries, averaging 6.7 yards per carry.
