Box Score
FINAL GAME STATS

                (Fairmont, W.V.):  Fairmont State freshman tailback Daniel Monroe rushed for 161 yards and 2 td's, and  broke open a close game with  td runs of 46 and 87 yards in the fourth quarter to lead the Falcons to a 31-17 win over Clarion on Thursday night at FSU's Duvall-Rosier Field.

                The 2011 season opener for both teams, Fairmont is now 1-0 and Clarion 0-1.

                Down 14-0 in the first half, Clarion rallied to within 14-10 at halftime.

                Sophomore qb Ben Fiscus engineered a 9-play, 89-yard drive to pull the Golden Eagles to within 14-7 with 14:08 left in the second quarter. On the drive Fiscus completed 2 of 3 passes for 16 yards, and ran twice for 31 yards. Fiscus scampered 22-yards to paydirt when he started up the middle for 5 yards, then cutback to his left and outran the Falcon defenders to the pylon.

                Freshman placekicker Tyler Ruark booted the PAT and Clarion trailed 14-7.

                Later in the second quarter Clarion's Ren Yonker blocked a Fairmont State punt at the FSU 30 and the pigskin went out of bounds at the Falcon 27.

                After Clarion posted a first down to the Falcon 15, the drive stalled at the 10 and Ruark came on to boot a 27-yard field goal with 47-seconds left before intermission.

                Fairmont opened the third quarter with a kickoff return to the Eagle 24. The Clarion defense held and FSU's Frank Keenan booted a 25-yard field goal at 11:08 of the third and the Falcons were back in front 17-10.

                Clarion drove 58 yards on the ensuing kickoff but the drive stalled at the Fairmont 15. Ruark came on and tried a 31-yard field goal but the ball missed the left upright by inches and the score remained 17-10.

                Early in the fourth quarter FSU's Monroe broke a 46-yard td run on third at 2 at the Eagle 46 to push the FSU lead to 24-10.

                On Fairmont's next possession Monroe took the handoff at his own 13, shot up the middle to the 50, then broke down the left sideline to paydirt – an 87-yard touchdown run to make it 31-10 with 6:40 to go in the game.

                Clarion came right back with a 69-yard touchdown drive in only 7 plays. Fiscus clicked on 6 of 7 passes for 69 yards, including the 15-yard td pass to Rob Tantlinger with 4:41 remaining. Fiscus rolled left on the td pass, avoided a tackle, then rolled back to the middle of the field befoe he spotted Tantlinger in the back of the endzone underneath the goalpost.

                The Eagles drove 59-yard to the FSU 2 – but a bad snap on third and 2 at the FSU 2 saw the Falcons Tyler Lafollete recover at the Clarion 6 and FSU sealed the win.

                Fairmont opened the scoring when Matt Wilmer scored on a 93-yard punt return at 9:16 of the first, and Mark Sampson caught a 6-yard td pass from Logan Moore at 1:42 of the first quarter.

                Clarion gained 426 yards of total offense including 225 on the ground and 201 in the air. Fiscus completed 25 of 41 passes for 201 yards and 1 td, plus led the team with 90 rushing yards and 1 td. John Fuhrer rushed for 70 yards, while Tarrean Barrett grabbed 9 passes for 69 yards.

                Nate Sipes led the Clarion defense with 5 stops, while All-Region defensive end Barrington Morrison had 3 tfl's and 1 sack.

                Fairmont had 316 yards of total offense including 261 rushing and 55 passing. Monroe rushed 18 times for 161 yards and 2 td's. QB Logan Moore completed 5 of 21 aerials for 55 yards and 1 td.

                CLARION NOTES: Clarion hosts #14 ranked Bloomsburg on Saturday, September 10 at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1p.m. as Clarion will be honoring all Vets and First Reponders in pre-game ceremonies.