Game 6 // Clarion Golden Eagles (2-3, 1-1 PSAC West) vs. Seton Hill Griffins (3-2, 0-2 PSAC West)
Saturday, Oct. 8 // 12 p.m. // Greensburg, Pa. // Offutt Field (5,000)

Game Notes | Live Audio | Live Stats | Live Video

Two-Minute Drill

• The Clarion Golden Eagles will look to right the ship when they go on the road to face Seton Hill on Saturday, Oct. 8.
• Clarion owns a modest 2-1 advantage in the relatively young rivalry with the Griffins
• The Golden Eagles have won both home meetings with Seton Hill but have never defeated them on the road
• Junior Delrece Williams went off for 125 yards and two touchdowns in last week's loss against Edinboro
• Williams now ranks third in the PSAC with an average of 110.4 rushing yards/game and is averaging 5.6 yards per rush on the season
• Sophomore Kyle Eans had a team-high 179 all-purpose yards against the Fighting Scots and is averaging 88.7 all-purpose yards per game
• Senior Connor Simmons now has 57 career passing touchdowns and needs nine more to become the program's all-time leader in that category
• Simmons is at 6,854 career passing yards and needs 991 more yards to become the program's all-time leader in passing yards
• Senior wide receivers Matt Lehman and Kevin Genevro both rank in the top-11 in the PSAC in receptions per game and receiving yards per game
• Lehman needs 31 more receiving yards to enter fifth on the all-time list at Clarion
• Senior Adam Lynch recorded a team-high eight tackles with a tackle for loss and a pass break-up against Edinboro
• Redshirt freshman Ben Zoeller had five tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against the Fighting Scots
• Three games this season - 9/10 at Bloomsburg, 10/1 vs. Edinboro and 10/15 vs. California (Pa.) - will be covered by Sports Fever, which will air live broadcasts of the games on affiliate networks.  The games will also be available on ESPN3 via the Watch ESPN app.

The Lead
The Clarion Golden Eagles will look to right the ship on the road when they face the Seton Hill Griffins on Saturday, Oct. 8 at Offutt Field in Greensburg.  Kickoff time is scheduled for noon in this PSAC West showdown.

Mike Kalinowski and Joe Lodanosky will have the radio call for the game on 92.9 WCCR-FM and  96.3 WKQW-FM an hour before kickoff.  Live audio streaming will be available on ClarionGoldenEagles.com.

Series History
This will be the fourth meeting between Clarion and Seton Hill, with the Golden Eagles owning a modest 2-1 advantage in the series with the Griffins.  The rivalry is only a few years old, with the first meeting between the teams coming during the 2013 season.  Clarion won both home meetings with the Griffins but is looking for its first win on the road against Seton Hill.

Last year Clarion set a program record with 676 yards of total offense in a shootout victory, outpacing Seton Hill by a final score of 44-29 at Memorial Stadium.  Delrece Williams finished with 309 all-purpose yards and two total touchdowns, while Connor Simmons tossed the pigskin for 432 yards and four touchdowns.  Myles Edmonds had seven tackles and an interception.

Scouting the Griffins
Seton HIll is 3-2 overall on the season but dropped both of its PSAC West games to date, falling 59-17 to California (Pa.) in the opener and dropping a 47-39 decision to IUP last week.  The Griffins are scoring 37.6 points per game but conversely are allowing 40.0 points per game to opponents.

Quarterback Christian Strong is leading the PSAC in passing yardage by a wide margin, averaging 394.0 yards per game with 16 touchdowns.  That said, he is also tied for the second-most interceptions in the league with eight picks.  Ardell Brown ranks second in the league with 111.2 receiving yards per game and is only a sophomore.

Last Week
Clarion suffered a defeat on Homecoming Saturday, falling by a score of 62-14 to Edinboro at Memorial Stadium.  
 
Delrece Williams rushed for 125 yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns, an average of 5.2 yards per carry and enough to give him five rushing scores on the season.  Overall Clarion ran for 140 yards on the ground, with Devin Clark adding another 26 yards to the total. 
 
Kyle Evans had a team-high 179 all-purpose yards on the day, totaling 89 yards receiving, 55 returning kicks and 27 returning punts.  Connor Simmons threw for 230 yards but did not connect in the end zone; Matt Lehman had six receptions for 81 yards while Kevin Genevro had five for 89 yards.
 
Defensively Adam Lynch had a team-high eight tackles and 1.0 tackles for loss, while Ben Zoeller had five stops and 1.5 tackles for loss.  Clarion broke up six passes on the day, with Layne Skundrich getting his hands on two balls.

Unstoppable
Delrece Williams continued his stretch of strong play with an excellent performance against Edinboro on Oct. 1, rushing 24 times for 125 yards and a season-high two touchdowns.  Williams carried the offensive load for the Golden Eagles, accounting for 125 of their 395 total offensive yards against the Fighting Scots.

• Williams had one of the best days for a Clarion running back in five years with a dominant performance in Clarion's 35-34 victory over Mercyhurst on Sept. 24.  He rushed for 211 yards on 24 carries for an eye-popping 8.8 yards per carry.  Many of those rushing yards came as the result of big plays; Williams had six runs of 24 or more yards in the contest. 
• Williams' 211 rushing yards are the most in a game for the Golden Eagles since Patrick Graham-Murphy ran for 266 against Millersville on Nov. 12, 2011, and the second-most in a PSAC game this season.

The Gunslinger
Connor Simmons continued his climb in the all-time record books at Clarion with his game against Edinboro:

• He reached 6,854 career passing yards, and now needs just 991 more to become the program's career leader;
• He now has 57 passing touchdowns, needing just nine more for the program record;
• Simmons now ranks third all-time in pass completions with 461 and third in attempts with 856.  He needs 23 more of the former and 60 more of the latter to advance to next rung of each respective category.

Other items of note regarding Connor Simmons:

• Simmons was named the PSAC West Offensive Player of the Week after going off in the Golden Eagles' season opener, throwing for 396 yards on 25-of-41 passing with four touchdowns and no picks as Clarion defeated Lock Haven 41-24.  
• Last year Simmons produced one of the best seasons under center in program history.  He broke the passing records of current head coach Chris Weibel with 3,582 passing yards and 34 touchdowns last year, ranking fifth in NCAA Division II in both categories.

Long Distance Runaround
Kyle Evans remains one of the more versatile options in the Clarion arsenal, as his team-high 179 all-purpose yards against Edinboro would attest.  Evans produced 89 receiving yards, 82 total return yards and eight rushing yards against the Fighting Scots.  He is averaging 88.7 all-purpose yards per game but has four games with more than that total this year.

Pick Your Poison
Matt Lehman and Kevin Genevro have climbed towards the top of the list in the PSAC in most receiving categories.  Lehman ranks sixth in yards per game at 91.2 while Genevro is eighth at 86.0.  As far as actual receptions go, Lehman ranks eighth in the league with 5.6 grabs per game while Genevro is 11th at 5.2.

Cleaning It Up
The Clarion defensive backfield has been heavily populated with younger players, and so far the young guns have delivered.  Wade Stieren ranks second on the team with an average of 5.8 tackles per game, while teammate Tyrone Cromwell has also added 24 total tackles.

• Stieren posted 12 tackles in Week 1 against Lock Haven, the second-best total in the PSAC that week.

Stack 'Em Up
Sophomore linebacker Layne Skundrich has shot to the top of the Clarion defense in regards to tackles over the last three weeks.  He has totaled 24 tackles in the last three games, including 10 stops against Mercyhurst on Sept. 24.

2K Sports
Matt Lehman notched six receptions for 81 yards against Edinboro to continue his climb in the all-time record books at Clarion.  The senior receiver now has 133 career receptions - 4th in program history - and 2,134 career receiving yards, good for sixth on the all-time list.  With 31 more receiving yards he'll pass Ron Urbansky for fifth on the all-time list.

Though he's been kept out the endzone in each of the last two games, Lehman is still on pace to tie or break the all-time receiving touchdowns mark.  With 21 scores in his career, he's tied for third in program history with Jim Becker.  He needs two more to reach Alvin Slaughter and four more to tie Terry McFetridge's mark of 25 set in 1985.

• Against Mercyhurst Lehman became just the seventh player in program history to top 2,000 career receiving yards.  
• Lehman was held out of the endzone against Edinboro, marking the first time he's been shut out in two straight games since the 2014 season, in games against IUP and Slippery Rock. He has caught a touchdown in 13 of the last 16 games he's played, dating back to the 2014 season finale.

Making a Splash
Quinlin Lambert produced two of the biggest plays of the game against Mercyhurst on Sept. 24, blocking a Laker punt in the first half and recording a key interception in the fourth quarter.  Lambert's blocked punt was Clarion's first blocked kick of any kind since Kwame Bell got a piece of a Seton Hill kick on Oct. 17, 2015.

On the Road Again
Clarion has played much of the early schedule on the road this year, with the game against the Griffins representing the fourth time in the last five weeks the Golden Eagles will be away from the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium.  The Golden Eagles are 5-2 at home under head coach Chris Weibel and are a respectable 4-5  on the road under his tutelage as well.  Things will balance out late in the year, when Clarion plays three straight games at home to close out the regular season.

Lights, Camera, Action!
Clarion University will continue its fruitful partnership with the Pennsylvania Sports Fever Television Network in 2016, with three contests – 9/10 at Bloomsburg, 10/1 vs. Edinboro and 10/15 vs. California (Pa.) – airing live on affiliates across the state of Pennsylvania and made available to millions in the Keystone State.  The selected games will also be streamed on ESPN3 via the Watch ESPN app. 

Airborne Rangers
2015 Don Hansen Third Team All-American wide receiver Matt Lehman and fellow returning starter Kevin Genevro return to wreak havoc on opposing defenses in 2016, with the duo accounting for a total of 26 touchdowns last year.  Lehman set a new program record with 15 receiving touchdowns last year, breaking Alvin Slaughter's record of 13 set in 1998, while hauling in a total of 67 passes (fifth all-time) for 979 yards (third).  Genevro provided a strong counter-punch for Lehman, catching 42 passes for 886 yards (21.1 yards per catch) and 11 scores.

Those two won't be the only ones looking to make noise this year.  Kyle Evans provided a slot option for the offense last year and will try to take more strides forward in 2016, while tight end Gage Clark averaged nearly 20 yards per catch last year with one touchdown.

Double Threat
Junior running back and 2016 co-captain Delrece Williams provides a multi-dimensional threat to the Golden Eagles in the backfield.  The 2015 second team all-conference selection ran for 978 yards and six touchdowns last year but was also effective in the passing game, ranking third on the team in receptions (31) and receiving yards (465) while also catching four touchdown passes.

The Buck Stops Here
The Clarion defense returns just three players that started more than half of last year's games, but that doesn't mean there isn't a considerable amount of experience taking the field.  Second Team All-PSAC West and CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American Matt Koerper returns to the defensive line after his best year as a Golden Eagle.

The secondary features veteran leadership in senior Adam Lynch and junior Colton McKay, while senior Jacob Craig is the ranking leader in the linebacking corps for the Golden Eagles' 3-3-5 formation.  Myles Edmonds is another veteran hand in the secondary, having started 20 straight games before missing the first three of the season due to injury.

Up Next
Clarion will return home for a televised broadcast against California (Pa.) at Memorial Stadium.  The game is set for Saturday, Oct. 15 with a 6 p.m. kickoff time.