Game 4 // Clarion Golden Eagles (2-1, 0-0 PSAC West) at Gannon Golden Knights (1-2, 0-0 PSAC West)
Saturday, September 28 // 1 p.m. // Erie, Pa. // McConnell Family Stadium (2,500)

Media Coverage

Radio - Mike Kalinowski and Joe Lodanosky will have the radio call for the game on 96.3 WKQW-FM an hour before kickoff.  Live audio streaming will be available via the WKQW website and linked on the schedule at ClarionGoldenEagles.com.

Streaming Video - All PSAC member institutions stream football games free of charge via Stretch Internet and the PSAC Network app (Roku / Apple TV / Android TV / Amazon Fire TV devices.)

Live Stats

Clarion Game Notes

Quick Notes

• The Golden Eagles will try for a win in their PSAC West opener on Saturday afternoon when they hit the road to take on the Gannon Golden Knights
• This will be the 12th meeting between the two teams, with Clarion owning a 7-4 advantage in the all-time series with the Golden Knights
• Clarion has won three of the last four meetings with the Golden Knights, and owns a 3-2 record on the road against Gannon
• The Golden Eagles are coming off a 40-24 loss to Shepherd at Memorial Stadium, a game in which Clarion held an early lead before the Rams took control of the action
• Quarterback Jeff Clemens tossed two touchdown passes and ran for another, tying his career high with three total touchdowns
• Running back Mylique McGriff leads the PSAC with 353 total rushing yards and ranks second in the league with an average of 117.7 rushing yards per game
• McGriff needs 156 rushing yards to reach 2,000 rushing yards for his career, and 208 more yards to enter the top-10 in career rushing at Clarion
• The Golden Eagles currently boast the most prolific rushing offense in the conference, averaging 218.7 rushing yards per game through three weeks
• Clarion ranks fifth in the league with six rushing touchdowns - three from Mylique McGriff, two from freshman Ross Greece and one from Jeff Clemens
• Senior safety Sam Fareri had a season-high nine tackles against Shepherd, as well as a pass break-up in the end zone to prevent a Ram touchdown
• Fareri needs one more forced fumble to tie for fifth all-time in program history
• Fareri also blocked an extra point against Shepherd
• The Golden Eagle defense leads the conference in third down percentage, allowing opponents to convert just 27.8 percent of their third-down attempts into first downs
• Clarion ranks sixth in the PSAC in scoring offense with an average of 40.0 points per agme through three contests
• Clarion's defense ranks sixth in the conference with eight sacks, led by Vaughn Wallace's 2.0 sacks
• Clarion has once again renewed its fruitful partnership with SportsFever and will have three games televised locally and streamed nationally on ESPN3 - 9/14 vs. Shippensburg, 10/26 at Slippery Rock and 11/9 vs. Mercyhurst

The Lead
The Clarion Golden Eagles will open the 2019 PSAC West schedule on the road when they look for a win over the Gannon Golden Knights for the second straight year.  Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at McConnell Family Stadium, as Gannon University celebrates its 2019 Homecoming.

Mike Kalinowski and Joe Lodanosky will have the radio call for the game on 96.3 WKQW-FM an hour before kickoff.  Live audio streaming will be available via the C93 website and linked on the schedule at ClarionGoldenEagles.com.

Scouting The Golden Knights
Gannon was tabbed to finish sixth in the PSAC West preseason coaches' poll one year after going 2-9 overall and 2-5 in the PSAC West division.  Their sole wins last year came against Seton Hill and Cal U, the latter of which was the program's first-ever win over the Vulcans.  Gannon returned 14 starters from a year ago, including All-PSAC selections in Jay Bullock and Andrew Berger.

The Golden Knights won their season opener against Southern Connecticut State, scoring a pair of touchdowns within four minutes of one another in the third quarter to defeat the Owls 14-7 on the road.  They suffered a pair of losses to two of the more difficult teams in the PSAC East division, falling 48-14 to 19th-ranked and presumptive PSAC East favorite West Chester and 35-10 to Kutztown.  The Golden Bears kept Gannon out of the end zone until the fourth quarter of last week's game, with the Golden Knights' lone touchdown coming on a forced fumble and 80-yard return by Khwan Mickens.

Series History
This will be the 12th meeting between Clarion and Gannon, with the Golden Eagles owning a 7-4 advantage in the all-time series with the Golden Knights.  Clarion has won three of the last four meetings between the teams and has not typically been at a disadvantage on the road, owning a 3-2 record in Erie.  Lately the games have been high-scoring, with the losing team topping 28 points in three of the last four meetings as well.

The outlier in that trend is also the most recent game in the series, when the Golden Eagles held on for a 14-9 win in a rainy defensive struggle.  Of the 23 combined points in the game nine came by way of defensive scores, with Alec Heldreth scoring on a strip sack and fumble recovery  to tie the score at 7-7 in the second quarter, and a Gannon safety to put the Golden Knights ahead in the third quarter.  Dana Jackson, Jr. provided the eventual game-winning touchdown with 16 seconds left in the third quarter on a 34-yard touchdown.  The Clarion defense held Gannon's prolific rushing attack in check, keeping All-American running back Marcus Jones to just 22 yards, and the pass rush sacked Jason Dambach five times.

About the Coach
Chris Weibel is in his fifth season as the program's head coach after spending many of the previous years as an assistant.  Weibel has an overall record of 18-29 at Clarion, including a 10-18 record in PSAC West play.  A 2010 inductee into the Clarion Sports Hall of Fame, Weibel graduated with every major Clarion passing record to his credit.

Clarion Picked Seventh in Preseason Poll
In a coaches' poll before the start of the year, Clarion was predicted to finish seventh in the PSAC West division in 2019.  

PSAC West (# of 1st place votes)
1) Slippery Rock (6)
2) Cal U (1)
3) IUP (1)
4) Mercyhurst
5) Edinboro
6) Gannon
7) Clarion
8) Seton Hill

PSAC East (# of 1st place votes)
1. West Chester (6)
2. Shepherd (2)
3. Kutztown
4. Shippensburg
5. Bloomsburg
6. East Stroudsburg
7. Millersville
8. Lock Haven

Last Week
The Golden Eagle football team took an early lead but was unable to hold on, and Clarion fell by a score of 40-24 to Shepherd at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.  The Rams took the advantage in the second quarter and made it count, with the Golden Eagles' final two scores of the game coming late in the fourth quarter.
Shepherd came into the game with the reputation of being able to attack with the pass and did not disappoint, with sophomore quarterback Tyson Bagent finishing with 394 passing yards and five scores.  Clarion did a solid job holding the Rams in check early on, keeping them at bay until quick scores midway through the second quarter.
 
Jeff Clemens finished with three total touchdowns on the day, recovering a fumble in the end zone in the first quarter to take the lead and tossing passes to Kahliq Muhammad and Dana Jackson in the fourth quarter.  The redshirt senior finished the game with 11 completions on 18 attempts, but also threw an interception.  Quinn Zinobile was the top pass-catcher on the day with four receptions for 88 yards, while Mylique McGriff had 54 yards on 16 carries.

Safety Sam Fareri was the top tackler for the Golden Eagles with nine total stops, and the senior also recorded a pass break-up in the end zone and a blocked extra point in the first quarter.  Saif Khan finished with seven tackles and a sack.

The Crime Dog
Mylique McGriff went off for his second straight 100-yard rushing game against Lock Haven, posting 120 yards on the ground in Clarion's win.  Now he has 353 total yards through three weeks of action, the highest total in the PSAC, and his average of 117.7 yards per game is second-most in the PSAC behind Seton Hill's Logan Wiland.  Currently at 1,844 career rushing yards, McGriff is still on the hunt for his first career 1,000-yard rushing season.  If he hits that mark this year, it would catapult him into the top-five in career rushing at Clarion through just three seasons.

> McGriff is averaging 83.8 rushing yards per game thorughout his career.  That ranks as the best per-game average at Clarion in the last 20 years.

> McGriff's game against Shippensburg ranked as one of the best in his college career, and it earned him PSAC West Offensive Co-Athlete of the Week honors for Sept. 9.  McGriff rushed for 179 yards on 27 carries and set a career-high with three rushing touchdowns.  It was all part of a Golden Eagle effort that topped 300 total rushing yards for the game. 

Mylique McGriff - Longest Career Rushes
1. 79 yards, at Gannon - 11/4/17
2. 60 yards, at Slippery Rock - 10/28/17
3. 56 yards, at Shippensburg - 9/7/19
4. 55 yards, vs. California (Pa.) - 10/6/18
5. 53 yards, vs. Shippensburg - 9/1/18
6. 51 yards, at Slippery Rock - 10/28/17

Double Trouble
The receiving duo of Quinn Zinobile and Terrell Ford both caught a pair of touchdown passes against Lock Haven, marking the first scores in the Blue & Gold for both receivers.  While Clarion has had a recent history of strong depth at receiver, it has actually been nearly four years since two players both caught multiple touchdown passes in the same game.  For that you have to go back to Oct. 10, 2015, when Matt Lehman and Kevin Genevro both hauled in two scores against Edinboro.

Spreading the Love
Clarion quarterbacks have displayed the ability to spread the ball around to different weapons as the situation calls for it.  The Golden Eagles have already had six different players catch touchdowns through three games.  Last year only six different players caught touchdown passes through the full 11-game schedule.

What's more, the Clarion passing attack has become a much more dangerous weapon than it was a year ago.  With touchdown receptions by Kahliq Muhammad and Dana Jackson, Jr. against Shepherd on Sept. 21, Golden Eagle quarterbacks have combined for 10 touchdowns in three games.  Last year the team recorded just 11 touchdown pass total through the 11-game schedule.  Clarion is currently tied for fourth in the PSAC with 10 total touchdown passes.

Kick Blocking Continues in 2019
With Sam Fareri's blocked extra point against Shepherd on Sept. 21, the Golden Eagles continued their tradition of getting after opposing special teams players on a regular basis.  Last year Clarion saw three different players block kicks during the year, the first time that had happened since 2015.

Getting Off The Field
No defense in the PSAC has been better at getting off the field on third down than the Golden Eagles this season.  Clarion is holding opponents to just a 27.8 third down conversion percentage.

Bringing the Big Boot
Kicker/punter James Metzgar was named the PSAC West Special Teams Athlete of the Week for Sept. 16 after using his feet to contribute to Clarion's win over Lock Haven in more ways than one. The senior went 5-of-6 on extra points and also added three punts for an average of 40.0 yards per kick, including one planted inside the 20-yard line. His most exciting play of the day came late in the game, when a breakdown forced Metzgar to evade a tackler in the backfield and go on the run. He eluded tacklers and went off for a 28-yard rush to give Clarion a first down. The Golden Eagles scored a touchdown on the very next play.

> Metzgar ranked second in the PSAC in field goal percentage last year, making 10 of his 13 kicks for a 76.9 percent mark from long.  His 10 makes ranked behind just IUP's Dillon Sarka and Slippery Rock's Jake Chapla.  While not statistically the most proficient kicker in Clarion history ­– that would be Bill May, he of the program-record 49 makes from 1977-80 – another nine conversions from Metzgar would give him 28 career field goals, good enough for fourth in program history.

Going the Other Way
Linebacker Trent Rogers intercepted Brycen Mussina and returned the pick for a touchdown at the end of the first half of Clarion's win over Shippensburg on Sept. 7, marking the first Clarion defensive touchdown of the year and snapping a years-long pick-six drought.  The Golden Eagles' last defensive touchdown came last year in a win over Gannon, when defensive lineman Alec Heldreth recovered a fumble in the end zone.  Rogers' interception return was the first such score for Clarion since Jacob Craig returned a pick for a score against Cheyney on Sept. 19, 2015.

Yoink!
Last year the Golden Eagles were one of the top teams not just in the conference but in the nation at picking off passes.  With 18 total interceptions in 2018, Clarion ranked eighth in NCAA Division II and third in the PSAC.  Their 27 forced turnovers ranked 11th in the country and third in the PSAC, and their turnover margin of +0.55 ranked fourth in the league.

Clarion's trend of taking the ball away from opponents has continued in 2019.  The Golden Eagles have forced five turnovers through three games this year, including three forced fumbles on defense.

> Of the eight players to record interceptions for the Golden Eagles last year, Clarion returns six of them, including leader Sam Fareri (4).  As such, the Golden Eagles "return" 12 of the 18 picks from a season ago.

Paving the Road
The Golden Eagles rank as the top rushing team in the PSAC through three games, averaging 218.7 rushing yards per game.  That also ranks 26th in the nation through three weeks. 

> Clarion rushed for 341 yards as a team against Shippensburg on Sept. 9, recording an impressive 7.1 yards per carry and including four rushing touchdowns – three by Mylique McGriff and the first career score for Ross Greece.  It is the best single-game rushing total for the Golden Eagles since Oct. 8, 2011, when they went off for 423 rushing yards at home against Lock Haven.

Lighting It Up
Entering Week 4 Clarion ranks fourth in the PSAC with an average of 40.0 points per game.  The Golden Eagles scored 48 points each against Shippensburg and Lock Haven in the first two weeks of the year, their first back-to-back 40-point performances since scoring 47 and 41 points, respectively, in back-to-back weeks against Gannon and Mercyhurst during the 2015 season.  Clarion also scored a program-record 59 points against Cheyney before the former.

> Clarion's 48 points scored against Shippensburg on Sept. 9 represented the first time they had  cracked 40 points against a PSAC opponent since dropping 41 points on Gannon in the 2016 season, and was their highest single-game scoring output since a 59-6 win against Cheyney during the 2015 season.  The last time they scored 48 or more points against a current PSAC school was the year before, during a 55-16 win over Millersville.

Ball Hawk
Now in his fourth season, Sam Fareri has been a major factor in creating turnovers throughout his college career.  With four interceptions and two forced fumbles last season, he has now accounted for 14 total turnovers in his career, including nine picks and five forced fumbles.  He needs just three more interceptions to crack the top-six in program history, tying him with Kim Niedbala's total of 12 set from 1993-96.  One more forced fumble would tie him with Niedbala and four others for seventh in program history.

> Fareri was named a Google Cloud Academic All-American in 2018, making in the fourth Golden Eagle in as many years to earn a spot on the team.

Lights, Camera, Action!
Clarion University will continue its fruitful partnership with the Pennsylvania Sports Fever Television Network in 2019, with three contests – 9/14 vs. Lock Haven, 10/26 at Slippery Rock and 11/9 vs. Mercyhurst – 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. 


Eagle Media to Stream Clarion Home Games
In a joint venture between Eagle Media Productions and the athletic department, all Clarion home football games in 2019 will be available via free video streaming.  Viewers will be able to access the streams a number of different ways...

Computer - Via the Clarion portal on Stretch Internet, linked on the schedule page
Streaming Device - Via Roku / Apple TV / Android TV / Amazon Fire TV devices with the Clarion Golden Eagle Vision app