Game 1 // Clarion Golden Eagles (0-0, 0-0 PSAC West) at Shippensburg Red Raiders (0-0, 0-0 PSAC East)
Saturday, September 7 // 1 p.m. // Shippensburg, Pa. // Seth Grove Stadium (7,700)

Media Coverage
Can't make it to the game?  You can follow along with Golden Eagle football no matter where you are!

• 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.
• Video - All Golden Eagle home football games are streamed online, free of charge.  You can watch on your Roku / Apple TV / Android TV / Amazon Fire TV devices with the Clarion Golden Eagle Vision app, or online linked on the schedule at ClarionGoldenEagles.com.  In addition, all PSAC member institutions will 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 Clarion Golden Eagles will kick off the 2019 season on the road when they face off with Shippensburg at Seth Grove Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7
• This will be the 58th meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Red Raiders, with Clarion owning a 33-23-1 record in the all-time series
• Clarion has not defeated Shippensburg since a 56-49 shootout in 2000 at Memorial Stadium.  The Red Raiders scored 28 unanswered points in the comeback bid.
• Clarion enters the season having graduated four of its five all-conference selections from a year ago, including First Team All-PSAC West selection Brandon Vocco. 
• Senior defensive lineman Saif Khan is the lone returning all-conference selection, having earned Second Team honors in 2018.
• The Golden Eagles return four starting defensive backs from a unit that ranked third in the PSAC in passing defense, limiting opponents to 191.5 yards per game and holding them to just a 49.7 completion percentage, the best mark in the league.
• Senior safety Sam Fareri earned Google Cloud Academic All-America honors a year ago, making him the fourth Golden Eagle in as many years to make his way onto the team.  Fareri led the team with four interceptions and two forced fumbles in 2018, and ranked second in tackles.
• Senior wide receiver Dana Jackson ranked fourth in the PSAC with a 17.8 yards per catch average and led Clarion with four receiving touchdowns in 2018.
• The Golden Eagles return three of their top four pass catchers from a year ago, and overall 58 percent of their catches from last season.
• Clarion welcomes a pair of key transfers at wide receiver in upperclassmen Terrell Ford and Kahliq Muhammad.
• Junior running back Mylique McGriff averaged 100.6 all-purpose yards per game last year and is averaging 5.5 yards per touch over the course of his two-year career; his 78.5 yards per game rushing is the most for Clarion backs since 1999.
• 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 season on the road this weekend when they take on the Red Raiders of Shippensburg at Seth Grove Stadium.  Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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 via the C93 website and linked on the schedule at ClarionGoldenEagles.com.

Scouting The Red Raiders
Shippensburg was predicted to finish fourth in the PSAC East preseason coaches' poll, behind West Chester (six first place votes), Shepherd (2) and Kutztown.  The Red Raiders return two of the most dangerous players in the league, though, including the 2018 PSAC East Athlete of the Year in Josh Gontarek, and the 2018 PSAC East Freshman of the Year in quarterback Brycen Mussina.  

Gontarek finished the regular season ranked 10th in the nation in receiving yards (1,097). He claimed second in the PSAC in receptions (74).  Mussina paced the PSAC in five major passing categories, including touchdowns (32), yards (3,376), completions (254), attempts (421) and yards-per-game average (306.9). Behind Mussina's strong play, the Red Raiders led the league in passing yards per game (308.1).

Series History
This will be the 58th meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Red Raiders, with Clarion owning a 33-23-1 record in the all-time series with Shippensburg.  The teams have met in crossover action for four straight years dating back to the 2016 season, including a 35-14 win for the Red Raiders in last year's season opener.

Clarion's last win in the series came nearly two decades ago, with the Golden Eagles holding on for a 56-49 win in a shootout at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 23, 2000.  The Blue & Gold opened up a 56-21 lead on Shippensburg  through three quarters of action, but the Red Raiders scored four unanswered touchdowns to pull close.  They very nearly had the chance to tie it before successive penalties on an onside kick attempt put the ball in the Golden Eagles' hands at the end.  Clarion rushed for a combined 294 yards, and Adam Almashy threw for 282 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.

About the Coach
Chris Weibel is in his fourth season as the program's head coach after spending many of the previous years as an assistant.  Weibel has an overall record of 16-28 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

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.  Edinboro and Slippery Rock tied for the conference lead with 19 interceptions last year.

Clarion's 18 interceptions last year represented a five-pick improvement on the previous season, and the most for a single season since before 1999.  The closest Clarion has come to that mark in the last two decades with a 16-interception season in 2004.

> 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.

Controlling the Skies
In addition to their profiency at taking the ball away, the Golden Eagles were generally speaking one of the toughest teams to beat through the air in the conference.  Clarion held opponents to just a 49.7 completion percentage on the season, the best mark in the PSAC, and their 191.5 passing yards allowed per game ranked behind just Cal U and Millersville.

Missing the Point(s)
In addition to the other laudables for the Golden Eagle defense last year, they were also adept at keeping opposing teams off the scoreboard.  The Golden Eagles ranked third in the conference in scoring defense with 21.1 points allowed per game, with only two teams - Shippensburg and California - scoring more than 30 points against them all year long.  

> Clarion ranked fourth in the conference in total defense at 336.4 yards allowed per game.

Bringing the Big Boot
Kicker James 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 10 conversions from Metzgar would give him 28 career field goals, good enough for fourth in program history.

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 13 total turnovers in his career, including nine picks and four 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.  Two more forced fumbles 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.

Wrath of Khan
Though the Golden Eagles lost a number of all-conference performers from a year ago, they did bring back one of their All-PSAC West contributors from 2018 in senior defensive lineman Saif Khan.  Khan finished the 2018 season with 52 total tackles, third amongst all defensive linemen on the team, and added 5.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 total sacks.

The Crime Dog
When it comes to big plays and consistent offensive pressure, Mylique McGriff has been one of the key cogs in the Clarion offensive machine over the last two years.  Last year the running back averaged 100.6 all-purpose yards per game, and his career average of 78.5 rushing yards per game is the most for a Golden Eagle in the last 20 years (that have met appropriate minimums).  

> Currently at 1,491 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.

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

Long Range Strike
Wide receiver Dana Jackson ranked fourth in the PSAC with a 17.8 yards per catch average and led Clarion with four receiving touchdowns in 2018, and the senior wide receiver will lead a corps that blends elements of the old and the new.  He and fellow outside target Marcus McCoy return in 2018, and Clarion will also welcome a pair of talented transfers to the receiver room.  Kahliq Muhammad comes to Clarion from Urbana College, while Terrell Ford's journey started at Division I FBS Toledo before a brief detour at Seton Hill.

> Muhammad and Ford are not the only two transfers expected to make an impact in 2019.  While not a comprehensive list of transfers on the team, there are a number of transfers dotting Clarion's two-deep in their first year wearing the Blue & Gold:

OL Joe MacAvoy
DL Mark Lanier
DB Cameron Sutherland
QB Michael Proios
DB Rayonte Campbell
DL Anthony Gallegos

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