EDINBORO, Pa. – The Golden Eagle football team controlled action in the trenches and on the ground, but a fourth quarter score by Edinboro proved the difference as Clarion dropped a 17-10 decision to the Fighting Scots at Sox Harrison Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
 
The ground game was easily the best it's been all year for Clarion (0-9, 0-6 PSAC West), as Khalil Owens gashed the Fighting Scots for big gains and kept things on track for the Golden Eagle offense. He toted the ball 32 times for 179 yards on Saturday, including a 52-yard run in the third quarter that was the longest rush of the season for the Golden Eagles.
 
With positive runs keeping things on schedule, and quarterback Zechariah Sanderson taking care of the football, the defense was able to play with maximum effort against the Fighting Scots. The Golden Eagle defensive front chased quarterback Isaac Bernard for most of the afternoon. They sacked him once, forced him into three interceptions, and generally harassed him behind the line of scrimmage.
 
Legend Davis halted the first Edinboro drive by forcing one of those interceptions, picking off Bernard at the goal line on the Fighting Scots' opening drive. That pinned the Golden Eagles back at their own one-yard line, but Owens stacked up three big runs in a row to pull Clarion past the shadow of the goalposts and up to the 30. Sanderson connected with Regan Schleicher on a 3^rd-and-10 for a 17-yard gain and a first down at the 31, and Ty Corbin pulled in a pass at the Edinboro 16 to get within field goal range. Jarrett Esposito booted it through from 33 yards out to put Clarion ahead 3-0 in the first quarter, an advantage that held through the entire first quarter.
 
Drew Blon shut down another potential Edinboro scoring drive in the second quarter. With the Fighting Scots in the red zone, Bernard forced a pass into coverage in the end zone that Esaie Batoula appeared to deflect near the back line. The ball popped loose to Blon, who snagged it for his second interception in as many weeks.
 
The Fighting Scots struck with a touchdown in the waning moments of the first half, with Bernard hitting tight end Jack Hollibaugh in the end zone from 20 yards out to put Edinboro ahead 7-3. Vicente Arriagada hit a 30-yard field goal with 26 seconds left in the half to put the Fighting Scots ahead 10-3 at the break.
 
 Davis set up Clarion's sole touchdown of the game as well, picking off Bernard across the middle in the third quarter and returning it 40 yards to the Edinboro 30. Five plays later, Sanderson connected with Nathan Roby on a screen pass, with the freshman running back fighting for extra yards and stretching to the pylon for his first career score. That tied the game at 10 with 7:36 remaining in the third quarter.
 
Edinboro was able to find the end zone one more time, though, with Anfernee Williams scoring a five-yard rushing touchdown on a drive that started on a Clarion interception. The Golden Eagles probed into Fighting Scot territory twice for the remainder of the fourth quarter but were unable to hit paydirt one more time as Edinboro took the victory.