CLARION, Pa. --- The Golden Eagle football team fell behind early on Saturday afternoon as their modest two-game win streak was snapped by Edinboro, with the Fighting Scots defeating Clarion 47-17 at Memorial Stadium.
 
Clarion quarterback Zach Benedek and running back Khalil Owens both rushed for scores on Saturday afternoon, while Jarrett Esposito kicked his sixth field goal of the season, to account for the Golden Eagle offense. Though the teams were essentially dead even in terms of total yardage – Edinboro gained 317 yards in toto, while Clarion finished with 316 yards – the Fighting Scots took advantage of four Golden Eagle interceptions. Edinboro converted two of those picks into touchdowns – a one-yard rush by Zidane Thomas in the third quarter, and a 91-yard pick-six by Allen Stritzinger in the fourth quarter – and defused other Golden Eagle drives in the process.
 
The Golden Eagles forced a pair of Edinboro turnovers themselves, with Drew Blon setting up Clarion's first score of the game with an interception late in the first half. With roughly five minutes remaining in the second quarter, Blon picked off quarterback Isaac Bernard on the lefthand sideline to give Clarion possession at the 46-yard line. Benedek did most of the damage on the drive with his legs, rushing for 14 yards on 2^nd-and-10 to push it deep into Fighting Scot territory. He connected with Regan Schleicher on 3^rd-and-6 for a first down converstion to put the ball in the red zone, and three plays later Benedek took it upon himself to rush for the end zone.
 
Benedek finished the game with a team-high 67 rushing yards on nine carries. The touchdown was his seventh total of the season, representing the most rushing and receiving touchdowns for a Golden Eagle quarterback since Tyler Huether had eight in 2009. That score made it 24-7 at the halftime break, with the Golden Ealges set to receive the ball to start the second half.
 
The reprieve was short-lived, though, as Edinboro scored on their opening drive of the quarter. The Fighting Scots faced 3^rd-and-2 from the 30-yard line, with Thaddeus Standfield winning a jump ball in the end zone for the score. The lead reached 41-10 by the end of the third quarter, and was 47-10 after Stritzinger's pick-six in the fourth; Che Trevena, however, blocked the ensuing extra point.
 
Quarterback Tony Powell closed out the game by authoring a Clarion scoring drive, taking the Golden Eagles 75 yards down the field in 12 plays for a score. Owens and Powell largely kept the ball on the ground, with the former finally breaking through from three yards out for his team-leading fifth rushing score of the season. Owens also hit a special milestone in his Golden Eagle career on Saturday, breaking the 1,000-yard barrier in his time at Clarion.
 
Kareem Hamdan led the Golden Eagles with nine total tackles, while Blon had five stops and the interception. Clarion defenders combined for 11 tackles for loss against the Fighting Scots, with Legend Davis and Blon each contributing 1.5 TFL.
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