Clarion Golden Eagles (3-6, 2-3 PSAC West) at #17/16 IUP Crimson Hawks (7-1, 5-1 PSAC West)
Saturday, November 5 // 2 p.m. // Indiana, Pa. // Miller Stadium

Media Coverage

Streaming Video: All PSAC member institutions stream football games free of charge on the PSAC Sports Digital Network. Games are available on the web, and fans can download the PSAC Sports Digital Network App on the following: 

• Mobile: App Store (iOS), Google Play (Android), Amazon Fire
• Streaming: Amazon Fire, Android TV, Apple TV, Roku

Live Stats: IUP provides live stats for home athletic events through StatBroadcast. 

The Kickoff    
The Golden Eagles close out PSAC West action on the road this week when they travel to George P. Miller Stadium to take on the nationally-ranked IUP Crimson Hawks. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. 

Series History

• This will be the 92nd meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Crimson Hawks, with IUP leading the all-time series 64-24-3. The first ever meeting came in the 1927 season, with IUP winning by a score of 51-0 over Clarion in that first-ever contest. 
• IUP has won 10 straight meetings between the teams dating back to the 2011 season, including four straight in Indiana. 
• Clarion's last win in the series came on the road at IUP, though, a 21-14 victory on Oct. 16, 2010. Alfonso Hoggard went off for 179 yards, including touchdown runs of 49 and 69 yards in the fourth quarter, to seal the victory. Nick Sipes recorded 10 tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery and an interception.
• The last game played at Miller Stadium came down to the wire, as the Golden Eagles fell in a 24-23 heartbreaker on Oct. 13, 2018. Clarion built a 20-0 lead in the first quarter on a touchdown catch by Dana Jackson, Jr. and one scoring run each from Mylique McGriff and Scott Florence, but Lenny Williams threw two long touchdowns in the fourth quarter to erase a 23-10 deficit. 
• Last year the Crimson Hawks defeated the Golden Eagles 51-14 at Memorial Stadium, outscoring Clarion a combined 42-7 in the second and third quarters. Quinn Zinobile scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

About the Opponent

• IUP was one of two teams tied for first in the PSAC preseason coaches' poll, receiving three first-place votes alongside Slippery Rock in the August release. They have essentially lived up to that billing, as the Crimson Hawks are tied for first in the PSAC West division. Their sole loss came just last week, though, a 43-36 setback to Gannon on the road.
• This week IUP checks in at 17th in the AFCA coaches poll, and 16th in the D2Football.com poll. 
• With a win today, IUP would clinch a spot in the PSAC Championship game next week and would earn a share of the PSAC West title.
• Quarterback Mak Sexton has thrown 18 touchdown passes compared to just four interceptions, and his favorite target - Duane Brown - has totaled 60 catches for 988 yards and 13 touchdowns in just eight games. 

Last Week

• The Golden Eagle football team held tight with their nationally-ranked opponent through the first 30 minutes of action, but it was ultimately not enough as Clarion dropped a 31-0 decision to 13th-ranked Slippery Rock at Memorial Stadium on Oct. 29.
• Clarion rushed for more than 100 yards and held Slippery Rock to just 93 yards on 25 attempts, a 3.7 yards per carry average. They played a spirited game defensively early on, holding the Rock to just 14 points before the half. It was not until well into the third quarter that Slippery Rock managed to truly pull away.
• The Golden Eagle rushing attack was led by Nathan Roby, who carried six times for 51 yards, primarily in the second half. The sophomore receiver also caught four passes for 27 yards, with 25 of those yards coming after the reception.
• Jordan Villafane had a team-high 10 tackles and a pass break-up, while safety Legend Davis contributed eight tackles. Kareem Hamdan had six tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack, and nearly scored the Golden Eagles' only points of the game in the third quarter. Jarrett Esposito punted from his own 49-yard line, but return man Kenyon Johnson lost the handle on the ball and muffed the fair catch. Hamdan recovered and took the ball to the end zone, but a penalty was called on the Golden Eagles for fair catch interference and the ball came back.

Meet the New Boss

• Raymond Monica, a two-time American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region 1 Coach of the Year and two-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Coach of the Year with more than 30 years of experience at the college level, became the 14th coach in Golden Eagle history on Feb. 17, 2022.
• Before coming to Clarion, Monica was an assistant coach at Southeastern Louisiana from 2019-21, including a one-year stint as the defensive coordinator in 2021. The Lions made the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs in 2019 and 2021, winning their first round game in both of those seasons. In 2021, the Lions finished 15th in the final FCS rankings of the year.
• Where Golden Eagle fans may best recognize Monica, though, would be his tenure as Kutztown's head football coach from 2006-12. He turned the Golden Bears into one of the leading programs in the conference, culminating with back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Division II Super Region One playoffs in 2010-11.

PSAC Announces Preseason Coaches Poll
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) announced the results of their preseason coaches poll on August 4. The Golden Eagles were predicted to finish eighth in the PSAC West division in 2022.

PSAC West Division (First Place Votes)
T1.    Slippery Rock (3)
T1.    IUP (3)
3.    California (PA) (2)
4.    Gannon
T5.    Edinboro
T5.    Seton Hill
7.    Mercyhurst
8.    Clarion

PSAC East Division (First Place Votes)

1. Shepherd (4)
2. Kutztown (4)
3. West Chester
4. Shippensburg
5. East Stroudsburg
6. Bloomsburg
7. Millersville
8. Lock Haven

Hager Brings Experience, Championship Lineage to Clarion

• Defensive coordinator Josh Hager enters his first season on the Golden Eagle staff in 2022, one year after service as the defensive coordinator at NCAA Division III Alvernia. Prior to that, he ran the defense at Missouri Southern from 2019-20, where he tutored the top two tacklers in the MIAA.
• As the defensive coordinator for Garden City Community College from 2016-18, Hager produced one of the top defensive units in the nation, and helped the Broncbusters win the 2016 NJCAA national championship.
• Among those players coached by Hager at GCCC were one national Defensive Player of the Year, two conference Defensive Players of the Year, two conference Defensive Linemen of the Year, 11 All-Americans, 41 First Team All-Conference players, and one first round draft pick in Mike Hughes (Minnesota Vikings - 2018).
• Hager is the son of legendary football coach Rocky Hager, whose career highlights include leading North Dakota State to seven NCAA Tournament appearances and two NCAA Division II championships (1988, 90).

Pioneer of "The Fly" Comes to Clarion 

• The Golden Eagle offense will be under the tutelage of veteran coach Mark Speckman, who brings more than 40 years of coaching experience to the program.
• The pioneer of the Fly offense that is widely used across high school, collegiate and professional ranks, Speckman spent the previous five seasons as the assistant head coach and running backs coach at UC Davis. He was part of the Aggies' 2018 Big Sky conference championship season.
• Speckman spent 15 seasons as a collegiate head coach, including 14 years at Willamette. He guided the team to an 82-59 record from 1997-2011, including two Northwest Conference championships, eight league title games and three NCAA Division III postseason appearances. Speckman's 2008 team finished 11-1 and ranked fourth nationally, earning him his second Northwest Conference Coach of the Year award and AFCA Division III West Region Coach of the Year acclaim.
• In addition to coaching football, Speckman has also become well-known for his motivational speaking engagements. Born without hands, he avoided drawing attention to himself as a younger athlete but has since embraced his own story to the point of earning numerous speaking appearances, including bookings at Boeing, Nike, Northwest Mutual, Patterson Dental, the Million Dollar Roundtable and other organizations.

On the Take

• Over the course of the last four weeks, the Golden Eagle defense has taken their ball-hawking skills to a new level, contributing directly to a pair of road wins.
• Clarion's wins over Seton Hill and Mercyhurst were largely fueled by turnovers, with the Golden Eagles forcing a combined seven against the Griffins and Lakers while committing none themselves. They recorded a total of three takeaways against Edinboro (two) and Slippery Rock (1) in the last two weeks to make 10 in the last four games. 
• Of those 10 turnovers, Clarion turned five of them into touchdowns. The Golden Eagles scored two touchdowns apiece off turnovers against the Griffins and the Lakers. Clarion's first touchdown of the game against Edinboro on Oct. 22 came as a result of Drew Blon's interception.

Owens Tops 1K

• With 56 yards on 13 carries against Edinboro on Oct. 22, Khalil Owens made some exclusive company by reaching 1,000 career rushing yards at Clarion.
• Owens is now the 29th player in program history to top 1,000 career rushing yards, doing so in the span of just 18 games.
• When factoring in his 193 rushing yards at Seton Hill, Owens now has 1,283 collegiate rushing yards.
• Owens ranks eighth in the PSAC in rushing at 64.4 yards per game, totaling 580 yards on 136 carries to date. His five rushing touchdowns are tied for sixth.

Benedek's Nose for the End Zone

• With a rushing touchdown against Edinboro on Oct. 22, Zach Benedek maintained his share of the team lead in rushing scores with five on the year. 
• Benedek currently leads all PSAC quarterbacks with five rushing touchdowns in 2022, a number that is tied for sixth overall in the PSAC. 
• Benedek has now scored seven total touchdowns this year, including five rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns.
• Benedek's seven total touchdowns this season rank him ninth in the PSAC and most among quarterbacks.
• The last Golden Eagle quarterback to record seven or more total touchdowns was Tyler Huether, who finished with eight rushing touchdowns during the 2009 season.

Twin Picks

• Kareem Hamdan was a ball-hawking force in Clarion's win over Mercyhurst on Oct. 15, recording two first-half interceptions as the Golden Eagles held the Laker offense in check.
• Hamdan's first pick of the day came in the first quarter, when Drew Blon pressured quarterback Joe Carter into a poor throw. Hamdan plucked the ball out of the air and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown.
• His second pick of the game also came as a result of pressure, this time with Robert Lachmann pressuring Carter.
• Hamdan's two-interception game is the first for the Golden Eagles since Legend Davis pulled in two picks against Edinboro on Nov. 6, 2021.

There's Scoring Defense, and "Scoring" Defense

• With a pick-six against Mercyhurst on Oct. 15, Kareem Hamdan became the third Golden Eagle defensive player to score a touchdown this season.
• Clarion has had two players return interceptions for touchdowns this year - Hamdan (Oct. 15 at Mercyhurst) and Connor Lyczek (Oct. 1 vs. California).
• Legend Davis did not score a true "defensive" touchdown but rather a special teams one, when he recovered a blocked field goal against Seton Hill on Oct. 8 and returned it 67 yards for a score. 

Road Warriors

• With their win over Mercyhurst on Oct. 15, the Golden Eagles improved to 3-1 in road games in 2022. That ensured they would finish with a winning record on the road for the first time in more than a decade.
• The Golden Eagles had not posted a winning record away from home since the 2010 season, a year in which Clarion went 3-2 on the road but 1-5 at home.
• Clarion has been .500 or better in road games a few times in that span, most recently in 2018 (2-2).

Winning the Turnover Battle

• Through eight games, the Golden Eagles have shown the ability to take care of the football while conversely snatching it away from their opponents.
• With a +8 turnover margin, Clarion enters this weekend ranked second in the conference behind only Shehperd.
• Clarion ranks second in the conference in turnovers gained at 18, and are tied for the PSAC lead in turnovers lost with only 10. That number ranks 16th in the nation. 
• Clarion has lost only two fumbles on the year, tied for the third-best total in the country. 

Roby Shows His Versatility

• Against Slippery Rock on Oct. 29, Nathan Roby saw himself with a featured role in the offense and acquitted himself well in the process. 
• Roby totaled 10 touches on offense, carrying the ball six times for 51 yards and catching four passes for 27 yards. 
• At one point in the third quarter, Roby recorded four straight rushes of seven or more yards, including a long run of 14 yards.
• The first major action of Roby's career came in last year's meeting with IUP, when he finished with 66 rushing yards and 44 receiving yards -- 110 combined yards -- on 12 total touches. 

Golden Leg

• Jarrett Esposito is the only kicker in the PSAC to have made six or more field goals this year without a miss. 
• He is also a perfect 17-of-17 on extra point attempts this year. Only one other PSAC kicker - East Stroudsburg's Devin Bartholomew - has been perfect with more than 17 attempts this year, making 25 straight PATs.
• Earlier this year Esposito was named the PSAC West Special Teams Athlete of the Week after kicking the game-winning field goal against Mercyhurst on Oct. 15.
• Esposito also showed his ability to pull off a trick play against Slippery Rock on Oct. 29, completing a pass on a fake punt attempt in the first quarter.

Golden Eagles by the Numbers - Week 10 Edition

• Clarion is averaging 4.44 points per red zone trip this season. That is sixth-best in the PSAC and fourth in the West division. IUP is just one spot ahead of them, in fifth place with an average of 4.61 points per red zone trip.
• Kareem Hamdan is just two tackles away from reaching 200 tackles in his career. He leads Clarion with 55 total stops this year.
• This week's game will feature two teams tied for second place in the PSAC in yards per rush. Both Clarion and IUP average 4.4 yards per attempt, second only to Shepherd's 6.9 yards per carry average.

Next Week

• The Golden Eagles will wrap up the 2022 season at home when they welcome West Chester to Memorial Stadium on Saturday, November 12.
• The Golden Rams have won five straight meetings in the series with the Golden Eagles, with Clarion's last win coming on Oct. 12, 2002 at Memorial Stadium. The Golden Eagles won that meeting 34-28, with Glenn Lovelace rushing for 181 yards and two touchdowns on Homecoming. Scott McGrady finished with 18 tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery.
• This will be the first time West Chester and Clarion have met in six years. The last time they clashed was also at Memorial Stadium, with the Golden Rams winning that meeting by a 37-10 score on Nov. 12, 2016. Kevin Genevro caught a 78-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter of that game.