Clarion Golden Eagles (1-2, 0-0 PSAC West) vs. Gannon Golden Knights (2-1, 0-0 PSAC West)
Saturday, September 24 // 1 p.m. // Clarion, Pa. // Memorial Stadium

MEDIA COVERAGE

Radio: Mike Kalinowski will have the radio call for Golden Eagle home games on the Golden Eagle Radio Network:

• AM 1120 WKQW
• WKQW Fox Sports 104.1
• WWCH The G.O.A.T. 94.1 FM

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: Fans can follow along with live stats from all home Golden Eagle football contests through SIDEARM live stats at clariongoldeneagles.com/sidearmstats/football. Road game links will be available on the schedule.

The Kickoff    
The Golden Eagles return home for the first time since their season opener as they kick off conference play against the Gannon Golden Knights. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 24 at Memorial Stadium.

Series History

• This will be the 14th meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Golden Knights, with Clarion owning a slim 7-6 advantage in the all-time series with Gannon. 
• Historically the home team has had the advantage in this rivalry, with Clarion owning a 4-2 record in games played at Memorial Stadium and Gannon owning a 4-3 edge in games played in Erie. The last time the road team won a game in the series was in 2015, when Clarion won a 47-31 shootout on Sept. 26. 
• Due to the quirks of scheduling in the PSAC, this will be the first time the Golden Knights have come to Clarion since the 2018 season. That most recent meeting at Memorial Stadium was a 14-9 win for Clarion, with Alec Heldreth stripping quarterback Jason Dambach on a sack and then scooping the fumble up for a touchdown. Jovante Seard connected with Dana Jackson, Jr. for a touchdown in the third quarter, giving Clarion the win.
• The Golden Knights won last year's meeting between the teams 56-21 at McConnell Family Stadium on Sept. 25, 2021. Quinn Zinobile, Mylique McGriff and Khalil Owens all scored touchdowns. 
• Gannon has won back-to-back meetings in the series, scoring 50+ points in the process. In fact, it is likely that the winning team will light up the scoreboard; the victorious side in each of the last 10 meetings has averaged 36.6 points per game.

About the Opponent

• Gannon was predicted to finish fourth in the PSAC West division, in a season where they return virtually every starter from a 5-6 campaign in 2021. The Golden Knights brought back 10 offensive starters and nine defensive starters. 
• The Golden Knights are under the direction of Erik Raeburn, who is in his third season as the head coach of the program. A former head coach at Wabash and Coe College, he earned his 150th career head coaching win in the opener over Charleston. 
• Gannon split with their two PSAC East opponents in the early part of the schedule, beating MIllersville 16-10 on the road before falling to West Chester 29-23 at home last week.
• The Golden Knights brought back four All-PSAC selection froms a year ago, including Don Hansen Honorable Mention All-Americans in Melvin Blanks (RB) and Nick White (DE).

Last Week

• The Golden Eagle football team claimed their first win of the season and the first for new head coach Raymond Monica, dominating Lock Haven on the road for a 44-7 victory at Hubert Jack Stadium on Sept. 17.
• If one was drawing up a formula for winning a game on the road, the Golden Eagle victory would rank as a textbook example. Clarion controlled the clock with another punishing effort in the run game, carrying 51 times for 270 yards and a 5.3 yards per carry average. That, coupled with a 7-of-12 conversion rate on third down, allowed them to neutralize the Lock Haven offense, as the Golden Eagles possessed the ball for 36:10 of game action.
• Conversely, the defense was highly effective in getting themselves off the field, holding Lock Haven to just a 1-for-11 on third down and forcing a pair of turnovers.
• Zach Benedek finished with nine carries for 37 yards and a touchdown, while also completing 14-of-19 passes for 228 yards and two scores.
• Corahn Alleyne finished with three carries for 53 yards and two touchdowns, as well as two catches for 42 yards.  Andy Martin and Zach Kindel also caught touchdown passes.
• Robert Lachmann finished the game with four total tackles, including a career-high three sacks. Ryan Stahl forced a fumble that was recovered by Jake arburton, and Drew Blon picked off his first pass of the season.

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.    Cal U (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.

Lachmann Named PSAC West Defensive AOTW for Sept. 19

• Defensive lineman Robert Lachmann earned PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week honors after helping the Golden Eagles stymie Lock Haven in a 44-7 win on Sept. 17.
• In a game where the Golden Eagle defense harassed Lock Haven quarterbacks for four quarters, Lachmann was as disruptive as they come in Clarion's win over the Bald Eagles. Lachmann finished with three sacks and two quarterback hurries.
• That pushed him over teammate Jake Tarburton for the team lead in sacks, and puts Lachmann at second in the PSAC with four total sacks on the year.
• Oddly, those four sacks already represent the most for a Golden Eagle defensive player in a season since Saif Khan and Vaughn Wallace each had five in 2019... though Lachmann has eight more games remaining on the schedule!

1,078 Days...But Who's Counting?

• With their 44-7 win over Lock Haven on Sept. 17, the Golden Eagles halted a losing streak that dated back to the 2019 season.
• Clarion last win before that date was Oct. 5, 2019, when they defeated Seton Hill on Homecoming at Memorial Stadium. 

Commitment to the Ground Game

• Through three weeks of action, the Golden Eagle offense has shown a commitment to the ground game that has put them among the leaders in the nation in rushing offense.
• Clarion enters this weekend's matchup ranked first in the PSAC and 23rd in NCAA Division II with an average of 215.7 rushing yards per game, with only one other PSAC school (Mercyhurst) averaging better than 200 yards per game.
• The Golden Eagles rushed for 270 yards on 51 attempts against Lock Haven on Sept. 17, their best single-game rushing total since going off for 341 yards against Shippensburg on Sept. 7, 2019.
• Khalil Owens ranks fifth in the PSAC with an average of 96.3 rushing yards per game, but he has already broken the century mark in rushing twice this year. 

Owens and the Ground Game

• Now in his second full season with the Golden Eagles, running back Khalil Owens will try to build on the end of last year's campaign, when he became a major force toting the rock.
• Owens ranks fifth in the PSAC in rushing through three games, averaging 96.3 yards per game on the ground. His three rushing touchdowns are tied for fourth in the conference as well. 
• Including the last four games of the 2021 season and the first three games of the 2022 season, Owens has totaled 745 all-purpose yards -- an average of 106.4 all-purpose yards per game -- and has scored four touchdowns. 

Zach Breaks the Bald Eagles

• In his second start of the season, quarterback Zach Benedek got it done with his arm as well as his legs against Lock Haven, accounting for three total touchdowns against the Bald Eagles.
• Benedek completed 14-of-19 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns, connecting with Andy Martin and Zach Kindel for scores.
• He also rushed nine times for 39 yards and a touchdown, scoring the Golden Eagles' first of the game to give them the lead.
• In two starts at quarterback, Benedek is 27-of-43 (.627) passing for 293 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.  He has also rushed 15 times for 77 yards and a touchdown in that span.

Alleyne and Hungry Look...

• Making his debut in the Blue & Gold against West Liberty, Corahn Alleyne showed himself to be deadly in three facets of the game.
• Alleyne finished the game with 73 kick return yards, 36 receiving yards and 33 rushing yards, giving him 142 all-purpose yards against the Hilltoppers. 
• His best game to date came in the third of the campaign, when he tortured Lock Haven for 53 rushing yards, 42 receiving yards, 54 kick return yards and two rushing touchdowns.
• Alleyne enters Week 4 ranked fourth in the PSAC and second in the PSAC West in all-purpose yards with an average of 149.7 yards per game. 
• Ostensibly a wide receiver, Alleyne averages 7.4 yards per rush on 19 attempts, and he leads the Golden Eagles in receptions and receiving yards.

Long Time Coming

• For Andy Martin, the Golden Eagles' Sept. 17 game at Lock Haven was a long time coming.
• Martin would have made his Clarion debut in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic halted those plans. In 2021 he was felled by a season-ending injury in training camp, and he missed the first two games of the 2022 season as well.
• He finally made his Golden Eagle debut against the Bald Eagles and made an immediate impact, catching a 53-yard touchdown pass from Zach Benedek in the first quarter that gave Clarion a 13-0 lead.

Winning the Turnover Battle

• Through three games, the Golden Eagles have shown the ability to take care of the football while conversely snatching it away from their opponents.
• Clarion is tied for first in the PSAC with just three lost turnovers so far this year, while also ranking fourth with seven turnovers gained.
• With a +4 turnover margin, Clarion enters this weekend ranked third in the PSAC in that category, with only East Stroudsburg and Mercyhurst ranking ahead of them at +5.
• This week's opponent, Gannon, ranks dead even in turnover margin at 0, having gained and lost four turnovers so far.

Ground to a Halt

• The Clarion defense clamped down on West Liberty in Week 1, holding the Hilltoppers to just 284 total yards and one scoring drive longer than three yards.
• It was the first time the Golden Eagles held an opponent under 300 total yards of offense since restricting Lock Haven to just 264 yards on Sept. 14, 2019 in a game played at Memorial Stadium, a span of 18 games. 
• The team was exceptional in limiting damage on the ground (3.0 yards per carry) and through the air (6.8 yards per attempt), shutting down the Hilltoppers.
• Statistically, it was Clarion's best defensive effort since their 2021 effort against Millersville, when the Golden Eagles held the Marauders to 2.1 yards per rush (34 att / 70 yds), 6.25 yards per pass (10-of-20 for 125 yds) and 4.2 yards per play (54 plays, 195 yards).

Another Trip Around the Block

• Deuce Lyons blocked an extra point attempt by Bloomsburg on Sept. 10, getting a hand on a kick to prevent the Huskies from putting the ball through the uprights.
• In doing so, Lyons extended a streak of seasons where the Golden Eagles have blocked a kick to four straight seasons.  The last time they blocked an extra point was on Oct. 5, 2019, when Saif Khan blocked a PAT by Seton Hill.
• That same game also featured Clarion's last blocked punt, when Rayonte Campbell blocked an attempt by the Griffins.
• The last Golden Eagle blocked field goal was also against - you guessed it - Seton Hill. Shane Kemper blocked an attempt in their meeting on Oct. 23, 2021.

Golden Eagles by the Numbers - Week 4 Edition

• Clarion ranks second in the PSAC in red zone defense, allowing just three opposing red zone scores so far this year.
• For a team that runs the football as much as the Golden Eagles do, they rank third in the conference and 21st in the nation in tackles for loss allowed, with an average of just 4.3 per game.
• All that running has led to Clarion ranking second in the conference and 15th in the nation in time of possession, at an average of 33:45 per game. 
• The Golden Eagles have three players rank in the top-10 in the conference in sacks: Robert Lachmann (2nd - 4.0), Jake Tarburton (3rd - 3.0) and Daryl Davis (7th - 2.0).
• Khalil Owens has already scored as many touchdowns in three games in 2022 (3) as he did in 10 games in 2021.

Hamdan Takes Control

• Linebacker Kareem Hamdan has established himself as a sure tackler, and is one of the stars of the PSAC in terms of bringing down the ball carrier.
• In 2021, Hamdan earned Don Hansen Football All-America Honorable Mention honors after leading the conference in tackles, averaging 10.0 per game for exactly 100 on the season. He is the first Golden Eagle to hit the 100-tackle mark in a single-season since Layne Skundrich in 2017.
• Hamdan is one of two returning all-conference players from 2021, having earned Second Team All-PSAC West laurels at the conclusion of the season.

Cracking the Books

• Senior defensive back Drew Blon showed his ability to excel in the classroom as well as on the field in 2021, earning CoSIDA Academic All-District honors last year.
• Blon, who finished his Bachelor's degree in Sport Management in December 2021, posted a 3.64 GPA while also starting every game on the back end of the Golden Eagle defense.
• Blon finished second on the team in total tackles with 71 stops in 2021. He also finished second on the team in interceptions with three picks and led the team in both fumbles forced and fumble recoveries with two each. 
• Blon enters this weekend ranked second on the team with 12 total tackles, as well as one sack.

Legend in the Making?

• Defensive back Legend Davis got his career off on the right foot in 2021, showing a knack for taking away the football.
• Davis led the Golden Eagles with four interceptions last season, tying him with five other players for second in the PSAC.
• With that total, Davis became the first Golden Eagle to record four picks in a year since Dorian Johnson and Sam Fareri each notched four interceptions in the 2018 season. That year the Golden Eagles held opponents to just a 49.7 complete percentage.
• Davis picked off his fifth career pass in the season-opener against West Liberty on Sept. 1.

No Jake Brakes

• Jake Tarburton has taken on an elevated role in the Golden Eagle defense, and has to date shown an ability to push the pocket and pressure the quarterback.
• Tarburton ranks second on Clarion with three sacks in three games, accounting for 34 yards of lost yardage for Golden Eagle opponents.

Next Week

• The Golden Eagles welcome California (PA) to Memorial Stadium for the annual Homecoming game, which is also the culmination of Clarion's annual Autumn Leaf Festival. Kickoff will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 1. 
• Clarion has not defeated the Vulcans since Nov. 2, 2002, when they won by a 31-6 score at Memorial Stadium. Robert Walker rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns in that game, Troy Bowers had seven tackles, one forced fumble and one sack.