Clarion Golden Eagles (1-0, 0-0 PSAC West) vs. Bloomsburg Huskies (0-1, 0-0 PSAC East)
Saturday, September 9 // 1:00 pm
Clarion, Pa. // Memorial Stadium

Quick Notes

• The Golden Eagle football team hosts Bloomsburg for the 2023 home opener on Saturday, September 9, the first of back-to-back conference crossover games. 
• This will be the 15th meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Huskies, with Bloomsburg holding a 9-4-1 advantage in the all-time series.
• Bloomsburg is making their first trip to Memorial Stadium since the 2017 season, a game where the Huskies came away with a 29-20 victory after trailing at halftime.
• Clarion is coming off a 30-20 road victory over Lincoln (Pa.) in their season opener, marking their first win in the season opener since 2019.
• The Golden Eagles are now 4-2 in road games under head coach Raymond Monica.
• Quarterback Will Alexander got the start in the opener against the Lions, throwing for two first half touchdowns and no interceptions to help the Golden Eagles to the victory.
• Linebacker Brady McKee recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown against Lincoln, the Golden Eagles' first fumble recovery for a score in four years.
• Running back Khalil Owens chipped in 93 combined rushing and receiving yards last week, and also scored his first touchdown of the season on the opening drive of the third quarter.
• The Golden Eagles picked off Lincoln quarterback twice in the season-opening victory, with Shane Kemper and Dillon Tingle both snagging passes off Isaiah Freeman.
• Head coach Raymond Monica is now in his second season at the helm of the Golden Eagles, and will look to build off last year's three-win improvement in Year 2 at Memorial Stadium.

Series History

• This will be the 15th meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Huskies, with Bloomsburg owning a 9-4-1 advantage in the all-time series. That includes seven straight wins dating back to the 2007 season.
• Clarion's last win in the series came in 1996, when the Golden Eagles defeated the Huskies 42-29 in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs at Memorial Stadium.  The Golden Eagles took a 28-14 lead at halftime on the strength of two touchdowns -- one rushing and one receiving -- from Steve Witte, as well as a touchdown pass from Chris Weibel to Jamie Sickeri. Witte and Ron DeJidas added scores in the second half to lock up the victory.
• The two teams met last year at Redman Stadium in Bloomsburg, with the Huskies winning by a 42-3 score. Corahn Alleyne had 160 all-purpose yards but the Golden Eagles were held to just a single field goal.
• Bloomsburg's most recent trip to Memorial Stadium was during the 2017 season when the teams actually played twice - once at each other's home venue. The Huskies won on Sept. 9, 2017, coming back from a 20-17 halftime deficit. Greg Leonard and Clay Byerly caught touchdown passes for the Golden Eagles, while kicker James Metzgar booted a pair of field goals.

Scouting the Huskies

• Bloomsburg was predicted to finish seventh in the PSAC East division in 2023 after finishing with a 4-7 overall record last year, including a 2-5 mark against their divisional foes. 
• The Huskies return three All-PSAC East performers from last year in senior defensive back Quentin Gaskill and juniors Kaleb Monaco (running back) and Matthew Bowes (tight end).
• The Huskies opened their season last Thursday at Fairmont State, falling by a score of 34-30. The Falcons opened up a 24-10 lead but Bloomsburg rallied for 20 points in the fourth quarter, at one point taking a 30-27 lead after a touchdown throw from KJ Riley to Jerry Griffen-Blatchler. Fairmont State scored a go-ahead touchdown with 10 seconds remaining, capping a nine-play, 93-yard game-winning drive.

PSAC Announces Preseason Coaches Poll

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) announced the results of their preseason coaches poll on August 10. The Golden Eagles were predicted to finish seventh in the PSAC West division in 2023.

2023 PSAC Football West Division Preseason Poll

1. IUP (6)
2. Slippery Rock (2)
3. California
4. Gannon
5. Edinboro
6. Seton Hill
7. Clarion
8. Mercyhurst

2023 PSAC Football East Division Preseason Poll

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

About the Coach

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. He enters his second season at the helm of the program in 2023. 

Last Week

The Golden Eagle football team held on for victory on the road on August 31, as Clarion defeated Lincoln (Pa.) 30-20 at LU Athletics Stadium. Clarion (1-0) built an early three-score lead and was able to make it stand for the remainder of the contest despite a late charge by the Lions.

Quarterback Will Alexander threw a pair of first half touchdown passes, first hitting Tony Powell on 3rd-and-9 from the Lincoln 19-yard line for for the opening score of the game. He later connected with a diving Andy Martin in the back of the end zone, hitting him from 20 yards out on a play-action pass. Clarion's three-touchdown first half included a fumble recovery for a touchdown by Brady McKee.

The Golden Eagles built a 27-6 lead in the third quarter after a handoff to Khalil Owens was punched in from two yards out. The Lions scored a pair of touchdowns to pull within 10 points but got no closer as Clarion got a key stop on Lincoln's penultimate offensive drive, then chewed up a significant portion of clock to keep the Lions' offense off the field.

Tyler Wilson Named PSAC West Special Teams Athlete of the Week

Golden Eagle punter Tyler Wilson earned the PSAC West Special Teams Athlete of the Week award for Sept. 5 after his performance in the Golden Eagles' win over Lincoln, helping Clarion win the field position game and even directly aiding their second touchdown of the game. Wilson punted six times for a 39.7 yards per kick average, depositing four kicks inside the 20-yard line without a touchback. In the first quarter he launched a 60-yard punt that was downed at the Lincoln one-yard line; on the very next play, Lions quarterback Isaiah Simmons fumbled in his own end zone, with Brady McKee falling on the ball for a Clarion touchdown.

The Defense Tacks On

As mentioned above, a key play in the Golden Eagles' win over Lincoln was Brady Mckee's fumble recovery for a touchdown, with the linebacker falling on the ball in the end zone to help Clarion to a 14-0 first quarter lead over Lincoln. The Golden Eagles finished with two defensive scores last year, though both were interceptions returned for touchdowns. McKee's fumble recovery for a touchdown was the first for Clarion since Vaughn Wallace returned a fumble 48 yards for a score against Gannon on Sept. 28, 2019, a span of 28 games. 

Force on the Ground

The Golden Eagle rushing attack ranked fourth overall in the PSAC and tops in the PSAC West division in 2022, with the team averaging 161.5 yards per game on the ground. Clarion's 4.4 yards per carry average last year ranked second only the Shepherd, and the team's 17 rushing touchdowns ranked fifth overall and third in the West division behind Slippery Rock and California (Pa.).

• Last week against Lincoln (Pa.) the Golden Eagles did not quite reach last year's season average in rushing, but they did rack up 112 yards and a score on the ground. 

The Ball is the Program

Clarion finished the 2022 season ranked third in the conference in turnover margin,  going +3 on the year behind only Shepherd and Gannon. The Golden Eagles tied for second in the conference with just five fumbles lost on the year, a number that also tied for 18th in the nation. The team did have 10 passes intercepted, which was seventh in the PSAC, but they also picked off 11 passes to tilt that statistic in their favor.

• One of the keys to last week's win over Lincoln was the turnover battle. The Golden Eagles picked off two passes by quarterback Isaiah Freeman - one by Shane Kemper, the other by Dillon Tingle - and also recovered one lost offensive fumble, while not committing any turnovers themselves. Two of those turnovers turned into touchdowns.

Bus Ride Warriors

The Golden Eagles posted a 3-2 record on the road in 2022, marking the first time Clarion has finished the year with a winning road record since 2010. 

• They've continued their trend of road success already this year; with the win at Lincoln (Pa.) last week, they are now 4-2 in road games under head coach Raymond Monica.

Discipline is the Key

In 2022 Clarion was one of the best teams in the conference at not harrming their own cause with penalties. The Golden Eagles ranked fourth in the conference and second in the PSAC West division in fewest penalties against, committing an average of just 5.1 infractions per game. Consequently, their average of just 45.4 penalty yards lost per game ranked third in the conference and 20th in the nation. 

• Against Lincoln (Pa.) last week, the Golden Eagles committed just seven penalties for 51 yards lost, compared to 14 penalties and 118 yards for the Lions. Clarion's penalty yardage was the fifth-fewest in the PSAC in Week #1 and the best among West division programs.

Next Week

The Golden Eagles will be back in action at home when Lock Haven comes to Memorial Stadium on Saturday, September 16 at 1 p.m. Clarion currently owns an 11-game win streak over the Bald Eagles.