Gannon Golden Knights (2-6, 2-3 PSAC West) at Clarion Golden Eagles (3-6, 1-4 PSAC West)
Saturday, November 9 // 12 p.m.
Clarion, Pa. // Memorial Stadium

Quick Facts

• The Golden Eagles close out the conference schedule on Saturday, November 9 when they welcome the Gannon Golden Knights to Memorial Stadium for the PSAC West finale. Kickoff is set for noon.
• This will be the 16th meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Golden Knights, with Gannon holding a slim 8-7 margin in the all-time series. Gannon has won four straight meetings dating back to the 2019 season, but have had the benefit of playing three of those games at home.
• This will the only the fourth meeting between these two teams in Memorial Stadium since the 2016 season.
• Last week the Golden Eagles football team traded offensive blows with their nationally ranked opponent in a Thursday night game, but Clarion fell behind in the third quarter and could not make up enough ground in falling 38-22 to 14th-ranked Slippery Rock at Memorial Stadium.
• Wide receiver Trevon Tate has been one of the most productive receivers in the nation this year, ranking fifth in the country in receiving yards (1,017) and tenth in receptions per game (6.4).
• Last week Tate became just the fourth player in program history to go over 1,000 receiving yards in a season, catching nine passes for 136 yards against Slippery Rock.
• Clarion boasts the fourth-best passing offense in the PSAC and third-best in the West division this season, averaging 227.2 yards per game.
• Over the last two games Logan Kent is averaging 120.5 combined rushing and receiving yards.
• Quarterback Anthony Guercio now has 10 rushing touchdowns this year, tying for the most for a Golden Eagle since Patrick Graham-Murphy during the 2011 season.
• The Clarion offense has recorded 400+ yards of total offense in each of the last four games and five times total this year, after not hitting the mark at all during the 2023 season.
• Defensive end Jake Tarburton still leads the PSAC with 7.0 sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss despite missing the last two games due to injury, with both marks representing career-highs for Tarburton.
• As a team, the Golden Eagles rank sixth in the PSAC and third in the West with 18 total sacks, and they have also recorded 48.0 tackles for loss through nine games. 
• Ryan Stahl has recorded at least 0.5 tackles for loss in each of the last four games.
• Punter Hunter Robertson leads the PSAC in punts over 50 yards (14) and is tied for third in punts landed inside the 20-yard line (15). He is also one of three PSAC punters to boot a ball longer than 70 yards in 2024.

Series History

• This will be the 16th meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Golden Knights, with Gannon holding a slim 8-7 margin in the all-time series.
• The rivalry dates back to just the 2008 season. Clarion controlled the series at the outset, winning four of the first five meetings between the teams, but since then Gannon has won six of the last nine meetings.
• The last Clarion win overall, as well as the most recent at Memorial Stadium, came on Sept. 22, 2018, a 14-9 showing in rainy conditions. Alec Heldreth scored on a strip sack after knocking the ball loose at the Gannon 24-yard line, eventually falling on it in the end zone after neither side could scoop the loose ball.  Jovante Seard hit Dana Jackson Jr. for a touchdown in the third quarter to put the Golden Eagles in the lead for good.
• In last year's game, the Golden Eagles exploded to an early three-score lead on the road but allowed 27 unanswered points in falling 27-20 to the Golden Knights on Sept. 20, 2023. Paul Newton and Anthony Guercio scored first quarter touchdowns and Andrew Kurtas made two field goals, but Gannon outscored Clarion 20-0 in the second half to rally.

Scouting the Golden Knights

• Gannon was predicted to finish fourth in the PSAC West in 2024 after making a significant leap in their previous two conference seasons. In 2022 Gannon tied for the PSAC West lead with a 6-1 record in conference and last year placed third with a 5-2 record in the league.
• This year the Golden Knights have compiled a 2-6 overall record to date, including a 2-3 mark in conference action. Their wins have come against Seton Hill and Edinboro, with the latter coming two weeks ago on the road.
• The Golden Knights had a host of players on all-conference teams a year ago, but the only one to return in 2024 is senior offensive lineman Riley Noble. He started 11 games at right tackle a year ago, helping Gannon to four games with 200 or more rushing yards. He has played just three games this season.
• Zaire Allen was named the PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week on Oct. 28 after helping the Golden Knights to their last-minute 25-21 win over Edinboro two days previous. He recorded eight tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and forced a fumble as the Gannon defense limited the Fighting Scots to 305 total yards of offense, and sacked the quarterback five times.

Last Week

The Golden Eagles traded offensive blows with their nationally ranked opponent on Thursday night, but Clarion fell behind in the third quarter and could not make up enough ground in falling 38-22 to 14th-ranked Slippery Rock at Memorial Stadium.

Trevon Tate came just the fourth player in program history to top 1,000 receiving yards in a season, pulling down nine passes for 136 yards and a touchdown. The senior finished the game with 1,017 receiving yards for the season, the most for a Clarion player since Kevin Genevro had 1,096 yards in 2016. He now the fourth-most receiving yards in a single season in program history, behind just Bob Green (1,018 – 1984), Genevro and Alvin Slaughter (1,369 – 1998).

Clarion rushed for 216 yards as a team and posted 420 yards of total offense, marking the fourth straight game they've gone over 400 yards of offense. Logan Kent rushed 10 times for 74 yards and caught three passes for 33 yards, giving him 110 combined rushing and receiving yards. He was also effective on special teams, returning five kicks for 120 yards to give him 230 all-purpose yards. Michael Akinleye rushed 11 times for 64 yards.

Clarion Context for Trevon Tate

• Trevon Tate has seven 100-yard receiving games thus far in 2024. That is the most for a Golden Eagle since Alvin Slaughter had eight 100-yard receiving games during the 1998 season, which is believed to be the most 100-yard receiving games for a Golden Eagle in a season.
• With nine catches for 134 yards and a touchdown against Slippery Rock, Tate became the first Golden Eagle to go over 1,000 yards receiving in a season since Kevin Genevro (1,096) in 2016.
• Only four players in program history have gone over 1,000 yards receiving in a season - Tate, Genevro, Slaughter (1,369 - 1998) and Bob Green (1,018 - 1984).

The National Perspective on Tate

• Through nine games, Trevon Tate has been one of the most productive receivers in the region as well as the country.
• Tate ranks fifth in NCAA Division II and first in Super Region 1 with 1,017 total receiving yards through eight nine, and his 113.0 receiving yards per game ranks sixth in the nation and first in the region.
• He also ranks 10th in the nation, second in Super Region 1 and first in the PSAC with an average of 6.4 receptions per game.

Finding the Balance

• The Golden Eagles offense has been among the conference's leaders in rushing under head coach Raymond Monica, and this year the explosion of the passing game has turned it into a top-50 unit nationally.
• Clarion ranks 13th in Super Region 1 and fifth in the PSAC in total offense with an average of 381.6 yards per game. The passing game ranks 11th in the region and fourth in the conference at an average of 227.2 yards per game.
• Oh yeah, and the run game is still nothing to sneeze at; the Golden Eagles ranks third in the PSAC and first in the West division with an average of 154.3 yards per game on the ground.

More Notes on the "O"

• After not going over 400 total yards of offense in a game during the entire 2023 season, Clarion has now done so in four consecutive games and in five total this year;
• Part of the Golden Eagles' success in moving the ball on offense is, simply put, that they do it more than most anyone else in the PSAC. Clarion ranks third in the PSAC in offensive snaps per game, at an average of 65.7, and their average of 5.8 yards per play run is fifth in the conference and second in the West only to Slippery Rock.

Disruptive Force

Defensive end Jake Tarburton has built off his all-conference season in 2023 to start quickly in 2024, ranking among the conference's most disruptive defensive players:

• Tarburton still leads the PSAC with seven sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss, despite having missed the last two games due to injury;
• Tarburton is tied for first in Super Region 1 with an average of 1.90 tackles for loss per game, and his average of 1.00 sacks per game ranks second in the region. Those averages both rank fourth in NCAA Division II this season.
• Thanks to his 3.5 TFL against Edinboro on Oct. 19, Tarburton became the first Golden Eagle to break double-digits in tackles for loss in consecutive seasons since Julian Howsare did it three straight times from 2012-14;
• Seven sacks in a season is the most for a Golden Eagle since Tyrone Archie finished with seven sacks in the 2015 season;
• The last Golden Eagle to record 13.0 TFL or more in a single season was Brandon Short, who had 13.5 in the 2014 season.

Kick It Long

• So far this year it's been fair to say that punter Hunter Robertson has been a weapon on special teams, ranking among the conference's best punters and in terms of booming the ball deep and keeping it out of the end zone. 
• The sophomore punter leads the conference in punts longer than 50 yards (14) and is tied for third in punts downed inside the 20-yard line (15). 
• With a 43.8 yards per kick average - first in Super Region 1 and 10th in the country - Robertson is on pace to produce the best season average since Jim Levey averaged 46.6 yards per kick in 1965, just ahead of Phil Bujakowski's 42.6 yards per punt average in 1985.
• Robertson currently ranks second in the conference and Super Region 1, as well as 12th in the nation, in net punt average, at 39.7 yards per kick.
• In addition to his punting duties, Robertson now has the Golden Eagles' longest field goal of the season, kicking a 43-yarder against Seton Hill on Oct. 26. That is the longest field goal for a Clarion player since Phil Esposito made a 44-yarder in a win over Gannon on Sept. 26, 2015.

Don't Shoot Yourself in the Foot

• Clarion ranks fourth in the PSAC and second in the West in terms of lowest penalty yards per game, at 50.9 yards per contest. Coincidentally, Gannon leads the conference in this regard, suffering just 42.9 penalty yards per game.
• The Golden Eagles have also committed just 55 penalties on the year, the third-lowest total in the PSAC West. Gannon tops the West division with just 40 total penalties committed this year, an average of five per game.

He Can Do It All

• Anthony Guercio ranks third in the PSAC and fourth in NCAA Super Region 1 in total offense with an average of 293.4 yards per game;
• Guercio's 225.6 passing yards per game ranks third in the conference and ninth in NCAA Super Region 1;
• Guercio's 10 rushing touchdowns are tied for the most for a Golden Eagle since Patrick Graham-Murphy had 10 in 2011, and are the most for any quarterback in Super Region 1 this year;
• He hasn't been afraid to go down the field with the ball. Guercio ranks fifth in the region and second in the PSAC with an average of 14.95 yards per completion, a mark that also ranks 13th in NCAA Division II;
• Guercio has thrown for 300+ yards in two games this year, making him the first Golden Eagle quarterback since Connor Simmons in 2016 to do it, and his 372 yards against Edinboro on Oct. 19 are the most since Simmons put up that same number against Slippery Rock in 2016. 

Big Day Offensively vs. Shippensburg

The Golden Eagles had their best day in terms of total offensive yardage in nearly a decade on Sept. 14. Clarion totaled 551 yards of total offense against the Red Raiders, their best output since putting up a school record 676 yards of total offense against Seton Hill on Oct. 17, 2015, a span of 82 games. It had been almost five years since the last time the Golden Eagles had cracked the 500-yard mark; that last came on Sept. 28, 2019 at Gannon.

500 Yards, Part 2

It took considerably less than 82 games for the Golden Eagles to crack 500 yards of total offense again. This time it was a matter of only four games, as Clarion recorded 513 total yards against Edinboro on Oct. 19. The Golden Eagles last cracked 500+ yards of offense in a game multiple times in 2015, when they did it three times.

Next Week

Clarion wraps up the 2024 season at home on Saturday, November 16 when they host East Stroudsburg at Memorial Stadium. Senior Day ceremonies will take place prior to kickoff between the Golden Eagles and the Warriors.