SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. --- The Golden Eagles football team built a substantial first half lead but could not complete the road win on Saturday afternoon, falling 24-21 to Shippensburg at Seth Grove Stadium. Clarion racked up 551 yards of offense but were haunted by turnovers, including a number of second-half fumbles.
 
At times the Golden Eagles offense controlled the tempo of the game, including a stretch in the first half where they scored 21 unanswered points and took a two-touchdown lead heading into the halftime break. That advantage was also built on the back of a solid defensive effort; they held the Red Raiders without an offensive touchdown for the first 30 minutes of action, forced punts on five possessions and nearly blocked a field goal in another.
 
Clarion, meanwhile, put up a trio of touchdowns in the first half, with quarterback Anthony Guercio running for two touchdowns and throwing for another. The junior quarterback tied the score in the first quarter, capping a six-play, 68-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run up the middle of the line to make it 7-7. He added another rushing score before the end of the half, this time punctuating an eight-play drive. Guercio completed converted first downs on consecutive passes to Ray Jackson and Davon Jones, and later in the drive broke into Shippensburg territory with a 28-yard rush. Three plays later he broke the plane from 10 yards out, giving the Golden Eagles a 14-7 lead.
 
The Golden Eagles defense gave the offense a chance to tack on at the end of the half, and the offense reciprocated with one more scoring drive. After the defense forced a three-and-out deep in Red Raiders' territory, Clarion took over at their own 33-yard line. The Golden Eagles only had to convert one third down on the drive – a 22-yard pass from Guercio to Jackson – and otherwise methodically worked their way down the field. Guercio capped the drive with a touchdown pass to Amire Spencer, giving the Golden Eagles a 21-7 lead at the half.
 
Turnovers reared their ugly head for Clarion in the final 30 minutes, though, as scoring drives were thwarted with giveaways. The Red Raiders cut things to 21-14 early in the period with a touchdown pass from Sam Stoner to Alex Rufe, and Shippensburg scored a touchdown before the end of the quarter after a Khalon Simmons fumble to tie the score heading into the fourth.
 
The next two Clarion drives were halted by turnovers, with Guercio strip-sacked and intercepted. The latter turnover led directly to the go-ahead score for the Red Raiders, Wilson Ingerski's field goal with 4:45 left to go. On their final drive of the game, the Golden Eagles moved quickly down the field and were poised to score, but Trevon Tate was stripped heading into the end zone and the Red Raiders fell on the ball to end the comeback attempt.
 
Tate finished with his third 100-yard receiving game, catching eight passes for 143 yards, while Amire Spencer caught six passes for 87 yards. Guercio had one of his best games in a Golden Eagles uniform, completing 24 of 34 passes for 334 yards and a touchdown, including a long completion of 39 yards. He also rushed for 98 total yards. Defensively Jake Tarburton totaled 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
  Read Full Article