Clarion Golden Eagles (2-1, 0-0 PSAC West) at Shepherd Rams (1-1, 0-0 PSAC East)
Saturday, September 21 // 12 PM
Shepherdstown, W.Va. // Ram Stadium

Quick Notes

• The Golden Eagles football team continues their season-long three-game road swing on Saturday when they head south to face Shepherd at Ram Stadium on Saturday, September 21. Kickoff is slated for noon.
• This will be the fifth meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Rams, with Shepherd winning all four previous contests between the two teams dating back to 1998.
• Clarion dropped a heartbreaker on the road last week, falling 24-21 to Shippensburg at Seth Grove Stadium despite holding a 21-7 lead in the second half.
• The Golden Eagles offense had their best single-game yardage output in nearly a decade last week, producing 551 yards of total offense against Shippensburg.
• Quarterback Anthony Guercio leads the PSAC in total touchdowns (5) and is tied for second place in the conference in passing touchdowns (4) after last week's effort against the Red Raiders.
• Wide receiver Trevon Tate caught eight passes for 143 yards against Shippensburg, giving him three straight games with 100+ yards receiving.
• Tate now leads the PSAC with an average of 122.7 receiving yards per game, is third with 6.0 receptions per game, and is among the conference leaders in yards per reception (20.4 ypc).
• The Golden Eagles rank fourth in the PSAC overall and second in the PSAC West in rushing yards per game, averaging 181.7 yards on the ground so far.
• Of the PSAC teams that have already played three games this season, Clarion boasts the second-best scoring defense by allowing an average of 13.3 points per game, and are second in yards allowed per game at 274.0.
• Defensive end Jake Tarburton is tied for the PSAC lead with 3.5 sacks and is in sole possession of the conference lead with 6.5 tackles for loss.
• As a team, the Golden Eagles lead the PSAC with eight quarterback sacks through three games.
• Punter Hunter Robertson leads the PSAC in punts over 50 yards, and his six punts landed inside the 20-yard line is one off the conference lead.
• Clarion's defense has allowed only nine opponent red zone trips in the first three games, and just four total touchdowns from inside the 20-yard line as well.

Series History

• This will be the fifth-ever meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Rams, with Shepherd winning all four previous contests between the two teams.
• The first two meetings between the Rams and Golden Eagles came in the 1998-99 seasons, and then the teams did not play against until 2019 and 2021.
• The last meeting bretween the teams was also the most recent meeting played in Shepherdstown, with the Rams defeating Clarion 55-0 at Ram Stadium on Nov. 13, 2021. In that game the Golden Eagles defense forced three turnovers, with Drew Blon picking off Tyson Bagent and the duo of Kareem Hamdan and Amari Johnson both forcing fumbles.
• In the only other meeting between the teams since the Rams joined the PSAC, Shepherd defeated Clarion 40-24 at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 21, 2019. Jeff Clemens threw touchdown passes to Kahliq Muhammad and Dana Jackson, Jr., and also recovered a fumble in the end zone for a score.

Scouting the Rams

• Shepherd was predicted to finish in second place in the PSAC East in 2024, receiving one first place vote in the preseason coaches' poll.  In 2023 the Rams finished 9-3 overall and 5-2 in the PSAC East, and ranked fourth in the conference in scoring at 31.4 points per game.
• Thus far Shepherd is 1-1 on the season, shutting out Southern Connecticut State 23-0 in the first game of the season before falling 20-10 at home to 10th-ranked Slippery Rock last week. 
• The Rams boast the fourth-best scoring defense in the PSAC at 10.0 points allowed per game, and are third in the conference with an average of 259.0 yards allowed per game.
• Running back Malakai Brown is averaging 7.0 yards per carry through two games, with 26 rushes for 182 yards and a touchdown. Most of that damage came in the opening week, when he carried 19 times for 163 yards against Southern Connecticut State.
• The Shepherd defense has allowed only four red zone trips to opposing teams and one touchdown, which is tied for second in the PSAC.

Last Week

The Golden Eagles football team built a substantial first half lead but could not complete the road win 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.

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 with a touchdown pass from Sam Stoner to Alex Rufe, and Shippensburg scored a touchdown before the end of the quarter after recovering a fumble to tie the score.

The next two Clarion drives were halted by turnovers, and the Red Raiders ultimately took and held on for a 24-21 win.

Trevon Tate finished with his third 100-yard receiving game, catching eight passes for 143 yards, while Amire Spencer caught six passes for 87 yards. Anthony 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.

Guercio's Historic Day...

Quarterback Anthony Guercio got it done with his arm and his legs against Millersville on August 29, and in the process had a day that stands out in recent Golden Eagle history:

• Guercio threw for two touchdowns and ran for two touchdowns against the Marauders, making him the first Golden Eagle to accomplish that feat since Connor Simmons did it on Sept. 24, 2016 against Millersville. Simmons did it twice in his career, as did Ben Fiscus, making them the only other Golden Eagle quarterbacks since to ever complete the feat.
• Guercio thew for 215 yards and rushed for 106 yards on the ground, making him the first Clarion quarterback to hit 200 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in one game since Fiscus did it against East Stroudsburg on Sept. 29, 2012.
• Through examination of records back to the 1984 season, no other Golden Eagle quarterback has thrown for 200 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns, in the same game.

...and the Momentum Continues

Anthony Guercio followed up his historic day against Millersville with two more standout performances, including a big offensive day against Shippensburg on Sept. 14. He threw for a career-high 334 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 98 yards and two more scores. Here are some quick notes about that performance:

• Guercio became the first Golden Eagle quarterback to break the 300-yard passing mark since Sept. 18, 2021, when Taylor Eggers threw for 329 yards and four touchdowns against Shippensburg at home;
• Guercio's 334 passing yards were the most for a Golden Eagles quarterback since Connor Simmons threw for 372 yards in a win over Slippery Rock on Oct. 29, 2016;
• Guercio's 432 yards of total offense against the Red Raiders ranks as the best single-game total in the PSAC this year, and his 321 yard effort against Millersville on Aug. 29 ranks as second-best;
• Guercio now leads the PSAC in total offense with an average of 330.7 yards per game, more than 70 yards per game better than Lock Haven's Jackson Ostrowsky.

A Familiar Face That Looks Better in Blue

One of the key transfers coming to the Clarion offense is wide receiver Trevon Tate, a senior that played the previous three seasons at Mercyhurst. Tate was a veteran of 25 games in the Green and White, totaling 55 catches for  648 yards and five touchdowns as a Laker.

• Tate recorded eight catches for 143 yards against Shippensburg on Sept. 14, making him the first Golden Eagles receiver to record three straight games with 100 or more receiving yards. The last to do it was Kevin Genevro in 2016, when he finished the season in triple-digits against Slippery Rock, Gannon and West Chester at home.
• In a records search back through the 1999 season, no other Golden Eagle player has started a season with three consecutive 100-yard receiving games;
• Tate leads the PSAC in receiving yards per game (122.7) and is first among all PSAC players in yards per catch (20.7) among players with 10 or more receptions. 

Tough Nut to Crack

Through three weeks of the season, the Golden Eagles defense has had moments where they have looked difficult to crack;

• After allowing seven points to Millersville on Aug. 29 and nine points to Lincoln on Sept. 5, Clarion limited opponents to single-digits in scoring in back-to-back games for the first time since 2018, when the Golden Eagles beat Lincoln 44-7 and Gannon 14-9 in consecutive games;
• The Golden Eagles held both the Marauders and the Lions to fewer than 300 yards of total offense, as well;
• Clarion's defense has recorded eight quarterback sacks, 12 quarterback hurries and 16.0 tackles for loss through three games.

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 linemen:

• Tarburton ranks first in the PSAC with 3.5 sacks this season, and is second with an average of 1.17 sacks per game;
• He leads the PSAC in tackles for loss with 6.5 in three games, an average of 2.17 TFL per game and 2.5 TFL more than Gannon's Trey Baker;
• The Golden Eagles lead the PSAC with eight sacks through three games this year.

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.

Next Week

Clarion concludes their three-game road swing with the PSAC West opener at IUP on Sept. 28. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.