Clarion Golden Eagles (1-0, 0-0 PSAC West) vs. Lincoln (Pa.) Lions (0-0, 0-0 CIAA)
Thursday, September 5 // 6 p.m.
Clarion, Pa. // Memorial Stadium

Promotions

Student Kickoff Tailgate - Sept. 5 vs. Lincoln
All Clarion students are invited to attend a tailgate party inside the stadium during this Thursday's game against Lincoln. The first 250 students inside the gates will receive a ticket to the tailgate which will feature free food and refreshments, still leaving plenty of time to take their seats before the Golden Eagles take on the Lions!

Student Halftime Field Goal Contest
New this year is an ongoing halftime field goal competition! Students will have the chance to kick a field goal through the uprights at halftime during each of our home games this year, with the successful parties eligible to compete again for a prize in the home finale. 

Quick Notes

• The Golden Eagles football team returns to Memorial Stadium for the 2024 home opener, when they welcome the Lincoln (PA) Lions for a Thursday night game
• This will be the third-ever meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Lions, with Clarion winning both previous meetings between the two teams.
• Last year the Golden Eagles opened their season on the road against the Lions, defeating them 30-20 on August 31, 2023. 
• Anthony Guercio and Hunter Robertson won their respective PSAC Athlete of the Week honors this week, with Guercio winning Offensve Athlete of the Week and Robertson earning Special Teams Athlete of the Week.
• Clarion opened the 2024 season with a resounding road win last week, defeating Millersville 36-7 on August 29 to mark the second straight year they won their season opener.
• The Golden Eagles defense was stout throughout their win over Millersville, allowing just one scoring drive and limiting the Marauders to a mere 262 yards of total offense. Last week's win over Millersville was the first time Clarion held an opponent to fewer than 10 points in a game since Sept. 17, 2022 against Lock Haven, a span of 19 games.
• Cornerback Deshaun Blackwell pulled down a pair of interceptions in the win over Millersville, making him the first Golden Eagle to record two picks in a single game since Kareem Hamdan against Mercyhurst on Oct. 15, 2022.
• Quarterback Anthony Guercio had a historic day against the Marauders on August 29, throwing for more than 200 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for more than 100 yards and two scores.
• Wide receiver Trevon Tate made his Golden Eagle debut with a 100-yard receiving effort against Millersville, pulling down five passes for 118 yards and a score. 
• Clarion has now won two consecutive season openers on the road, both of which came on Thursday nights. The Golden Eagles are now 2-1 in Thursday night games under head coach Raymond Monica, as well as in season openers.
• The Golden Eagles are 6-4 in Thursday night games dating back to the 2009 season, but just 2-2 at home in those situations.

Series History

• This will be the third-ever meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Lions, with Clarion winning both of the previous games against Lincoln.
• The first-ever meeting between the teams was on Sept. 15, 2018 at Memorial Stadium, with the Golden Eagles coming away with a 44-7 rout of the Lions. Clarion held Lincoln to just five total first downs, as well as -6 rushing yards and 123 total yards of offense. Jovante Seard threw for 169 yards and three touchdowns, while Keanu Young and Zack Morris - that team's starting center - rushed for touchdowns.
• The two teams met in the 2023 season opener a year ago, with Clarion defeating Lincoln 30-20 on the road on August 31. The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first half, including a defensive score by Brady McKee and two touchdown passes by Will Alexander. The Lions' Malachi Langley scored two second half touchdowns and converted a two-point attempt to cut the deficit, but Clarion held on for the win.
• Not only will this be just the third meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Lions, it will be just the third-ever game for Clarion against an opponent from the CIAA.

Scouting the Lions

• Lincoln was predicted to finish eighth in the CIAA preseason coaches' poll in 2024, after going 4-6 overall and 3-5 in conference play in 2023. The Lions finished with a 2-3 record in the Northern Division, putting them fourth in their pod.
• Last year the Lions possessed a formidable offensive attack, ranking fourth in the CIAA in scoring offense at 26.7 points per game. Their passing game was the most effective in the league, ranking first in the CIAA in yards per game (230.5), yards per completion (8.6) and touchdown passes (25). 
• On the flip side, the Lions' defense ranked 11th out of 12 teams in scoring defense, allowing an average of 33.7 points per game, and teams averaged 375.0 yards of offense per game against them, the worst mark in the conference.
• Lincoln brings back a deadly passing game connection in junior quarterback Isaiah Freeman and junior receiver Malachi Langley, both All-CIAA First Team selections last year. Freeman led the conference with 2,312 passing yards and 25 touchdowns last year, compared to just nine interceptions. He also rushed for nearly 50 yards per game. Langley was the conference's only 1,000-yard receiver, pulling in 46 passes for 1,042 yards (22.7 yards per catch) and a league-high 11 touchdowns. 

Last Week

The Golden Eagles football survived a low-scoring first half to put up 29 unanswered points in the second, shutting out Millersville in the second half en route to a 36-7 win in the 2024 season opener.  Clarion held the Marauders to just 120 yards of offense and five first downs over the final 30 minutes of play, stifling the home team defensively while also piling on the points.

Both offenses started the game in a fairly sluggish manner, with the Golden Eagles and the Marauders combining for just 13 first downs in the first half and under 200 yards of offense apiece. Things started to go the Golden Eagles' way in the third quarter, with Clarion posting 145 yards of total offense in that frame; by comparison, they had just 136 total yards of offense in the first half. Clarion finished with better than 400 yards of total offense while limiting Millersville to just 262 yards, creating a margin of 6.4 yards per play compared to just 3.7 for the Marauders.

Anthony Guercio finished the game 9-of-23 passing for 215 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, but he supplemented his work in the passing game with a game-high 106 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Trevon Tate was his most productive target, pulling in five receptions for 118 yards and a score.

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.

Rising to the Challenge

After appearing in just one game as a freshman, cornerback Deshaun Blackwell made his first career start on August 29 against Millersville and made the most of it. Blackwell logged a pass break-up and two interceptions, making him the first Golden Eagle defender to pick off two passes in one game since linebacker Kareem Hamdan did it in 2022 against Mercyhurst.

• To find the last time a Clarion defensive back had two picks in a game, you need to look to Legend Davis's two-interception performance at Edinboro on Nov. 6, 2021. 
• The most recent Golden Eagle corner to pick off two passes in one game? That would be Dorian Johnson, who intercepted two passes in Clarion's win over Lock Haven on Sept. 15, 2018.

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.

• In his debut as a Golden Eagle on August 29 against Millersville, Tate showed that he fit in just fine in a Clarion uniform. The senior receiver caught five passes for 118 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to essentially put the game out of reach for the Marauders.

Making the Leap

Another key transfer that made his Golden Eagle debut on August 29 was running back Logan Kent. An all-conference player at Geneva College in 2023, the senior back rushed nine times for 53 yards, including a 23-yard rush late in the game. He also scored the first points of the game for the Golden Eagles, punching in a two-yard touchdown on fourth down to give Clarion a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

Suffocating Defensive Effort in Season Opener

The Golden Eagles' defense kept the Marauders off the scoreboard for the final 30 minutes of their season-opening win, and limited Millersville to just 262 total yards of offense and 3.7 yards per play. That is the lowest yardage total allowed by the Golden Eagles since Sept. 13, 2021, when they held Millersville to just 195 yards total.

• In addition, the seven points allowed by the Golden Eagle defense were the lowest points total since the team surrendered a lone touchdown in a 44-7 win over Lock Haven on Sept. 17, 2022. The 29-point margin of victory is also the greatest total since that same win over the Bald Eagles.
• One final note / tie to that Lock Haven game: that was also the last time the Golden Eagles shut out an opponent for a half.