CLARION, Pa. --- The Golden Eagles football team authored another stifling defensive effort, this time at home, improving to 2-0 on the season with a 20-9 victory over Lincoln (Pa.) at Memorial Stadium. With the win, Clarion is 2-0 to open the season for the first time since the 2019 season.
For the second straight week, Clarion held their opponent under 300 yards of total offense. The Golden Eagles limited the Lions to 251 total yards, an 11-yard improvement on last week's effort against Millersville and their best single-game total since the 2021 meeting with the Marauders. With just nine points allowed to the Lions, Clarion held back-to-back opponents to single-digit scoring for the first time since beating Lincoln 44-7 and Gannon 14-9 in consecutive weeks in 2018.
The Golden Eagles finished with just three sacks and five tackles for loss, but that did not totally tell the story of how the defense harassed Lincoln quarterback Isaiah Freeman. The team was credited with nine quarterback hits, and despite Freeman's solid offensive numbers the junior was under fire every time he dropped back.
Quarterback
Anthony Guercio finished 11-of-23 passing for 149 yards and a touchdown, and also contributed 90 rushing yards and a score on the ground. His lone touchdown pass came on the Golden Eagles' first offensive drive of the game, capping a nine-play, 65-yard drive with a 28-yard rainbow to a wide open
Trevon Tate. That pass put the Golden Eagles in the lead and there they stayed for good, building on their advantage over the Lions and never relinquishing it.
Guercio's second touchdown of the day came in the third quarter, this time while his team led 13-6 after a long scoring drive from Lincoln. He again found Tate for a long completion, this time on a catch-and-run that went for 56 total yards and put the Golden Eagles down to the Lincoln 10-yard line. Guercio pushed his way into the end zone from five yards out a few plays later, putting the Golden Eagles ahead 20-6 after
Adam Scarpino's successful extra point.
Tate had his second-straight 100-yard receiving game, catching five passes for 107 yards and a score.
Scarpino had a fine day in his own right. Getting some of the most significant action of his career, he went 2-for-2 on field goal attempts, including a 38-yard make near the end of the second quarter. Punter
Hunter Robertson – the reigning PSAC Special Teams Athlete of the Week – had another standout day, averaging 46.0 yards per punt and dropping all three inside 20 yards.
The Golden Eagles defense was once again stout, with the majority of the Lions' offensive yards coming in the second half after Clarion established a healthy lead. Five of Lincoln's offensive drives ended in negative yardage, and three ended in 19 or more negative yards. There were three total blocked kicks by the Golden Eagles' special teams units as well, with
Luke Shaffer and
Connor Lyczek blocking punts and
Colton Irwin blocking an extra point attempt.
Jake Tarburton finished with just three total tackles, but two of those were sacks and he also recorded another quarterback hit.
Ryan Stahl was used in a variety of ways to attack the Lions' offense, posting seven tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack and a quarterback hit.
Clarion will be on the road for three straight weeks starting next Saturday with a road game at Shippensburg.
