CALIFORNIA, Pa. --- The Golden Eagles football team took a late lead and forced a turnover with under a minute remaining, but Clarion dropped a heartbreaker to California (PA) as the Vulcans scored a touchdown with just two seconds remaining to win 31-28 at Adamson Stadium.
 
The game was everything advertised beforehand, as both the Golden Eagles and the Vulcans traded punches for 60 minutes of action. To maintain the boxing analogy, it appeared late in the game that Clarion had delivered a 1-2 combination to clinch the win, converting a six-play, 86-yard drive into a 16-yard touchdown pass to Holt Egan and then punching the ball loose from Kendrick Agenor on the subsequent possession, recovering the fumble at the Cal 25-yard line with just 44 seconds remaining.
 
The Golden Eagles forced the Vulcans to burn all three of their timeouts on the offensive possession that followed, but Cal's Sedrick Vessah blocked a 42-yard field goal attempt with 24 seconds remaining to give his team one last shot. On 2^nd-and-1 at the Vulcan 44-yard line, Phaeton Hill hit Deontae Williams on a deep crosser, with Williams taking the ball all the way for the game-winning score.
 
The quarterbacks put on a show on Saturday, with Clarion's Anthony Guercio returning to action and authoring his second 400-yard passing game of the season. He completed 21-of-32 passes for 407 yards, four touchdowns and one interception against the Vulcans. Egan was the deep ball threat, catching four passes for 125 yards and a score, while Davon Jones pulled in seven passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns. Khalon Simmons added four receptions for 64 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to cut the Vulcans' lead to 10-7.
 
Clarion took a 14-10 lead before the halftime break, traveling 73 yards in just four plays and 33 seconds of game clock. Guercio lobbed a beauty of a deep ball to Dominik Thomas for a 34-yard gain to put his team at the 14-yard line and then connected with Jones for a score. Cameron Thomas prevented the Vulcans from retaking the lead before the break, picking off Hill near the goal line with four seconds left on the clock.
 
California took a 17-14 lead midway through the third quarter but the Golden Eagles responded with another quick long-distance trip down the field, this time traveling 93 yards in just four plays. With the Golden Eagles backed up on their own seven-yard line, Egan caught a 68-yard pass on first down to spark the drive, and then Guercio found Jones for the latter's second touchdown to make it 21-17. Clarion again erased a deficit in the fourth quarter, with Guercio completing long passes to Ray Jackson and Simmons to reach Vulcan territory. He found Egan with a fade on the sideline from 16 yards out to make it 28-24. Read Full Article