Wheeling Cardinals (0-0, 0-0 MEC) at Clarion Golden Eagles (0-0, 0-0 PSAC West)
Thursday, August 28 // 6:00 PM
Clarion, Pa. // Al Jacks Field at Memorial Stadium

Tickets
Fans can purchase tickets for Thursday night's game online at the provided link.

Parking
There is a $5 parking charge for fans parking in the main lot at Memorial Stadium. Only credentialed media and game personnel are permitted to park in the upper lot of the stadium. Students MUST park in the main lot.

Al Jacks Field - Pregame Field Dedication
Prior to the start of Thursday night's game, there will be a ceremony commemorating the renaming of the playing surface to Al Jacks Field at Memorial Stadium. This ceremony will occur at approximately 5:40 p.m. Fans are encouraged to arrive prior to that to enjoy the dedication.

Quick Notes

• The Golden Eagles open the season at home against Wheeling for a Week 0 game at Memorial Stadium on Thursday, August 28 at 6 p.m.
• Prior to the start of the game, there will be a dedication ceremony for the newly rechristened Al Jacks Field, named in honor of legendary Clarion head coach Al Jacks.
• This will be the first ever meeting between Wheeling and Clarion. Clarion is a combined 44-17 (.721) against current MEC schools dating back to 1966.
• Clarion was predicted to finish seventh in the PSAC West division in 2025.
• The Golden Eagles return 13 total starters from last year's team that went 3-8 overall with a 1-5 record in the PSAC West division. Eight of those starters are on the offensive side of the ball, including all five starters along the offensive line for the second consecutive season.
• Quarterback Anthony Guercio exploded as perhaps the top dual-threat quarterback in the PSAC West last year, throwing for 2,001 yards and 11 touchdowns while also ranking second in the PSAC with 12 total touchdowns, all rushing. 
• A two-time all-conference performer and returning team captain, Griffin Buzzell is one of five Golden Eagles linebackers to earn multiple All-PSAC honors since 2000.
• Last season Clarion averaged 5.8 yards per play, ranking fifth overall in the PSAC and second in the West division behind only Slippery Rock (6.0).
• The Golden Eagles will be looking for their fourth Thursday night win in the last five tries when they take on the Cardinals; last year Clarion went 2-1 on Thursday night, including a home win over Lincoln on Sept. 5 and a loss to 14th-ranked Slippery Rock on Oct. 31.
• Clarion is 7-5 in Thursday night games dating back to the 2009 season.

Series History

• This will be the first ever meeting between Wheeling and Clarion. The Cardinals first established a program in 2018 under head coach Zac Bruney, who enters his eighth season at the helm.
• Wheeling has made strides over the years, winning five or more games in each of the last four seasons. The program's first winning season came in 2022 when they went 7-4 overall and 6-4 in the MEC.
• When it comes to current Mountain East Conference membership, the Golden Eagles have traditionally had success. Clarion is a combined 44-17 (.721) against current MEC schools dating back to 1966.
• The most common MEC opponent Clarion has faced? That would be Fairmont State, against whom the Golden Eagles own a 22-14 record. They are also 2-0 all-time against next week's opponent, West Virginia Wesleyan.
• The last time Clarion welcomed a school from The Mountaineer State to Memorial Stadium, though, it resulted in a loss; West Liberty beat the Golden Eagles in the 2022 season opener 21-14, though Clarion shut them out in the second half. Khalil Owens rushed for two touchdowns in the loss.

Scouting the Cardinals

• Wheeling was predicted to finish sixth in the nine-team MEC standings in 2025, garnering a total of 31 points in the process. The Cardinals are coming off a 6-5 season in 2024, including a 5-4 mark in MEC action.
• The Cardinals boasted a prolific offense in 2024, ranking fourth in the MEC with an average of 33.4 points per game and 401.0 yards per game.
• Similar to Clarion, the Cardinals will return a strong contingent on the offensive line, including Second Team All-MEC performer Alex Goodrick.

Golden Eagles Picked Seventh in PSAC West

• The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference announced their 2025 preseason football coaches' poll on August 7. Clarion was predicted to finish seventh in the PSAC West division in 2025.
• Clarion returns 13 total starters from last year's team that went 3-8 overall with a 1-5 record in the PSAC West division. 

2025 PSAC Football West Division Preseason Poll

1. Slippery Rock (4)
2. IUP (3)
3. California (PA)
4. Gannon
5. Seton Hill
6. Edinboro
7. Clarion

2025 PSAC Football East Division Preseason Poll

1. Kutztown (7)
2. East Stroudsburg (1)
3. West Chester
4. Shepherd
5. Bloomsburg
6. Lock Haven
7. Shippensburg
8. Millersville

About the Coach

Raymond Monica, a two-time American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region 1 Coach of the Year and two-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Coach of the Year with more than 30 years of experience at the college level, became the 14th coach in Golden Eagle history on Feb. 17, 2022. He enters his fourth season at the helm of the program in 2025.

Al Jacks Field Dedication Set for August 28

• As a coach, administrator and professor, the late Al Jacks was an indelible part of the Clarion community for six decades. Now, his name will officially become a permanent part of Clarion athletics, when the playing surface at Memorial Stadium is officially renamed Al Jacks Field at Memorial Stadium.
• With Jacks at the helm of the Clarion football program, the Golden Eagles went 128-46-5 for a .729 winning percentage, and his 128 wins rank eighth all time for a head coach at a PSAC school. The team captured six PSAC West division titles (1966, 1967, 1969, 1977, 1978, and 1980) and three PSAC Championships (1966, 1977, 1980). Clarion's 1980 team was named the ECAC "Team of the Year." 
• Jacks was inducted into the Western Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame – now named for another Clarion graduate, Robert "Tick" Cloherty – in 1979, and in 1980 the Golden Eagles were named the ECAC Division II Team of the Year. In Fall 2022 he went into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.

Larry Wilson Comes to Clarion

• The Golden Eagles will feature a new offensive coordinator in 2024 as veteran assistant coach Larry Wilson joins the staff. Wilson was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at IUP from 2022-24, and he made an immediate impact upon his arrival at IUP. 
• The Crimson Hawk offense ranked among the top five in the PSAC in nearly every major statistical category, including third in scoring offense (31.6), third in passing offense (249.1), fourth in rushing offense (161.7) and second in total offense (410.8). 
• Prior to that he spent 17 years at California (PA), including a stretch where the Vulcans hit double figures in wins six times, made five straight NCAA Division II playoff appearances and three consecutive national semifinals.

Golden Eagles Return Trio of 2024 Captains

The Golden Eagles selected their 2024 captains at the conclusion of last season, with three of the five players returning to the fold in 2025. Quarterback Anthony Guercio and linebackers Griffin Buzzell and Dillon Tingle were selected as captains, alongside Trevon Tate and Jake Tarburton.

Egan, Shaffer Recognized for Strong Spring Season

• Clarion head coach Raymond Monica handed out Most Improved awards at the conclusion of the 2025 spring practice schedule, honoring one player apiece on offense and defense.
• The offensive representative was wide receiver Holt Egan.
• The most improved defensive player over the spring was linebacker Luke Shaffer.

Buzz at Linebacker

• Griffin Buzzell earned his second consecutive Second Team All-PSAC West honor, as the linebacker continued his development into a leader not just on the defense but for the team. He ranked fourth in the PSAC with 90 tackles while also contributing 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and an interception.
• Buzzell is one of five Golden Eagles linebackers to earn multiple All-PSAC honors since 2000, joining Layne Skundrich (2017-18), Nick Sipes (2009-10), Matt Morris (2005-06) and Jabari Weatherspoon (2002-03).

Guercio Breaks Out

• The 2024 season featured an explosion from quarterback Anthony Guercio. He threw for 2,001 passing yards and 11 touchdowns, and then ranked second in the PSAC in total touchdowns with 12 rushing scores on the year. 
• That was complemented by 645 rushing yards, giving him an average of 264.3 total offensive yards per game to rank third in the PSAC and sixth in Super Region 1.
• Guercio's 12 rushing touchdowns were the most for any Golden Eagles since Alfonso Hoggard's school record 17 touchdowns in 2009, and are tied for fifth in a single season in program history.
• When it came time to make a big play on the ground, Guercio was tops on the team in 2024. He led the team with 44 rushes for either first downs (32) or touchdowns (12). Logan Kent was second on the team with 15 such plays.

Numbers Within Reach for Guercio

• Anthony Guercio enters the season with 16 rushing touchdowns in his career. With two more he will crack the top-10 in program history in rushing touchdowns, and with eight more he would become one of just five players in program history with 20+ rushing touchdowns;
• Another 2,000+ passing season would move Guercio into the top-10 in passing yards for a career at Clarion;
• Guercio is currently in a statistical tie for the best completion percentage in program history among qualified quarterbacks at 57.1 percent.

Not So Static Kling

• Defensive tackle Owen Kling was the anchor of the Golden Eagles' defensive line in 2024, earning Second Team All-PSAC West honors.
• The numbers were not gaudy – 16 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks – but the cumulative effect was noticeable as he demanded regular double-teams on the interior. 
• Clarion held opponents to a 3.9 yards per carry average for the season.

It Starts with Discipline

• In 2024 the Golden Eagles were among the best teams in the PSAC at avoiding penalties.
• Clarion ranked fourth in the conference with an average of just 50.0 penalty yards per game. 
• The Golden Eagles also ranked highly in terms of total penalties committed, averaging just 5.8 penalties per game to rank fifth in the PSAC.

Golden Eagles Look to Explosive Offense

• In 2024 the Golden Eagles had one of the most effective offenses in the PSAC on a per-play basis, ranking among the best in the West division and overall in yards per play.
• Clarion averaged 5.8 yards per play, ranking fifth overall in the PSAC and second in the West division behind only Slippery Rock (6.0).
• That yards per play average jibes with the fact that the Golden Eagles ran the sixth-most offensive snaps in the conference, averaging 63.3 offensive plays per game. That, however, ranked fourth in the PSAC behind California (PA) (65.9), Edinboro (64.5) and Slippery Rock (64.2).
• Clarion's offense produced 64 plays of 30 or more yards in 2024, including six pass plays of 50+ yards and 16 rushes of 30+ yards. Wide receiver Ray Jackson had eight receptions of 30+ yards while Anthony Guercio had nine runs of 30+ yards.

The Line That Plays Together...

• For the second straight season the Golden Eagles will essentially return their entire starting offensive line. 
• Devin Webb, Josh Steele, Jacob Domer, Mark Mizerak Jr. and Ruric Douglas all return to the trenches in 2025. 
• Webb was the anchor of that group, starting all 11 games - ten on the interior and one at left tackle in the season finale, en route to a Second Team All-PSAC West selection. 
• In 2024 the Golden Eagles finished the year sixth in the PSAC in total offense at 364.9 yards per game.

Bust it Big

• Over the final weeks of the 2024 season, running back Logan Kent turned into a dangerous weapon in the kick return game. In games against Slippery Rock and Gannon he returned seven kicks for 239 yards, an average of 34.1 yards per return. That includes the longest kick return for any Golden Eagle last year, an 83-yard return against Gannon that set up a one-play touchdown drive for Clarion in the fourth quarter.
• Kent's 83-yard return against Gannon was the longest for a Golden Eagle since Terrell Ford took a kick 90 yards for a touchdown against Seton Hill on Oct. 5, 2019.

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, 2024. 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.

500 Yards, Part 2

It took considerably less than 82 games for the Golden Eagles to crack 500 yards of total offense again. This time it was a matter of only four games, as Clarion recorded 513 total yards against Edinboro on Oct. 19, 2024. The Golden Eagles last cracked 500+ yards of offense in a game multiple times in 2015, when they did it three times.

Schedule Breakdown

• For the second straight season the Golden Eagles will play a "Week 0" game to open the season, hosting Wheeling on Thursday, August 28 at 6 p.m. The Golden Eagles will play their second straight midweek game seven days later when they take on West Virginia Wesleyan on Sept. 4.
• The team returns home for two straight PSAC East crossover games against Shippensburg (Sept. 13) and Shepherd (Sept. 20) but then follows with three straight on the road: at Edinboro (Sept. 27), at Gannon (Oct. 11) and at California (PA) (Oct. 18). That will push the annual Homecoming game and Autumn Leaf Festival back to the end of the month, with Clarion hosting Seton Hill on Oct. 25.
• The final home game of the season will be against IUP on Nov. 8, sandwiched between road games against Slippery Rock (Nov. 1) and East Stroudsburg (Nov. 15).

Coming Up Next

• Clarion heads back on the road to face West Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday, September 4 in Buckhannon. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.
• This will be the third meeting between the two teams and the first in nearly 30 years; they played in back-to-back seasons in 1995-96, with the Golden Eagles winning  both contests.