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clarion football game notes - week 1 at west virginia wesleyan

Clarion Football Game Notes: Week 1 at West Virginia Wesleyan

Clarion Golden Eagles (1-0, 0-0 PSAC West) at West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats (0-1, 0-0 MEC)
Thursday, September 4 // 6:00 PM
Buckhannon, W.Va. // Cebe Ross Field

Quick Notes
  • The Golden Eagles head on the road for their second straight game against an MEC opponent when they face off with West Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday, September 4. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
  • This will be the third ever meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Bobcats, with Clarion winning both of the previous contests.
  • Clarion opened the 2025 season with a resounding shutout win at home, beating Wheeling 34-0 at Al Jacks Field at Memorial Stadium on August 28.
  • The Bobcats opened their season with a loss on the road, falling 51-14 to Post on August 30.
  • The Golden Eagles' shutout win over Wheeling was the first such victory for Clarion since 2012.
  • Clarion recorded six tackles for loss against the Cardinals and limited them to just 180 yards of total offense, including a paltry 32 rushing yards.
  • Quarterback Anthony Guercio picked up where he left off from last season in the win over Wheeling, throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for two others. In the process he cracked the top-10 for career rushing touchdowns.
  • Holt Egan and Ja'Tawn Williams scored their first career touchdowns in the win over Wheeling, in the first and third quarters respectively.
  • 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.
  • Defensive back Zay Brisbane was all over the field in the win over Wheeling, making four tackles and breaking up four passes, en route to earning PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Week honors.
  • 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 fifth Thursday night win in the last six tries when they take on the Bobcats, having won their first such game this year against Wheeling.
  • Clarion is 8-5 in Thursday night games dating back to the 2009 season.
  • 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.

Series History

  • 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.
  • The first meeting between the teams came on Sept. 2, 1995, when Clarion topped the Bobcats 24-23 at Memorial Stadium. Clarion trailed 23-16 with 1:56 left in regulation but Chris Weibel hit Alvin Slaughter for a touchdown as time ran down, and then connected with Chris Skultety for a two-point conversion and a dramatic victory.
  • Clarion followed up with a dominant 38-14 win over the Bobcats in Buckhannon in 1996. The offense racked up 606 yards of offense, with three running backs - Steve Witte (142), Ron DeJidas (117) and Godfrey Bethea (102) - topping 100 yards rushing.

Mountain Jam

  • When it comes to current Mountain East Conference membership, the Golden Eagles have traditionally had success. Clarion is a combined 45-17 (.726) against current MEC schools dating back to 1966, including a win over Wheeling in the 2025 season opener.
  • 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 this week's opponent, West Virginia Wesleyan.

Scouting the Bobcats

  • West Virginia Wesleyan was predicted to finish ninth in the Mountain East conference in 2025. Last season they finished with an 0-11 overall record, including an 0-5 mark at home.
  • The Bobcats are coached by a former longtime Clarion assistant, Dwayne Martin. Martin was the defensive coordinator for the Golden Eagles from 2006-12 and again in 2015, while also serving as the special teams coordinator from 2013-14. He took over as the interim head coach at West Virginia Wesleyan in July 2021 and was officially named head coach in September of that year.
  • The Bobcats feature four new coaches on this year's staff, including new coordinators on both sides of the ball.
 

Numbers Within Reach for Guercio

  • Anthony Guercio enters the week with 18 rushing touchdowns in his career. With two scores against Wheeling on Aug. 28 he cracked the top-10 in program history in rushing touchdowns, and with two 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 less than one percentage point shy of the program's career passing completion record. He currently has a 56.4 completion percentage, just shy of the 57.1 percentage record.


Defense Pitches Shutout in Season Opener

  • Clarion kicked off the season with a rare feat, shutting out Wheeling 34-0 in the 2025 opener.
  • The goose egg represented the first shutout for the Clarion defense since Aug. 30, 2012, when the Golden Eagles beat Fairmont State by a 7-0 score.
  • That marked a span of 130 games between shutouts, as well as a 130-game span between shutouts at Memorial Stadium. 
  • The Golden Eagles have not had a road shutout since Sept. 9, 1995 at Westminster.
  • Clarion didn't just keep the Cardinals off the scoreboard, but also from doing much of anything on offense. They limited Wheeling to 180 yards of total offense, their lowest total since permitting just 111 yards to Lincoln on Sept. 15, 2018.
  • Clarion allowed just 32 rushing yards to the Cardinals, their lowest total since giving up just 25 yards to Gannon on Sept. 23, 2023.

Brisbane Named PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Week

  • Zay Brisbane was all over the field in the win over Wheeling on Aug. 28, recording four tackles and swatting away a career-high four passes.
  • Four passes defended in a single game is the best total for any Golden Eagle defender since the 1992 season.
  • For his efforts, Brisbane earned PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Week honors for Sept. 2.

Coming Up Next

  • Clarion starts a two-game homestand with PSAC East opponents, starting with a date against Shippensburg on Saturday, Sept. 13. 
  • The Golden Eagles will look to snap a two-game losing streak against the Red Raiders, and win their first home game against Shippensburg since 1993.
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