Game 10 // Clarion Golden Eagles (1-8, 1-5 PSAC West) at Gannon Golden Knights (3-6, 2-4 PSAC West)
Saturday, Nov. 4 // 12 p.m. // Erie, Pa. // McConnell Family Stadium

Radio: WCCR 92.7 FM / WKQW 96.3 FM

Live Stats // Live Audio // Live Video

Clarion Game Notes

Two-Minute Drill

• The Clarion Golden Eagles will close out the PSAC West schedule when they face off with the Gannon Golden Knights
• This will be the 10th meeting between the teams, with Clarion owning a 6-3 advantage in the all-time series
• Running back Mylique McGriff went off for a career-high 131 yards and a touchdown against Slippery Rock
• McGriff has 334 rushing yards and three touchdowns in his last three games
• With 87 tackles so far, linebacker Layne Skundrich is on pace to be the first Golden Eagle with 100+ tackles since 2010
• Skundrich ranks second in the PSAC with an average of 9.8 tackles per game
• Linebacker Avery Howsare forced a fumble for the third straight week in the game against Slippery Rock
• Howsare ranks third in the PSAC with three forced fumbles on the year
• Defensive linemen Tyrone Archie and Alec Heldreth each had a pair of sacks against The Rock last week
• The Golden Eagles is +5 in turnover margin after forcing a fumble against Slippery Rock last week
• Should West Chester defeat Millersville on Saturday, Clarion's final game will become a road game at Bloomsburg
• An extremely young team in 2017, the Golden Eagles have 31 players with either freshman or sophomore eligibility on their offensive and defensive two-deep
• Clarion has once again renewed its fruitful partnership with Sports Fever and will have two games televised locally and streamed nationally on ESPN3 - 9/23 vs. Mercyhurst and 9/30 at Edinboro
• Starting in 2017, all five Golden Eagle home contests will be available as free web streams via ClarionGoldenEagles.com

The Lead
The Clarion Golden Eagles will close out the PSAC West portion of the schedule on Saturday when they take to the road to face the Gannon Golden Knights in Erie.  Kickoff time is scheduled for noon.

Mike Kalinowski and Joe Lodanosky will have the radio call for the game on 92.9 WCCR-FM and  96.3 WKQW-FM an hour before kickoff.  Live audio streaming will be available via the C93 website and linked on the schedule at ClarionGoldenEagles.com.

Scouting The Golden Knights
Gannon enters Saturday's PSAC West finale with a 3-6 overall record and a 2-4 record in conference play.  Earlier this year they set a PSAC record with 567 rushing yards and broke the school record for points in a single game in a 76-31 win over Seton Hill, but since then have lost two straight.  The Golden Knights possess an explosive offense that averages 38.8 points per game but allows 33.2 as well.

The discussion about the Gannon offense simply must begin with Marcus Jones, the NCAA's leading rusher with an eye-popping 1,802 yards through just nine games.  Jones also leads the nation with 23 rushing touchdowns, six more than the second-place athlete on the list.  The junior running back is averaging 9.0 yards per carry.

Series History
This will be the 10th meeting between the two teams, with Clarion owning a 6-3 advantage in the all-time series that dates to 2008.  The Golden Eagles won the last two meetings between the teams, including a 47-31 victory at Gannon in 2015 and a 41-35 win last year at Memorial Stadium.

In last year's game, then-Clarion quarterback Connor Simmons broke the program record for career touchdown passes with the 66th scoring pass of his career, throwing what was the eventual winning touchdown to Matt Lehman to make it 41-28.  The Golden Eagles scored 17 points off turnovers.

About the Coach
Chris Weibel is in his third season as the program's head coach after spending many of the previous years as an assistant.  Weibel has an overall record of 12-19 at Clarion, including an 8-12 record in PSAC West play.  A 2010 inductee into the Clarion Sports Hall of Fame, Weibel graduated with every major Clarion passing record to his credit.

Last Week
Clarion dropped a 24-9 decision on the road in the annual Milk Jug game against Slippery Rock last week, falling on a cold, wet Saturday afternoon at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. The Golden Eagle defense shut out their opponent in the second half for the third straight game.

Rainy weather and slick field conditions affected both offenses on Saturday, however it was Slippery Rock who benefited from a few big plays that made the difference.

The game started with four consecutive punts, two by each team, as both offenses tried to find their rhythm. Slippery Rock extended their third drive by executing a fake punt on their own 32-yard line on 4th and 5, good enough for 30 yards, leading to a Jake Chapla 43-yard goal. In the fourth quarter, running back Mylique McGriff busted open a 60-yard touchdown run to close the gap to 24-9.

Ground Game Picking Up Steam
After a sluggish start the Golden Eagles have established a strong rush attack that shares a strong correlation with their improved offensive play of late.  Clarion is averaging 147.8 yards per game on the ground in the last six weeks, led by freshman Mylique McGriff.  McGriff has 88 carries for 490 yards (5.6 ypc) and three touchdowns in that span.  

Late Bloomers
In each of the last three weeks, the Clarion defense has shut out the opposing offense in the second half, and every nearly pulled off upsets as the result.  They held the California (Pa.) Vulcans without a point in the second half while scoring 19 themselves before falling 23-19, and then held the nationally-ranked IUP Crimson Hawks scoreless in the second half in a come-from-behind bid. Finally, the Golden Eagles held Slippery Rock scoreless in the second half of last week's game. 

When one includes the Seton Hill game on Oct. 7, Clarion has allowed just seven points in each of the last four second halves.

Fareri Steals the Win, Weekly Honors
Sam Fareri's big day against Seton Hill led to him earning PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week honors for Oct. 9.  He finished with five total tackles, an interception and a forced fumble.  

Key Takeaways
The Golden Eagles have been especially effective at forcing turnovers in 2017, boasting a +5 turnover margin so far this year.  That was buoyed by three takeaways against IUP two weeks ago and a forced fumble against Slippery Rock last week.

Hit Stick Howsare
Helping to lead the charge in forcing turnovers has been senior linebacker Avery Howsare.  He has knocked a ball loose in each of the last three weeks, and now ranks third in the PSAC in forced fumbles.

Setting the Standard
Freshman receiver Mason Standard has played a bigger role in the offense recently  and has blossomed into one of the Golden Eagles' top targets.  In his last six games Standard has caught 22 passes for 344 yards and five touchdowns.  Against Seton Hill he had his best game of the year, setting career highs in catches (8), receiving yards (117) and touchdowns (3). 

Standard also holds the distinction of throwing a successful two-point conversion attempt, Clarion's first two-point conversion since the 2014 season. 

Clarion Picked Seventh in Preseason Poll
In a coaches' poll before the start of the year, Clarion was predicted to finish seventh in the PSAC West division in 2017.  

PSAC West (# of 1st place votes)
1) IUP (6)
2) California (2)
3) Slippery Rock
4) Edinboro
5) Gannon
6) Seton Hill
7) Clarion
8) Mercyhurst

Field Flipper
New kicker/punter James Metzgar has acquitted himself quite well in his new roles this year, proving dependable both in putting the ball through the upright as well as pinning the opponent deep.  Metzgar is first  in the PSAC with 22 punts downed inside opposing 20-yard-lines while kicking just two touchbacks in a league-high 64 attempts.

On the Road Again
Clarion will play three straight games away from home to end the season, starting with an Oct. 28 showdown at Slippery Rock. 

Lights, Camera, Action!
Clarion University will continue its fruitful partnership with the Pennsylvania Sports Fever Television Network in 2017, with two contests – 9/9 vs. Bloomsburg and 9/30 at Edinboro – airing live on affiliates across the state of Pennsylvania and made available to millions in the Keystone State.  The selected games will also be streamed on ESPN3 via the Watch ESPN app. 

Eagle Media to Stream Clarion Home Games
In a joint venture between Eagle Media Productions and the athletic department, all Clarion home football games in 2017 will be available via free video streaming.  Viewers will be able to access the video streams via the schedule page on ClarionGoldenEagles.com.
 
What's Next
The Golden Eagles will close their schedule against the PSAC East opponent on the road — either the West Chester Golden Rams or the Bloomsburg Huskies ­— based on the results of other games in the PSAC this weekend.