Clarion Golden Eagles (2-8, 1-6 PSAC West) at West Chester Golden Rams (5-5, 3-4 PSAC East)
Saturday, November 11 // 12:00 PM
West Chester, Pa. // John A. Farrell Stadium

Quick Notes

• The Golden Eagle football team will wrap up the 2023 season on the road this weekend when they face off with the West Chester Golden Rams on Saturday, November 11.
• This will be the 26th meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Golden Rams, with West Chester owning a 22-3 advantage in the all-time series with Clarion.
• Clarion is coming off a 39-27 home loss to IUP last week, a game where the Golden Eagles held an early lead and were just one score behind as late as the fourth quarter.
• Quarterback Anthony Guercio ranks second among all PSAC signal callers and first among PSAC West quarterbacks in rushing yards with 416 on the season.
• Corahn Alleyne had his best game as a receiver against IUP on Nov. 4, catching four passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns against the Crimson Hawks.
• Alleyne now ranks second in the PSAC and eighth in NCAA Division II in all-purpose yardage, averaging 147.7 all-purpose yards per game.
• Freshman quarterback Ty Hurst made his first career appearance against IUP on Saturday, throwing his first career touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
• With 260 combined passing yards against IUP - spread out over four passers - the Golden Eagles posted their best single-game passing total since throwing for 289 yards against Mercyhurst on Oct. 30, 2021.
• Defensive end Jake Tarburton reached 10.5 tackles for loss in the game against IUP last week, making him the first Golden Eagle defender to reach double-digits in the stat since 2018.
• Linebacker Kareem Hamdan ranks fourth in career tackles per game among all active PSAC players, and needs 13 more to reach 300 tackles in his career.
• Clarion boasts the fourth-best rushing offense in the PSAC and third-best in the West division with an average of 165.5 yards per game on the ground, as well as 4.4 yards per rush. 
• Cornerback Johnny Hutton is second in the PSAC lead in total passes defended with 10 on the year, and is one of only seven players with three or more interceptions this season.

Series History

• This will be the 26th all-time meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Golden Rams, with West Chester holding a 22-3 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to the 1960 season. The teams have met sparingly over the years, competing against one another just nine times since the start of the 2000 season.
• The Golden Rams have won six straight meetings in the series with the Golden Eagles, with Clarion's last win coming on Oct. 12, 2002 at Memorial Stadium. The Golden Eagles won that meeting 34-28, with Glenn Lovelace rushing for 181 yards and two touchdowns on Homecoming. Scott McGrady finished with 18 tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery.
• The teams met last year in Clarion, with West Chester coming away with a 36-27 win in the season finale. Will Alexander ran for a pair of touchdowns, and the Golden Eagles attempted what would have been the tying field goal as time expired, though the Golden Rams blocked it.
• The last time the teams met in West Chester was during the 2013 season, when the nationally-ranked Golden Rams beat Clarion 41-14 on Nov. 16, 2016. Bobby Thomas had 96 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Julian Howsare added seven tackles and a sack.
• Most famously, the teams met three times in the PSAC Championship game - in 1966, 1967 and 1969. West Chester got the better of the Golden Eagles in 1967 and 1969, but Clarion won the first meeting in 1966. That marked the first PSAC title for former head coach Al Jacks.

Scouting the Golden Rams

• West Chester was predicted to finish third in the PSAC East division in 2023, and in fact garnered one first-place vote in the preseason coaches poll released in August.
• The Golden Rams enter this season finale with a 5-5 overall record and a 3-4 mark in PSAC East play, tying them for fourth in the division with Lock Haven.
• One of the traditional PSAC East powers, West Chester has not had a losing season in their own division since the 1995 season.
• West Chester's greatest strength this season has been their offense in general and their passing game in particular; the Golden Rams are sixth in the PSAC in scoring (25.2 ppg), seventh in total offense (349.0 ypg) and fifth in passing offense (215.7 ypg).
• Golden Rams quarterback Cooper Jordan is the only PSAC signal caller with more rushing yards than Clarion's Anthony Guercio, with Jordan rushing for 496 yards and five touchdowns this season.
• On defense, Connor Noble is one of two players in the PSAC with 100 tackles this season, and he also has five sacks. Khalib Slaughter is tied for the team lead in sacks and is also averaging 1.17 tackles for loss per game.

Last Week

The Golden Eagle football team went punch for punch with IUP for most of the afternoon, but the Crimson Hawks ultimately pulled away in taking a 39-27 decision at Memorial Stadium on Nov. 4.

Clarion honored their seniors in a pregame ceremony and the upperclassmen delivered, led by a standout offensive effort by Corahn Alleyne. Alleyne pulled in just four passes but turned them into huge gains, finishing with 133 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Those touchdowns came from distance as Alleyne racked up 53 yards after catch.

The Golden Eagles jumped all on the Crimson Hawks with two touchdowns in the first 5:12 of regulation, but after that point IUP rallied and eventually wore down the Clarion advantage. They outscored Clarion 19-0 in the second and third quarters, though the Golden Eagles matched their 13 fourth quarter points with a baker's dozen of their own.

Clarion quarterbacks combined to go 13-of-24 for 260 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, though the Crimson Hawks were able to manage six sacks on the afternoon. Anthony Guercio was the leading rusher with 44 yards, and both he and quarterback Will Alexander ran for scores. A third quarterback, freshman Ty Hurst, made his collegiate debut and threw a fourth quarter touchdown pass to Alleyne, with the latter taking a screen pass 22 yards for the score. Griffin Buzzell led Clarion with nine tackles and a forced fumble, while Johnny Hutton picked off a pass, his third of the season.

Guercio Expands His Game

Quarterback Anthony Guercio has been one of the most effective quarterbacks in the PSAC running the football this season - his 416 rushing yards ranks second among all PSAC signal callers and first in the PSAC West division - but over the last three weeks he has shown more polish in the passing game as well. In his last three starts Guercio has completed 27 of 39 passes for 335 yards and six touchdown passes.

Strange Passing Stat for Golden Eagle QBs

With his five combined passing touchdowns in games against Edinboro and Slippery Rock, Anthony Guercio became the first Golden Eagle quarterback to throw multiple scores in consecutive games since the 2021 season. Taylor Eggers was the last one to do so, throwing four against Shippensburg on Sept. 18, 2021 and two against Gannon on Sept. 25, 2021.

Spreading the Love

In the last three games, Golden Eagle quarterbacks have completed seven touchdown passes to six different receivers. In the Golden Eagles' win over Edinboro on Oct. 21, Anthony Guercio found Khalon Simmons, Zack Kindel and Ray Jackson for scores. One week later he connected with Paul Newton and Tony Powell for touchdown passes, and last week Corahn Alleyne caught scores from Guercio and freshman Ty Hurst. In total, nine different players have caught touchdown passes this season, with Powell and Alleyne leading the way with a pair of receiving scores.

Kareem of the Crop

Senior linebacker Kareem Hamdan has been a mainstay in the Golden Eagle defense for three years now, and as a result he's turned into one of the most consistent performers in the PSAC. Hamdan currently ranks second among all active PSAC players in tackles per game with a 7.18 per game average, and his 287 total career tackles ranks second in the PSAC among active players behind only Millersville's Isaiah Onuschak (302).

Should he record 13 against West Chester, Hamdan would become the first Golden Eagle player to reach 300 career tackles in five years. Layne Skundrich was the last Clarion player to hit the mark, doing so in 2018. Only nine players in program history have achieved 300 career tackles.

Force on the Ground

The Golden Eagle rushing attack ranked fourth overall in the PSAC and tops in the PSAC West division in 2022, with the team averaging 161.5 yards per game on the ground. Clarion's 4.4 yards per carry average last year ranked second only the Shepherd, and the team's 17 rushing touchdowns ranked fifth overall and third in the West division behind Slippery Rock and California (Pa.).

Clarion has shown no signs of slowing down in 2023. They are fourth in the PSAC and third in the West division with an average of 165.5 rushing yards per game. They have also been efficient in their rushing, ranking fourth in the conference with an average of 4.4 yards per rushing attempt.

Should the Golden Eagles maintain their current pace, it would be the best season in terms of rushing in a decade. The 2013 team ran for an average of 178.8 yards per game, led by Bobby Thomas's 759 rushing yards.

First Triumvirate

The Golden Eagles have had three different players top the 100-yard rushing mark through 10 weeks of the season. Khalil Owens broke the century mark rushing against Bloomsburg on Sept. 16, Anthony Guercio has done it twice - once on Sept. 23 against Lock Haven and again at Edinboro on Oct. 21 - and Zach Benedek did it on Oct. 14 against Mercyhurst.

To find the last time three different Golden Eagles broke the century mark on the ground, you have to go back to the 2011 season when four players did it: Ben Fiscus, Patrick Graham-Murphy, Brandon Akins and John Fuhrer.

High Five

Clarion went off for 335 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns against Mercyhurst on Oct. 14, beating the Lakers on the ground for much of the contest. That represented the best single-game rushing total for the team since they put up 341 yards on the ground in the 2019 season opener against Shippensburg.

The last time the Golden Eagles scored five rushing touchdowns in a game was on Nov. 12, 2011, when Patrick Graham-Murphy scored all five in a record-setting performance against Millersville. 

Alleyne the Swiss Army Knife

Corahn Alleyne ranks among the national leaders in all-purpose yardage through 10 weeks, thanks to his ability to contribute on offense and special teams. Alleyne is averaging 147.7 all-purpose yards per game, which ranks eighth in NCAA Division II and second in the PSAC. Alleyne is the only player in the conference with more than 100 yards each in rushing, receiving, kick returns and punt returns. He is also the only player in the PSAC West to have more than 1,300 all-purpose yards this year.

Over the Century Mark

In Clarion's run-heavy offense, it has been rare to see any receivers go over 100-yard mark, but the Golden Eagles did just that last week against IUP. Corahn Alleyne caught four passes for 133 yards, breaking off 53 yards after catch and scoring two touchdowns in the process. It was the first time any Clarion receiver went over 100 yards since Alleyne himself had 118 yards against Gannon on Sept. 24, 2022.

The 133 receiving yards recorded by Alleyne against IUP last week were also the most since 2021 season. The last Golden Eagle to have more was Quinn Zinobile, who posted 202 yards against Shippensburg on Sept. 18, 2021.
 

What's the Buzz?

Linebacker Griffin Buzzell has taken a step forward in his second season in the Blue & Gold, turning into a dependable tackler at linebacker. Buzzell ranks 10th in the PSAC and fifth in the PSAC West with an average of 7.4 tackles per game. His 42 solo tackles ranks seventh  in the conference.

Johnny on the Spot

Over the course of the second half of the season, freshman corner Johnny Hutton has developed into quite the playmaker in the Golden Eagles' secondary. Hutton is tied for the conference lead in passes defended per game with an average of 1.11 per contest, breaking up 10 passes in just nine games. He also leads the Golden Eagles with three interceptions.

Hutton made a pair of splash special teams plays in Clarion's 34-20 win over Edinboro on Oct. 21, including one that set up a crucial offensive score in the first half. Hutton finished his day with four total tackles, two pass break-ups and an interception, as well as a fumble recovery on a muffed punt late in the first half that enabled the Golden Eagles to take a 21-7 lead.

Over the Top

With a tackle for loss  against IUP last week, Jake Tarburton reached 10.5 TFL for the season, making him the first Golden Eagle to crack double-digits in five years. The last to do it was Alec Heldreth, who had 12.0 TFL in 2018.