College Football
CLARION DROPS CAL 35-34 ON “HAIL MARY” FINAL PLAY
(CLARION, PA): Clarion quarterback Brandon Dando (New Castle – Laurel) heaved a 47-yard “Hail Mary” pass which found wide receiver Joe Farkas just inside the right pylon and the Golden Eagles upset previously undefeated California (PA) 35-34 on the final play of the game tonight at Memorial Stadium.
Dando dropped back to pass with four seconds left on the clock and fired a high pass that the Cal defense reached up to bat away at the goal line, but failed to make contact with the ball. Farkas, running a streak route to the endzone, reached out and caught the ball on his fingertips at the half yard line and fell just inside the right pylon for the game-winning score.
Clarion players and fans mobbed the field to celebrate the Golden Eagle victory.
The win for Clarion ups their overall record to 3-2 and now gives the Eagles a 1-0 mark in the PSAC-West. Cal drops to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the PSAC-West.
Cal had a 34-22 lead with only 4:03 left in the game when Antoine Bagwell scored on a 50-yard touchdown run.
Clarion took the kickoff and marched 71-yards in 8 plays to score. Brandon Dando capped the drive with a 2-yard td run with only 1:13 remaining in the game. The PAT made the score 34-29.
Cal was penalized on the touchdown and Clarion tried an onside kick from the 50, but Cal’s Garvin Graves recovered at the Cal 36. The Vulcans ran Bagwell on first down and Clarion called timeout. On second down the Vulcans knelt on the ball and Clarion called their final timeout, a timeout the Cal coaches didn’t think Clarion had. On third down Cal again knelt on the ball, but had to punt with 27-seconds left from their own 33.
Clarion’s Dwaon Woodard fielded the Cal punt at the Clarion 30 and returned it 14-yards to the Eagle 40 with 19-seconds remaining.
On second down Dando completed a 9-yard pass to Pierre Odom to the Cal 47 with 11 seconds left. After a failed “Hail Mary” on third down, Clarion completed their winning td pass on fourth down.
Clarion had 448 yards of total offense, including 222 rushing and 226 passing. Dando completed 17 of 32 passes for 226 yards and 1 td, while also running for 11 yards and 1 td. Halfback Glenn Lovelace carried 23 times for 164 yards and 2 td’s, and Farkas grabbed 5 passes for 81 yards and 1 td.
Cal had 442 yards of offense, including 170 rushing and 272 passing. Bagwell ran 21 times for 191 yards and 2 td’s. QB Matt Humbert hit on 15 of 27 passes for 274 yards and 2 td’s. Marc Huddleston caught 8 passes for 92 yards, while Claude Whitaker caught 5 aerials for 148 yards and 2 td’s.
Clarion returns to Memorial Stadium to host Edinboro next Saturday in the annual Homecoming Day Game. Cal hosts Slippery Rock.
Clarion opened the scoring in the first quarter when Lance Fink scored on a 6-yard run at 9:01 of the first and the Golden Eagles led 6-0 (missed the PAT).
Cal roared back on an 83-yard run by Antoine Bagwell with 4:52 left in the second and Gary Amos’ PAT gave the Vulcans a 7-6 halftime lead.
The teams traded scores in the third quarter. Clarion came out of the locker room and scored on its econd play from scrimmage, a 61-yard run from Glenn Lovelace. Kyle Snoke’s kick put Clarion in front 13-7 at 14:33 of the third.
On Cal’s first possession the Fire Gods went 70-yards in three plays, capped by a Matt Humbert 63-yard pass to Claude Whitaker and Cal led 14-13 with 13:02 left in the third.
Clarion took its next possession and drove 75 yards in 11 plays to retake the lead. Lovelace scored on a 1-yard run and the Eagles led 19-14.
Early in the fourth Humbert and Whitaker hooked up again for Cal, this time on a 75-yard pass play and Cal led 20-19.
On Clarion’s next possession, Cal defensive back Jerry Ntakrah picked off a Dando pass and returned it 32-yards for a touchdown giving Cal a 27-19 advantage.
Clarion drove to the Cal 14 but the drive stalled. Snoke came on and booted a 32-yard field goal with 9:10 remaining and Cal’s lead was trimmed to 27-22.
Bagwell scored on his 50-yard run with 4:03 remaining giving Cal its 34-22, setting up Clarion’s final heroics to win the game.
Clarion’s defense was led by Bo Busch who had 10 tackles and 1 interception, while Matt Morris had 6 stops, including 1 sack and 2 tfl’s.
Cal’s defense was led by Jaison Cook who had 12 stops and 2 tfl’s, while Brian Oddi posted 11 hits.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
California (PA)..... 0 7 7 20 - 34 Record: (3-1,0-1)
Clarion............. 6 0 13 16 - 35 Record: (3-2,1-0)
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Scoring Summary:
1st 09:01 CLAR - Lance Fink 6 yd run (Kyle Snoke kick failed), 4-25 0:00, CAL 0 - CLAR 6
2nd 04:52 CAL - Antoine Bagwell 83 yd run (Gary Amos kick), 2-83 0:18, CAL 7 - CLAR 6
3rd 14:35 CLAR - Glenn Lovelace 61 yd run (Kyle Snoke kick), 2-61 0:18, CAL 7 - CLAR 13
13:02 CAL - Claude Whitaker 63 yd pass from Matt Humbert (Gary Amos kick), 3-70 1:23, CAL 14 - CLAR 13
07:41 CLAR - Glenn Lovelace 1 yd run (Brandon Dando rush failed), 11-75 5:21, CAL 14 - CLAR 19
4th 14:33 CAL - Claude Whitaker 75 yd pass from Matt Humbert (Matt Humbert pass failed), 5-84 1:13, CAL 20 - CLAR 19
13:17 CAL - Jerry Ntakrah 32 yd interception return (Gary Amos kick), , CAL 27 - CLAR 19
09:10 CLAR - Kyle Snoke 32 yd field goal, 8-56 4:01, CAL 27 - CLAR 22
04:03 CAL - Antoine Bagwell 50 yd run (Gary Amos kick), 3-67 1:10, CAL 34 - CLAR 22
01:13 CLAR - Brandon Dando 2 yd run (Kyle Snoke kick), 8-71 2:46, CAL 34 - CLAR 29
00:00 CLAR - Joe Farkas 47 yd pass from Brandon Dando, 4-56 0:19, CAL 34 - CLAR 35
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CAL CLAR
FIRST DOWNS................... 13 20
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 29-170 50-222
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 272 226
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 30-16-1 32-17-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 59-442 82-448
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 2-10 4-29
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 3-61 5-105
Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-32 1-4
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 8-29.5 7-37.0
Fumbles-Lost.................. 0-0 2-0
Penalties-Yards............... 12-121 6-39
Possession Time............... 23:22 34:36
Third-Down Conversions........ 3 of 11 8 of 20
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 1 1 of 3
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 0-1 3-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-9 2-22
RUSHING: California (PA)-Antoine Bagwell 21-191; Joe Ruggiero 1-minus 8;
Matt Humbert 7-minus 13. Clarion-Glenn Lovelace 23-164; Adam Podojil 4-20;
Lance Fink 4-14; Marcus Lowe 4-13; Brandon Dando 15-11.
PASSING: California (PA)-Matt Humbert 15-27-1-274; Joe Ruggiero 1-3-0-minus
2. Clarion-Brandon Dando 17-32-1-226.
RECEIVING: California (PA)-Marc Huddleston 8-92; Claude Whitaker 5-148; Matt
Gerger 1-13; Garvin Graves 1-10; Brandon Jackson 1-9. Clarion-Joe Farkas
5-81; Pierre Odom 4-17; Ronald Rivage 3-59; Lance Fink 2-46; Dan Tucker
1-10; Adam Podojil 1-7; Marcus Lowe 1-6.
INTERCEPTIONS: California (PA)-Jerry Ntakrah 1-32. Clarion-Bo Busch 1-4.
FUMBLES: California (PA)-None. Clarion-Brandon Dando 2-0.