With a 3-3 overall record, Clarion will hit the road this Saturday to square off against its toughest opponent of the 2004 season in visiting undefeated East Stroudsburg (5-0). The Warriors will be ranked #1 in the East Region this week. Kickoff at Eiler-Martin Stadium is set for 1:05pm.

The game can be heard on WCCR-FM, 92.7 and on the internet at Redzonemedia.com with Mike Kalinowski and Dave Katis describing the action.

The Golden Eagles are coming off a 21-10 loss to Edinboro last Saturday. Clarion led 3-0 halftime, but squandered four other opportunities deep in Edinboro territory, including two plays from inside the Boro 1 that came up empty. The Golden Eagles are 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the tough PSAC-West. Two weeks ago Clarion defeated Cal 35-34, as QB Brandon Dando hit receiver Joe Farkas on a 47-yard A Hail Mary@ td pass on the final play of the game. Clarion has also defeated Glenville 21-7 and Mansfield 34-20. The 2004 season opened with a tough 20-17 loss in the final minutes to highly regarded West Chester and then dropped a 25-14 encounter at Kutztown. Coach Luke is in his 11^th season at Clarion and has a 54-61 record at Clarion and a 28-34 mark in the PSAC-West. During his career he has led Clarion to PSAC-West titles in 1996 and 2000, while the 1996 squad advanced to the NCAA semifinals. In his 17 years as a collegiate head coach, he has an overall record of 90-82, including a 37-21 record at Defiance.

East Stroudsburg is off to a 5-0 start in 2004 and will be ranked #1 in the East Region when the NCAA Division II Poll comes out later this week. It is the best start for the Warriors since 1976, while the team will move up significantly from its 18^th national ranking a week ago. The Warriors opened the season with a 26-21 win versus Lenoir-Rhyne, then traveled to Edinboro and defeated the Scots 20-7. A big 28-13 win over C.W. Post was followed by a 54-17 victory over Mansfield and last Saturday= s 30-24 win at Bloomsburg. ESU scored the game-winning td at Bloom with only 50-seconds remaining.

Head coach Denny Douds is in his 31^st season at East Stroudsburg at has an overall record of 183-125-3. His teams have won 9 PSAC-East titles, including being co-champs the last two seasons, and 4 PSAC team titles before the team championship was eliminated back in 1987.

East Stroudsburg and Clarion have played some important games in their history, twice playing each other for the PSAC championship. East Stroudsburg won the first meeting in 1978 by a 49-4 margin in the PSAC title game. In 1983 the two teams played again for the PSAC Championship and Clarion won that game 27-14. That game was the first PSAC A State Game@ held at a neutral site - Hershey. The games, which are always exciting, saw Clarion win 37-34 in 1986 and 25-3 in 1987. The Warriors won 37-33 in 2000, 33-27 in

2001 and 31-21 last year.

Clarion= s offense is averaging 293.8 (#10 in PSAC) yards per game, including 170.3 rushing yards (#6 in PSAC) and 123.5 passing yards (#11 in PSAC) per game.

Clarion sophomore Brandon Dando has started the last five games and has completed 55 of 110 passes (50%) for 630 yards and 5 td= s, plus has rushed for 78 yards and 2 td= s. Freshman Erik Yonish started against West Chester and played in the fourth quarter against Mansfield. He has completed 12 of 17 passes for 111 yards and has 18 carries for 67 yards and 1 td.

The running game features the hard running of tailback Marcus Lowe and halfbacks Glenn Lovelace and Lance Fink. Lowe has 88 carries for 479 yards and 6 td= s on the season and is ranked #10 in the PSAC in rushing (79.8 y/g). Lowe also has 7 receptions for 49 yards and 1 td. Lovelace has 56 carries for 292 yards and td= s. He missed the Edinboro game with an injury, but is likely to return his week. He was PSAC-West A Player of the Week@ against Cal two weeks ago with 23 carries, 164 yards, 2 td= s. He has 1,371 career rushing yards at Clarion on 240 carries with 9 td= s. Fink meanwhile has 21 carries for 65 yards and 1 td, with 7 catches for 81 yards.

The receiving corps will be led by Pierre Odom (17 grabs, 226 yards, 2 td= s), Joe Farkas (12 catches, 187 yards, 1 td) and Ron Rivage (10 catches, 114 yards) at the wideouts, with Dan Tucker (10 catches, 66 yards, 1 td) at tight end.

Clarion= s defense is giving up 21.2ppg (#5 in PSAC) and 302.5 yards of total offense per game (#5 in the PSAC). The Eagles rank #7 in the PSAC in pass defense (175.2 ypg), #4 in rushing defense (127.3 ypg). Unfortunately, four of the opponents 18 td= s scored against Clarion have not come against the A D@ .

The defensive line will be led by noseguard Tim Connolly (10 hits, 5 tfl= s) who has 114 career tackles, 29 tfl= s, 10 sacks, 3 fumbles caused and recovered, plus 4 break-ups. He sat out last week with an injury but hopes to return on Saturday. Also leading the way up front are Ben Heisel (25 tackles, 10 tfl= s, 3 sacks), Corey Shaner (16 stops, 3 tfl= s), Mike O= Brien (4 hits, 2 tfl), Matt Niedbala (10 jolts) and Cedric Bowling (9 tackles, 1 tfl).

The linebacking corps will feature Matt Morris (45 stops, 7 tfl= s, 2 int= s.), Zach Gourley (35 jolts, 9 tfl= s) and Brock Luke (10 stops, 2 tfl= s) in the middle, with Kevin Rigby (23 stops, 5 tfl= s, 1 int) and Brandon Whitman (18 tackles, 1 sack, 4 tfl= s) on the outside.

The secondary will have leading tackler Bo Busch (63 hits, 2 int= s, 3 break-ups) at free safety and Jhermel Goss (21 stops, 3 tfl= s, 1 fumble rec. 1 int) at strong safety. The corners will have James Charles (15 stops, 2 int), Dwaon Woodard (28 tackles, 2 int, 8 break-ups) and Elijah Evans (2 int= s) at the corners.

East Stroudsburg has the #2 total offense in the PSAC averaging 464.4 yards per game, while ranking #3 in scoring offense with 31.6 points per game. The Warriors are getting 122.2 rushing yards (#11 in PSAC) and 342.2 passing yards (#1 in PSAC) per game.

Calling the signals is sophomore quarterback Jimmy Terwilliger. The #1 passer in the PSAC, Terwilliger has completed 93 of 152 passes (61.2%) for 1,646 yards and 12 td= s this season. He is averaging 329.2 passing yards per game. Also a mobile qb, he has run for 112 yards and 1 td.

The running game is paced by tailback Derek Lucas (90 carries, 424 yards, 2 td= s) and Anthony Carfagno (22 rushes, 67 yards, 4 td= s). Carfagno also has 18 catches for 258 yards and 2 td= s.

The receivers are talented with Tim Strenfel (30 catches, 637 yards, 5 td= s) the #1 receiver in the PSAC. Teammates Evan Prall (25, 398 yards, 3 td= s) and Ben Culver (10 grabs, 281 yards, 2 td= s), a former Clarion receiver, give Terwilliger plenty of talented targets.

East Stroudsburg= s defense ranks 10^th in total defense in the PSAC yielding 399.6 yards per game, but fourth in scoring defense giving up only 16.4 points per game. The Warriors give up 132.2 rushing yards (#5 in PSAC) and 267.4 passing yards (#14 in PSAC).

Up front tackles Andrew Marsteller (19 hits, 3 tfl= s) and Mike Motsko (3 stops), plus ends Greg Thoman (34 hits, 1.5 tfl= s) and Zach Toomey (15 stops, 1 sack) lead the way.

The linebacking corps features top tacklers Henry Breckenridge (38 jolts, 5 tfl= s, 2 sacks) and Matt Rapa (37 tackles, 2 tfl= s), with John Vetter (33 stops) and John Glenn (28 hits, 6 tfl= s, 4 sacks).

The secondary will be led by safety Matt Crispell who has 30 tackles and leads the PSAC with 7 interceptions. The corners will be Tyree Townes (21 jolts) and Michael Wiggins (28 tackles, 2 int= s).

CLARION NOTES: Clarion opened the season against ESU last year at Memorial Stadium in the first night game ... ESU defeated Clarion 31-21... Clarion rushed for 241 yards including 84 from Frantz Charles and 48 from Felton Woulard, both qb= s ... Carfagno rushed for 99 yards, while Terwilliger, in his first college game, hit 11 of 28 passes for 188 yards and 3 td= s... John Jeffries grabbed 5 passes for 118 yards and 2 td= s ... In 2001 at Stroudsburg High School, ESU scored with 1:53 remaining on a 16-yard A. Castiglioni run to win 33-27... Clarion had 302 yards of total offense including 209 rushing... Demeric Gardner had 108 yards and 1 td, Robert Walker 66 yards and 2 td= s... Adam Almashy was 8 for 31 for 93 yards and 1 td passing... Castiglioni rushed 29 times for 149 yards and 1 td .... Jeremy Palm completed 8 of 24 for 201 and 2 td= s... ESU had 396 yards of offense... In the 1983 PSAC title game at Hershey, Clarion rallied in the fourth quarter for its 27-14 win ... Clarion led 10-0 on a 1-yard run from Elton Brown and a 23-yard field goal from Eric Fairbanks... ESU took a 14-10 lead in the third on a 44-yard punt return from Chris Gerhard... With two qb= s (Pat Carbol & Kevin Hanlon knocked out during the game) Dave Lammers came on and tossed an 85-yard td pass to All-American Terry McFetridge with 11:02 left in the game, and a 50-yard td pass to Bob Green with 5:18 left to seal the win... Eric Fairbanks added a 24-yard field goal to round out the scoring... Clarion had 344 yards in that game including 157 rushing and 187 passing ... All-American Elton Brown had 140 yards and 1 td on 30 carries ... Lammers was 3 of 7 passing for 142 yards and 2 td= s... McFetridge caught 3 for 103 yards and 1 td and Green had 2 grabs for 56 yards and 1 td... ESU had -16 yards rushing and 100 yards passing for a total offense of 84 yards ... QB Andy Baranek (2 of 2, 11 yards) was hurt in the first quarter and did not return ... Charlie Diskin was 11 of 24 passing for 89 yards ... Clarion= s A D@ had 13 qb sacks in that game for a -95 yards ... John Hughes and Jon Haslett had 4 sacks each, Kevin Ewing had 2 sacks... Clarion will travel to Lock Haven in two weeks to take on the Bald Eagles, then return to Clarion to host Shippensburg on October 23^rd at 6pm... That will be also be Senior Day.