College Football
IUP Holds Off Clarion 30-20
(INDIANA, PA): IUP jumped out to a 21-0 lead and then held on to defeat the stubborn Golden Eagles 30-20 on Saturday afternoon at George P. Miller Stadium.
IUP raised its overall record to 6-3 and 4-1 in the PSAC-West, while Clarion dropped to 3-7 overall and 1-4 in the PSAC-West.
Indian qb Kevin Weidl was responsible for IUP’s first three scores. On their first drive the junior qb fired a 15-yard td pass to Pete Smith and the Indians led 7-0 at 12:22 of the first.
Following 48-yard punt return by IUP’s Javon Hines to the Clarion 23, Weidl hit LeRon McCoy for a 10-yard td pass to give the Indians a 14-0 lead at 8:52 of the first.
Early in the second, Weidl led the Indians on a 55-yard drive in 5 plays which culminated in a Weidl to McCoy 33-yard td pass in the left corner of the endzone and IUP had a 21-0 lead with 9:20 left in the first.
Clarion seized the momentum and capitalized on a “golden” opportunity late in the second quarter to get back in the game. IUP’s Weidl fumbled at the IUP 5 and Clarion’s Matt Morris pounced on the pigskin.
Freshman qb Erik Yonish rolled right and dove into the endzone, just beyond the pylon, and put the Eagles on the board with only 40-seconds before intermission. Kyle Snoke’s extra point had Clarion trailing 21-7 at halftime.
In the third quarter Clarion again turned the momentum in their favor. IUP lined up for a 37-yard field goal attempt, but defensive lineman Ben Heisel broke through and blocked Brad Whitacre’s field goal try, corner James Charles scooped up the pigskin and returned it 25 yards to the IUP 48.
Brandon Dando led a 48-yard, 8-play drive to score. The big play came on third and nine at the IUP 21 when Dando fired a 20-yard pass to Marcus Lowe to the Indian 1. Lowe dove over from the 1 and Clarion was within 8 at 21-13. On the PAT though, Kyle Snoke had his attempt blocked and Shayne Fletcher returned the ball the distance for a 2-point defensive conversion. The score stood at IUP 23 Clarion 13.
IUP scored a defensive touchdown early in the fourth when Brandon Dando fumbled at the line of scrimmage (Clarion 25), and P.J. Yurt picked the ball up on a bounce and ran 25-yards to paydirt. IUP led 30-13 with 14:01 remaining.
Clarion free safety Bo Busch forced IUP punt returner Javon Hines to cough up the ball at the IUP 37 and strong safety Jordan Hicks recovered for the Eagles.
With Yonish at qb, Clarion ran four straight options to the IUP 23. Dando came in at qb and rushed for 5 yards, then went back and lofted an 18-yard td pass to Pierre Odom. Snoke’s PAT pulled Clarion to within 30-20 with 10:57 left in the game.
Clarion continued to pressure the Indians. On IUP’s next possession running back Chris Morgan fumbled and Clarion’s Jordan Hicks recovered at the IUP 41. But Clarion couldn’t get a first down and turned the ball over on downs to the Indians.
Clarion pushed into IUP territory on its next possession and got to the Indian 30 facing a fourth and 1. A Clarion 5-yard penalty pushed the Eagles back to the 35, and Dando avoided an IUP rush as he tried to pass, then turned up field and came up short of the sticks at the IUP 31.
One final Clarion drive reached the Indian 28, and on the game’s final play, Dando was intercepted at the 2 to end the game.
Clarion held the stat edge in the game with 290 yards of offense to IUP’s 195 and 16 first downs to IUP’s 11.
Clarion had 149 rushing yards and 141 passing yards. Brandon Dando rushed for 50 yards on 15 carries, Glenn Lovelace had 11 rushes for 46 yards and Marcus Lowe had 13 runs for 29 yards and 1 td.
Dando completed 10 of 21 passes for 128 yards and 1 td, while Yonish was 2 of 6 for 13.
Pierre Odom grabbed 5 passes for 91 yards and 1 td.
IUP’s Chris Morgan had 73 yards on 24 carries, while Weidl completed 9 of 17 passes for 160 yards and 3 td’s.
McCory grabbed 3 passes for 59 yards and 2 td’s.
Clarion travels to Slippery Rock next Saturday to finish its season, while IUP travels to California.
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Box Score (Final)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
CLARION............. 0 7 6 7 - 20 Record: (3-7,1-4)
IUP................. 14 7 2 7 - 30 Record: (6-3,4-1)
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Scoring Summary:
1st 12:22 IUP - Pete Smith 15 yd pass from Kevin Weidl (Brad Whitacre kick), 6-59 2:38, CLAR 0 - IUP 7
08:52 IUP - LeRon McCoy 10 yd pass from Kevin Weidl (Brad Whitacre kick), 4-23 1:44, CLAR 0 - IUP 14
2nd 09:20 IUP - LeRon McCoy 33 yd pass from Kevin Weidl (Brad Whitacre kick), 5-55 1:54, CLAR 0 - IUP 21
00:40 CLAR - Erik Yonish 5 yd run (Kyle Snoke kick), 1-5 0:07, CLAR 7 - IUP 21
3rd 06:57 CLAR - Marcus Lowe 1 yd run (Kyle Snoke kick blockd), 8-73 3:37, CLAR 13 - IUP 21
06:57 IUP - Shayne Fletcher PAT return, , CLAR 13 - IUP 23
4th 14:01 IUP - P.J. Yurt 25 yd fumble recovery (Brad Whitacre kick), , CLAR 13 - IUP 30
10:57 CLAR - Pierre Odom 18 yd pass from Brandon Dando (Kyle Snoke kick), 6-37 1:53, CLAR 20 - IUP 30
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CLAR IUP
FIRST DOWNS................... 16 11
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 47-149 35-35
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 141 160
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 27-12-2 17-9-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 74-290 52-195
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 1-25
Punt Returns-Yards............ 0-0 4-75
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 4-77 4-84
Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 2-21
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 5-41.8 7-34.7
Fumbles-Lost.................. 4-3 3-3
Penalties-Yards............... 8-35 4-40
Possession Time............... 31:44 28:16
Third-Down Conversions........ 4 of 15 3 of 12
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 4 0 of 0
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 3-3 2-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 4-34 2-12
RUSHING: CLARION-Brandon Dando 15-51; Glenn Lovelace 11-46; Marcus Lowe
13-29; Erik Yonish 6-18; Adam Podojil 1-3; Lance Fink 1-2. IUP-Chris Morgan
24-73; Stan Grandy 1-4; Justin Spence 1-minus 1; LeRon McCoy 1-minus 2; TEAM
1-minus 2; Kevin Weidl 7-minus 37.
PASSING: CLARION-Brandon Dando 10-21-2-128; Erik Yonish 2-6-0-13. IUP-Kevin
Weidl 9-17-0-160.
RECEIVING: CLARION-Pierre Odom 5-91; Marcus Lowe 3-29; Joe Farkas 2-21;
Ronald Rivage 1-3; Adam Podojil 1-minus 3. IUP-LeRon McCoy 3-59; Joe Slappy
2-47; Stan Grandy 2-14; Chris Morgan 1-25; Pete Smith 1-15.
INTERCEPTIONS: CLARION-None. IUP-Kris Griffin 1-21; Shayne Fletcher 1-0.
FUMBLES: CLARION-Marcus Lowe 2-2; Glenn Lovelace 1-1; Brandon Dando 1-0.
IUP-Chris Morgan 1-1; Javon Hines 1-1; Kevin Weidl 1-1.
Stadium: Miller Stadium Attendance: 2204
Kickoff time: 1:00 End of Game: 3:50 Total elapsed time: 2:50
Officials: Referee: Steve Dobis; Umpire: Pat Scullen; Linesman: Tom Trilli;
Line judge: Brad Hudak; Back judge: Larry Sukits; Field judge: Dave London;
Side judge: Bill Molinari;
Temperature: 73 Wind: E 15 MPH Weather: Overcast
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CLARION vs IUP (10-30-2004 at Indiana, Pa.)
SACKS (UA-A): CLARION-Kevin Rigby 2-1; Matt Niedbala 1-0; Ben Heisel 0-1.
IUP-P.J. Yurt 1-0; Kris Griffin 1-0.
TACKLES (UA-A): CLARION-Kevin Rigby 4-6; Bo Busch 2-7; Tim Connolly 2-5;
Brandon Whitman 3-2; Matt Niedbala 2-3; Ben Heisel 2-3; Jordan Hicks 1-4;
Zach Gourley 1-4; Matt Morris 2-1; Corey Shaner 0-3; James Charles 2-0;
Brock Luke 1-1; Brandon Dando 1-0; Cedric Bowling 1-0; Joe Farkas 1-0;
Jhermel Goss 0-1; John Dominic 0-1; Dwaon Woodard 0-1. IUP-Y'Hoshua Murray
5-3; P.J. Yurt 4-4; Chaz Hollins 3-4; Kirby Griffin 3-4; Kris Griffin 3-3;
Victor Callahan 3-3; Ken Evans 4-1; Matt Kirsch 2-3; Mike White 3-1; Joe
Shubik 2-2; Tyre Young 1-3; Tye Desiderio 0-3; Shayne Fletcher 2-0; Pete
Smith 1-1; Adam Schmidt 1-1; Matt Schafer 1-0; Jerrell Jackson 0-1; Dom
Carnicella 0-1.