After losing a heart-breaking 20-17 home opener to highly touted West Chester, Clarion will look to rebound this Saturday, September 4^th, when the Golden Eagles travel to Kutztown to battle the Golden Bears. Kickoff at University Field is set for 1:05.

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.

Clarion enters the game with an 0-1 record, having lost the season opener to West Chester 20-17 on Saturday night. West Chester scored a touchdown with 4:42 remaining to post the come-from-behind win. Last year the Golden Eagles were 3-8 overall and 2-4 in the PSAC-West. Clarion won its final two games of the season defeating Lock Haven (22-9) and Slippery Rock (19-17). Coach Luke is in his 11^th season at Clarion and has a 51-59 record at Clarion. He has led Clarion to PSAC-West titles in 1996 and 2000 under Luke, while the 1996 squad advanced to the NCAA semifinals. In his 17^th year as a collegiate head coach, he has an overall record of 88-80, including a 37-21 record at Defiance.

Kutztown enters the game with an 0-1 record, having lost their season opener 35-0 at Shippensburg. The Golden Bears were 6-5 last season and started the season on fire with a 4-1 mark. During that start Kutztown defeated Virginia State (34-6), Lock Haven (7-3), lost to Shipp (25-12) and notched wins over Clarion (20-19) and West Chester (17-16). The Bears followed with losses against Mansfield (45-24) and Bloomsburg (35-28), defeated Millersville (17-0), lost to Edinboro (56-3), trounced Cheyney (33-6) and lost the season finale to East Stroudsburg 34-33. Keeny has an overall record at Kutztown of 32-32.

Clarion leads the overall series between the two schools by an 12-3 margin dating back to 1941. More recently the Eagles have won four of the last six played from 1998-2003. Last year Kutztown edged the Eagles 20-19 at Memorial Stadium as Clarion scored a td early inthe fourth quarter but missed the PAT and Kutztown made the lead stand. In 2002 Clarion captured a 31-7 win at Kutztown= s University Field. In 2001 Clarion posted a 36-7 win at Memorial Stadium, while the Bears downed Clarion 17-14 at Kutztown in 2000. Clarion won 31-21 in 1999 and 23-16 in 1998. The game with the most on the line between the two schools came in 1980 when Clarion downed the Bears 15-14 in the PSAC title game at Clarion.

Clarion= s offense was looking for more balance in 2004 and the Eagles accomplished that mission in the opener. The Eagles are 9^th in the PSAC in total offense getting 258 yards, while ranking 7^th in rushing with 147 yards and 9^th in passing with 111 yards per game.

Sophomore Brandon Dando missed the opener, but is expected to start against the Bears on Saturday. He started the final three games of 2003 as a true freshman and completed 29 of 56 passes for 242 yards and 1 td. He also rushed for 165 yards on 53 carries leading a balanced attack. Freshman Erik Yonish was impressive in his first collegiate start on Saturday completing 12 of 17 passes for 111 yards. He also ran for 39 yards and 1 td on 14 carries.

The running game will be paced by halfbacks Glenn Lovelace and Lance Fink, along with tailback Marcus Lowe. Lovelace gained 37 yards on 6 carries in the opener and now has 1,116 career rushing yards on 190 carries with 7 td= s. Fink, who had his first start on Saturday, ran for 12 yards on 5 carries, plus grabbed 4 passes for 29 yards. Lowe meanwhile ran 12 times for 59 yards and 1 td.

The receiving corps will be led by Pierre Odom (3 grabs, 57 yards) and Ron Rivage at the wideouts, with Dan Tucker (3 catches, 24 yards) at tight end. Odom had 29 grabs, 366 yards, 1 td in 2003 while Rivage posted 13 catches, 210 yards.

Clarion= s defense, despite having 5 starters out last Saturday, held the potent West Chester offense to only 104 rushing yards and 96 passing yards. The Eagles rank #3 in the PSAC in pass defense (96 ypg), #5 in rushing defense (104 ypg) and #4 in total defense (200 ypg).

The defensive line will be led by noseguard Tim Connolly (44 tackles, 10 tfl= s, 4 sacks in 2003) who has 104 career tackles, 24 tfl= s, 10 sacks, 3 fumbles caused and recovered, plus 4 break-ups. Also leading the way up front are Ben Heisel (9 tackles, 1 sack, 4 tfl= s), Mike O= Brien (2 hits, 1 tfl) and Matt Niedbala.

The linebacking corps will feature Matt Morris (11 stops, 1 tfl), Zach Gourley (7 jolts, 2 tfl= s) and Brock Luke in the middle, with Kevin Rigby (13 hits in 2003) and Brandon Whitman (7 tackles, 1 sack, 3 tfl= s) on the outside.

The secondary will have Bo Busch (8 hits, 2 break-ups) at free safety and Jhermel Goss (4 stops, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery) at strong safety. The corners will have James Charles (5 stops, 1 int), Dwaon Woodard and Elijah Evans (1 int) at the corners.

Kutztown returns its entire starting backfield and receivers in 2004 from a team that averaged 20ppg and 309 yards of total offense per game in 2003. In the season opener at Shipp the Bears were limited to 70 rushing yards (#11 in PSAC) and 81 passing yards (#12 in PSAC) for 151 yards of total offense (#12 in PSAC).

Ready to toss the pigskin is quarterback Jeremy Copeland. Last year Copeland completed 164 of 312 passes for 1,817 yards and 16 td= s with 18 int= s. Last week against Shipp he only completed 14 of 32 aerials for 81 yards and 2 int= s.

The running game is paced by talented tailbacks Stephen Gammage and Tony Bria. Last year Gammage collected 699 rushing yards and 5 td= s, while Bria ran for 633 yards and 5 td= s. Last Saturday Gammage led the ground game with 11 carries for 69 yards, while Brian had 9 attempts for 16 yards.

The receiving corps is solid with Trevor Smith, Brett Harbach (5 catches, 45 yards) and Jason Henley (2 catches, 12 yards) all returning. Smith didn= t play on Saturday but led the Bears with 60 catches for 843 yards and 7 td= s a year ago.

In the season opener Kutztown= s A D@ permitted 208 rushing yards (#12 in PSAC), 153 passing yards (#10 in PSAC) and a total offense of 361 yards (#11 in PSAC).

The defensive front features Mike Grosso (7 tackles) and Chris Branco (4 hits, 1 sack) at the ends, with Tony Garipoli and Adam Ogorek (3 stops) at the tackles.

Top tackler and middle linebacker Greg Mitchell (2 stops) defends the middle. He had 85 stops and 11 tfl= s last year. Also contributing at linebacker are Yusef Turner (3 hits, 1 tfl) and Drew Hicks (5 jolts).

The secondary has Barren Grier (4 tackles) and Justin Gibbs (5 jolts) at the corners, with Matt Millard (4 stops) at strong safety and Michael Baldwin (7 jolts) at free safety. Grier had 3 interceptions in 2003 while Millard had 2.

CLARION NOTES: Clarion sophomore placekicker Kyle Snoke booted a 46-yard field goal against West Chester, his first college field goal and a career long... In last year= s 20-19 loss to Kutztown the Golden Eagles outgained Kutztown 449-216 and outrushed the Bears 317 - 22... Clarion fumbled 8 times and lost 6, plus missed the game tying PAT, which were the keys to the game ... Felton Woulard completed 7 of 16 passes for 132 yards and Ron Rivage caught 4 passes for 102 yards... Brandon Sweeney led the team with 96 rushing yards and 2 td= s, with Woulard getting 89 nd Glenn Lovelace 12 carries for 82 yards... Kutztown qb Jeremy Copleand completed 10 of 26 passes for 194 yards and 2 td= s... Bria gained 61 yards on 27 carries... Trevor Smith caught 7 passes for 174 yards and 2 td= s, including a 77-yarder... In Clarion= s 31-7 win in 2002 the Eagles rushed for 306 yards on 62 carries ... Adam Almashy rushed for 40 yards and 2 td= s, plus threw for another to lead the way ... Robert Walker gained 86 on 20 carries, while Brandon Sweeney had 66 on 12 tries and Frantz Charles added 40 on 6 carries ... Gammage for Kutztown also ran for 85 yards and 1 td on 26 carries ... Kutztown managed 94 rushing yards and 96 passing yards on the game... Clarion travels to Mansfield in two weeks to battle the Mountaineers at 1pm... Clarion returns home to play Glenville State on September 18^th in another 6pm start. That will also be Family Day.