2005 FB Home Opener
CLARION HOSTS KUTZTOWN SATURDAY NIGHT
After dropping a 43-14 decision at
#7 ranked West Chester last Friday, Clarion returns home to battle Kutztown in
the home opener for the Golden Eagles.
Kickoff is set for Saturday,
September 3rd at Clarion’s Memorial Stadium at 6pm. The game can be heard on the
Golden Eagle football network which includes WCCR-FM, 92.7 and WKQW-FM, 96.3, as
well as on the internet at Redzonemedia.com with Mike Kalinowski describing the
action.
CLARION 0-1 IN 2005
Clarion enters the game with an 0-1
record in 2005 having lost at #7 ranked West Chester last Friday night 43-14.
The Golden Eagles were 3-8 in 2004 and 1-5 in the PSAC-West, but six of the
Eagle losses were to nationally ranked teams, four of which went to the NCAA
Division II Playoffs.
The 2004 season opened with tough
20-17 loss in the final minutes to West Chester, and was followed with a 25-14
loss to Kutztown. Three wins followed over Mansfield (34-20), Glenville State
(21-7) and California (35-34). The Cal win featured qb Brandon Dando hitting Joe
Farkas on a 47-yard “Hail Mary” pass on the game’s final play to win. Clarion
lost in its final 6 games against Edinboro (21-10), East Stroudsburg (38-24),
Lock Haven (16-13 ot), Shippensburg (44-0), IUP (30-20) and Slippery Rock
(31-14).
LUKE IN HIS 12TH YEAR AT CLARION
Clarion head coach Malen Luke is in
his 12th season directing the Golden Eagle football team. He has a career record
of 54-67 at Clarion while leading the Golden Eagles to PSAC-West titles in 1996
and 2000. The 1996 squad finished 11-3 and lost in the NCAA D-II semifinal game
to Northern Colorado 19-18 in the final seconds. The 1996 team was the Lambert
Cup winner in the East and finished the season ranked 8th in the country. Luke’s
Eagles were also a strong 7-4 in 2000 and in 2002, while Malen was voted the
PSAC-West “Coach of the Year” in 1996 and 2000.
KUTZTOWN 0-1 IN 2005/GOLDEN BEARS 4-6 IN 2004
The Golden Bears return 19 starters,
45 lettermen and 18 seniors on a mostly veteran team. Kutztown also enters
Saturday’s contest with an 0-1 season record having lost to Shippensburg last
Saturday by a 10-3 margin. With the game tied 3-3 late in the fourth,
Shippensburg’s Walter Crump scored on a 1-yard run to give the Red Raiders the
victory. Shippensburg was an NCAA Playoff qualifier in 2004.
Kutztown was 4-6 overall last season
including a 25-14 win over Clarion. Their other three wins came against
Mansfield (45-10), Lock Haven (28-20) and Cheyney (38-13).
COACH KEENEY IN 8TH SEASON AT KUTZTOWN
The Golden Bears are led by eighth
year head coach Dave Keeney. The veteran mentor has a seven year record at
Kutztown of 36-38 entering Saturday’s game.
CLARION LEADS SERIES WITH KUTZTOWN 12-4
Clarion leads the overall series
between the two schools by an 12-4 margin dating back to 1941. More recently the
Eagles have won four of the last seven played from 1998-2004. Last year Kutztown
used Clarion turnovers to their advantage in defeating the Eagles 25-14. In 2003
Kutztown edged the Eagles 20-19 at Memorial Stadium as Clarion scored a td early
in the 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 OFFENSE AVERAGING 274 YARDS T.O.
The offense had a balanced attack
against West Chester last week. Clarion gained 274 yards in total offense
including 112 on the ground and 162 through the air.
YONISH/DANDO COULD START AT QB
The starting quarterback will be a
question mark on Saturday. Erik Yonish won the starting job and completed 5 of
13 passes for 103 yards and 1 td, plus ran for 14 yards. He left the game with
an injury and is day to day. Coming off the bench was veteran qb Brandon Dando
who connected on 6 of 18 passes for 59 yards, ran for 44 yards on 7 carries,
plus played a wide receiver position and caught 2 passes for 32 yards. Last year
Dando had 131 carries, 192 yards, 5 td’s and was 113 of 227 passing for 1,185
yards, 7 td’s
BUCKNER CLARION’S TOP RUNNER
The running game will likely fall on
the shoulders of sophomores Tyrone Buckner and Josh Province, along with
freshman Dave Murzynski. Buckner led the Clarion running game with 54 yards and
1 td on 18 carries last eek, while Murzynski had 2 carries for no yards and
Province played, but did not get a carry.
The fullback position will see either
senior Dave Coyle , or talented sophomore Michael Byrd also vying for time. Byrd
grabbed 4 passes for 75 yards and 1 td, a 65-yarder from Yonish.
YOUNG RECEIVING CORPS READY TO CONTRIBUTE
The receiving corps will likely have
junior Jewell Stephens (3 catches, 21 yards), red-shirt freshman Anthony
Easterling (1 catch, 22 yards), transfer Vince Kirk and freshman Matt Foradora
(1 catch, 12 yards), all ready to catch passes. Senior tight end Greg Mahaffey
and junior John Dominic expect to see time.
“O” LINE LED BY SNYDER & DELIERE
Clarion’s “O” line looks very strong
up front with the return of All-Region center Zack Snyder (Jr. 6-5, 310) and
All-Region guard Eric Deliere (Sr. 6-2, 305). Starting tackle Steve McCartney
(Sr. 6-4, 275) and sophomore tackle Bill Johnson (6-5, 310) expect to start up
front, along with guard Michael O’Brien (So. 6-5, 280) who moved over from the
defensive line. The projected starting line would average 6'4" and 296-pounds.
CLARION DEFENSE RETURNS 9 STARTERS
Nine starters and 14 lettermen return
for a tough Clarion defense that has led the PSAC in tfl’s for the past five
seasons. Clarion had 110 tfl’s in 2004, 106 in 2003, 113 in 2002 and 102 in 2001
and 128 in 2000.
Last year the defense limited
opponents to 330 yards of offense per game (#4 in PSAC), including only 153.3
rushing yards (#5 in PSAC) and 177 passing yards (#5 in PSAC). In the opener at
West Chester the Eagles yielded 165 rushing yards and 322 passing yards for a
total offense of 487.
NIEDBALA ANCHORS DOWN LINEMEN
Up front senior Matt Niedbala,
red-shirt freshman Deonte Cooley ( 2 hits), plus sophomores Cedric Bowling and
Matt Ritter (4 tackles, 1 sack) are ready to lead the way.
RIGBY LEADS OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS
Guarding the perimeters will be
junior Kevin Rigby (5 stops; 2004-54 stops, 10 tfl’s, 6 sacks), senior Conrad
Warner, red-shirt freshmen Doug Woodruff, Jim McHale, Corey Giles and sophomore
transfer Jimmy Simmons. Ribgy was a third team All-Region selection in 2004 and
was PSAC-West “Player of the Week” for his 10 tackles, 3 qb sack performance
against IUP last season.
MORRIS, GOURLEY & LUKE PROVIDE LB STRENGTH
The inside linebacking spots are
talented with the return of juniors Matt Morris 9 hits, 2 tfl’s; 2004- 88
tackles, 17 tfl’s, 2 int’s) and Zach Gourley (7 stops; 2004- 71 stops, 16 tfl’s)
and senior Brock Luke (5 tackles; 2004- 23 jolts, 3 tfl’s).
BUSCH HEADS VETERAN SECONDARY
Senior free safety Bo Busch (6 stops;
2004-119 tackles, 2 int’s, 4 fumbles caused), a third team AP and Football
Gazette All-American, leads a very strong secondary. In three seasons he has
outstanding numbers including 283 tackles, 10 fumbles caused, 6 int’s and 5
tfl’s.
Senior Jordan Hicks (6 tackles)
returns at strong safety, while senior James Charles (2004- 2 int’s), junior
Dwaon Woodard (3 tackles, 2 break-ups; 2004-53 hits, 3 int’s, 11 break-ups) and
sophomore Herb Carraway (1tfl) are back at the corners.
SNOKE READY TO BOOT PIGSKIN
Junior placekicker Kyle Snoke, who
connected on both PAT attempts last week, and was 6 of 7 field goals last year,
returns to lead the special teams. Freshman punter Nick Perla has a 36.4 yard
average after one game.
KUTZTOWN OFFENSE BALANCED
The Golden Bear offense gain 212
yards last week in its season opener against Shippensburg. The Bears gained 60
yards rushing and passed for 152 yards.
SPOTS RUNS THE OFFENSE
Sophomore quarterback Kyle Spotts
runs the Kutztown offense. In the opener he clicked on 14 of 39 passes for 152
yards while throwing 4 interceptions.
Receiving passes from Spotts are
wideouts Mike Zulkowski (3 catches, 82 yards), Brett Harbach (3 grabs, 19 yards)
and Justin Gibbs (1 catch, 13 yards). Tight ends Jason Henley (2 catches, 14
yards) and Brian Long expect to roam the secondary.
The running game will rely on Tony
Bria and Maurice Adams. Bria ran 8 times for 33 yards, and Adams gained 31 yards
on 16 tries. Adams had a big year in 2004 rushing for 702 yards and 6 td’s on
only 125 carries (5.9 y/c). Bria rushed for 253 yards and 3 td’s but was injured
in the fourth game of 2004 and missed the remainder of the season.
BEAR DEFENSE EXPECTED TO BE TOUGH
Kutztown’s defense yielded only 225
yards against a very potent Shipp offense last week. The Bears gave up only 139
yards rushing and 86 yards passing.
Leading the way up front are tackles
Scott Smith (4 hits) and Nick Cresta (4 stops, 2 tfl’s), along with ends Mike
Grosso (8 stops, 4 sacks) and Leroy Azubuike (4 tackles).
The linebackers are talented with
middle linebacker Greg Mitchell (11 hits, 1 tfl) leading the way. Mitchell is in
his fourth season starting in the middle. The oustide linebackers are Drew Hicks
(11 hits, 1 tfl) and Tom Cressman (3 stops). Hicks was the Bears leading tackler
a year ago with 85 hits and 10 tfl’s.
The secondary has veteran strong
safety Michael Baldwin (first team PSAC-East in 2004) (2 break-ups in 2005) and
sophomore Brian Bingnear (6 tackles) at free safety. The corners are Matt
Millard (1 int. vs Ship) and Cory Porrino (5 tackles).
CLARION NOTES: In last year’s 25-14 loss at Kutztown, Clarion made three
turnovers that led directly to 21 second half Kutztown points ... Kutztown led
6-0 at halftime, then went ahead 12-0 when the Bears blocked a Joe Farkas punt
and Mike Millard returned it 12-yards for a touchdown. The Bears then followed
with Michael Baldwin’s 65-yard interception return for a td, and Kutztown’s
Yusef Turner recovered a Lance Fink fumble and returned it 12-yards for a fourth
quarter td to make it 25-7. .. Marcus Lowe rushed for 86 yards and 2 td’s on 20
carries. Brandon Dando completed 11 of 22 passes for 141 yards and Joe Farkas
caught 3 passes for 72 yards. Bo Busch led the “D” with 10 tackles, Tim Connelly
had 8 stops and 4 tfl’s... Kutztown’s Bria had 118 yards and 1 td rushing ...
Kutztown outgained Clarion 292-251 in total yardage... In 2003'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 is off next the following week
(Sept. 10th) and returns to action on Sept. 17th when the Eagles host Mansfield
at 6pm.