#5 CALIFORNIA DEFEATS STUBBORN CLARION 41-14
(CLARION, PA): Cal’s Brandon Lombardy rushed for 202 yards and tied a school record with 5 td’s as the Vulcans defeated a stubborn Clarion squad 41-14 on Saturday afternoon.
Cal, ranked #5 in the Northeast Region, clinched at least a tie for its second straight PSAC-West title raising its division reecord to 5-0 with an 8-2 overall record. Clarion dropped to 1-9 overall and 0-5 in the PSAC-West.
Cal led 21-0 in the third quarter when Lombardy scored on a 9-yard run with 11:21 to play, then Clarion mounted an impressive comeback.
The Golden Eagles drove 62 yards in 8 plays to find the endzone when freshman quarterback Tyler Huether (Penn Trafford) dropped back to pass, couldn’t find a receiver, and scrambled 7 yards for the score. Kyle Snoke’s PAT at 7:13 made it Cal 21-7.
After the Clarion defense held, the Golden Eagles went back to work, this time driving 70-yards in 9 plays. Huether this time fired a 13-yard td strike to freshman Kyle Mahoney (St. Marys/ECC) on a post-pattern for a Golden Eagles score. Snoke’s PAT cut the Cal lead to 21-14 with 1:03 left in the third quarter.
The Clarion “D” came up strong again and held Cal, giving the Eagles the ball on their own 26. But miscues have hurt the Golden Eagles in 2006 and after the offense failed to move the sticks, the punt team made a fatal error. A high punt snap and an ensuing fumble was downed at the Clarion 4-yard line, giving the Vulcans a golden opportunity that they did not waste.
On first down Lombardy carried the mail and went off left tackle into the endzone for his fourth touchdown of the day at 11:39 of the fourth quarter giving Cal a 27-14 lead.
Clarion got to midfield on its next possession, but a deflected Huether pass was intercepted by Chris Glass at the Vulcan 40 protecting the two score lead.
Lombardy scored his fifth rushing td with 1:15 to go in the game, then Jermaine Moye intercepted a Huether pass and returned it 28-yards for the final score.
Clarion totaled 234 total yards against Cal,including 101 rushing and 133 passing. Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg are the only other teams to rush and pass for over 100 yards in a game against the Cal defense this season. Huether completed 10 of 25 for 133 yards and 1 td, plus rushed 15 times for 53 yards and 1 score.
Pierre Odom caught 6 passes for 101 yards, while running back Eddie Emanuel rushed 16 times for 69 yards.
Cal had 361 total yards including 211 rushing and 150 passing. Quarterback Joe Ruggiero completed 11 of 19 passes for 150 yards, while Nate Forse caught 3 passes for 61 yards.
Lombardy rushed 37 times for 202 yards and 5 td’s. He is only the second player at Cal to rush for 5 td’s in a single game. Wesley Cates had 5 against Cheyney in 2001. Lombardy is also the fourth Cal player to score 5 td’s in a single game.
Clarion’s defense also played well. The Golden Eagles were led by Kevin Rigby who had 13 stops and 2 tfl’s, with Matt Morris (11 tackles, 1 sack), Zach Gourley (11 hits, 2 tfl’s, 1 sack), Jimmy Simmons (2 tfl’s) and Jim McHale (1 sack) leading the way. Clarion posted 3 qb sacks against a Cal offensive line that had only given up two sacks in the first nine games.
Clarion visits Shippensburg next Saturday, while Cal returns home to host IUP in a PSAC-West showdown. A Cal win would give the Vulcans the outright division title and a likely berth in the NCAA D-II playoffs.
Box Score (Final)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
California, Pa...... 7 7 7 20 - 41 Record: (8-2,5-0)
Clarion............. 0 0 14 0 - 14 Record: (1-9,0-5)
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Scoring Summary:
1st 06:05 CAL - Brandon Lombardy 3 yd run (Tyler Lorenz kick), 10-80 4:34, CAL 7 - CLAR 0
2nd 01:27 CAL - Brandon Lombardy 1 yd run (Tyler Lorenz kick), 13-65 6:46, CAL 14 - CLAR 0
3rd 11:21 CAL - Brandon Lombardy 9 yd run (Tyler Lorenz kick), 6-52 2:21, CAL 21 - CLAR 0
07:13 CLAR - Tyler Huether 7 yd run (Kyle Snoke kick), 8-62 3:57, CAL 21 - CLAR 7
01:03 CLAR - Kyle Mahoney 13 yd pass from Tyler Huether (Kyle Snoke kick), 9-70 4:14, CAL 21 - CLAR 14
4th 11:39 CAL - Brandon Lombardy 4 yd run (Tyler Lorenz kick failed), 1-4 0:19, CAL 27 - CLAR 14
01:15 CAL - Brandon Lombardy 1 yd run (Tyler Lorenz kick), 8-46 3:39, CAL 34 - CLAR 14
00:56 CAL - Jermaine Moye 28 yd interception return (Tyler Lorenz kick), , CAL 41 - CLAR 14
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CAL CLAR
FIRST DOWNS................... 18 13
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 47-211 34-101
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 150 133
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 19-11-0 26-10-3
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 66-361 60-234
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 1-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 1--2 2-3
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 1-10 4-81
Interception Returns-Yards.... 3-45 0-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 5-35.4 4-38.8
Fumbles-Lost.................. 2-1 3-1
Penalties-Yards............... 9-75 1-15
Possession Time............... 32:31 27:29
Third-Down Conversions........ 7 of 14 5 of 12
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 1 0 of 3
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 5-6 2-2
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-5 3-15
RUSHING: California, Pa.-Brand. Lombardy 37-202; Steffan Brinson 4-29; Freddie Bacco 1-5; TEAM
1-minus 2; Joe Ruggiero 4-minus 23. Clarion-Eddie Emanuel 16-69; Tyler Huether 15-53; Pierre Odom
1-4; Kevin Brady 1-minus 1; TEAM 1-minus 24.
PASSING: California, Pa.-Joe Ruggiero 11-19-0-150. Clarion-Tyler Huether 10-25-3-133; TEAM 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING: California, Pa.-Nate Forse 3-61; Brandon Jackson 3-37; Marc Huddleston 2-44; Perry Ivery
2-12; Steffan Brinson 1-minus 4. Clarion-Pierre Odom 6-101; Matt Foradora 3-19; Kyle Mahoney 1-13.
INTERCEPTIONS: California, Pa.-Jermaine Moye 1-28; Trey Allen 1-17; Chris Glass 1-0. Clarion-None.
FUMBLES: California, Pa.-Brand. Lombardy 1-1; Joe Ruggiero 1-0. Clarion-TEAM 1-0; Eddie Emanuel 1-1;
Tyler Huether 1-0.
Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 1252
Kickoff time: 1 pm End of Game: 3:50 Total elapsed time: 2:50
Officials: Referee: Dave Wildermuth; Umpire: Jim Puderbach;
Linesman: Warren Gillis; Line judge: Dan Bush; Back judge: Todd Moss;
Field judge: Will White; Side judge: Geoff Haines; Scorer: Chris Rossetti;
Temperature: 45 Wind: Weather: Sunny, Cold
Cal clinches share of PSAC-West title
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California, Pa. vs Clarion (Nov 04, 2006 at Clarion, PA)
SACKS (UA-A): California, Pa.-Willie Walker 0-1; Kirby Griffin 0-1. Clarion-Matt Morris 1-0; Jim
McHale 1-0; Zach Gourley 1-0.
TACKLES (UA-A): California, Pa.-Willie Walker 2-9; Josh Zunic 1-8; Gary Butler 2-5; Brian Mohr 1-6;
Kirby Griffin 0-5; Terr. Johnson 4-0; Josh Kemp 0-3; Nate Payne 1-1; Andre Williams 1-1; Jermaine
Moye 1-1; Mike Dodson 1-1; Gerris Wilcox 0-2; Darren Burns 0-2; Antwjuan Cox 1-0; Juan Butler 1-0;
Trey Allen 1-0; Chris Glass 1-0; Brand. Anderson 0-1; Nick Zarnich 0-1; R.J. Williams 0-1; Avery
Goode 0-1. Clarion-Kevin Rigby 3-10; Matt Morris 4-7; Zach Gourley 3-8; Jimmy Simmons 2-6; Erik
Yonish 2-5; Jim McHale 1-5; Dwaon Woodard 1-5; Quintin Brazil 1-4; Chris Kincaid 1-3; Kyle Cathcart
0-4; Tom Schreppel 0-3; Miceles Kelley 1-1; Ryan Hart 1-0; Richard McCune 0-1; Kyle Mahoney 0-1;
Corey Giles 0-1.