2006 Clarion Football

2006 Clarion Football

CLARION ENTERTAINS EDINBORO SATURDAY NIGHT

The Golden Eagles will host the Fighting Scots in an important PSAC-West football game this Saturday night, October 21^st, at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 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 calling the play by play and Pat Kahle providing the analysis.

FOSTER IN HIS FIRST YEAR AT CLARION

Clarion is 1-6 overall and 0-2 in the PSAC-West entering Saturday’s game. The Golden Eagles led East Region #7 ranked IUP last week 7-6 at halftime before bowing 33-7. Two weeks ago on Homecoming Day, defeated Cheyney 21-18 for its first win of the year. The 2006 season opened at Tiffin with the Dragons posting a 21-13 win. Game two, also on the road, saw Clarion drop a 27-10 decision at Kutztown. After losing to West Chester 49-21, the Eagles traveled to #10 ranked Bloomsburg (#2 in East Region) and led the Huskies 10-7 at halftime before losing in the fourth quarter 24-10. Clarion lost the PSAC-West opener to Slippery Rock by a 31-7 margin.

Foster is certainly no stranger to the PSC and NCAA Division II football. Foster coached for 18 seasons at Slippery Rock before coming to Clarion, and was the defensive coordinator at the Rock for 17 of those years. While at Slippery Rock Foster helped those teams compile a 120-73-4 record, make 3 NCAA D-II Playoff appearances and earn four straight PSAC-West crowns (1997-2000). A native of Berwick, Maine, Foster is a 1985 graduate of Plymouth State and coached two seasons under Danny Hale at West Chester before going to SRU.

SCOTT BROWNING NEW COACH AT EDINBORO

Scott Browning, the new head coach at Edinboro, like Clarion’s Foster, is no stranger to the PSAC or Fighting Scot fans. After 20 years as an assistant at Edinboro and having been the offensive coordinator for years, he was named the head coach after Lou Tepper left for IUP last January. He is the 13^th head coach at Edinboro.

Fighting Scot fans had high hopes entering the 2006 season since the team was 8-2 and narrowly missed the NCAA Division II Playoffs in 2005. Edinboro had also won or tied for first in the PSAC-West in each of the last three seasons.

The 2006 season opened with a bang as Edinboro traveled to West Chester and impressively defeated the Rams 28-14. After trouncing St. Anselm 54-0, the Scots lost to Bloomsburg 28-10, but came right back to defeat Cheyney 28-6. The last three games have been very tough losses. The first was a 23-20 overtime loss to IUP, then a 10-0 loss to California and a 12-0 loss last Saturday to East Stroudsburg.

Clarion leads the overall series between the two schools by a 38-36-2 margin dating back to 1926. Edinboro won last year=s meeting 44-0, while also taking the 2004 meeting 21-10 and the 2003 battle 35-6. Clarion most recently won the 2002 meeting 24-18. In the last 12 games Edinboro has won seven and Clarion five. The Eagles posted wins in 1994 (24-20), 1997 (28-0), 1998 (33-20), 2000 (7-0) and 2002 (24-18). The Fighting Scots seven victories came in 1995 (28-6), 1996 (48-35), 1999 (30-29), 2001 (24-12), 2003 (35-6), 2004 (21-10) and 2005 (44-0).

The Golden Eagles are getting 261.1 (#11 in PSAC) yards of total offense per game in 2006. Clarion is getting 127.7 rushing yards (#9 in PSAC) and 133.4 passing yards (#12 in PSAC) per game.

The Golden Eagles will starter either true freshman Tyler Huether (Fr. Penn Trafford) or red-shirt freshman quarterback Mark Rupert (Knoch). Huether started at IUP and completed 14 of 30 for 191 yards and 1 td. In 2006 he has connected on 22 of 51 passes for 275 yards and 2 td’s. Rupert owns a 302 yard, 2 td performance against West Chester. This season he has completed 43 of 108 passes for 647 yards and 5 td’s.

The running game is spearheaded by junior Eddie Emanuel (Hempstead, N.Y.). Emanuel had a career high 170 yards versus SR and also went for 150 against Cheyney. He has 133 rushes for 678 yards and 3 td’s, plus caught 2 passes for 13 yards. Also running is Keith Gruber (Jr. Baltimore, Md.; 16 carries, 59 yards). The fullback position is manned by Kevin Brady (Middletown, N.Y.) .

Junior wideout Pierre Odom (Trenton, N.J.) heads a talented receiving corps. Odom was a D-2 Football.com national co-player of the week after his tremendous performance against West Chester. Odom grabbed 6 passes for 246 yards and 1 td. His 246 yards was the second highest in Clarion history behind Terry McFetridge’s 251 in 1982 versus Kutztown and the 8^th highest in PSAC history. Odom now has 29 catches for 532 yards and 2 td’s this season and 90 career catches for 1,216 yards and 7 td’s. Also ready to latch onto the pigskin are Dane Williams (So. Penn Hills – 3 catches, 33 yards, 1 td) and Herb Carraway (Jr. Darlington, S.C.; 8 catches, 119 yards). Clarion also has tight ends Matt Foradora (So. Falls Creek, Brockway; 16 catches, 199 yards, 4 td’s) and Jason Glass (Fr. Greensburg C.C.; 2 catches, 19 yards).

Clarion’s defense hopes to be ready for the Fighting Scots. Clarion is giving up 344.3 yards per game (#9 in PSAC) including 161.6 rushing yards (#10 in PSAC) and 182.7 passing yards (#9 in PSAC) per game.

Clarion’s defensive front has been led in 2006 by Jimmy Simmons (Jr. Huntland, Tn.). Simmons has 39 total tackles, including a team-leading 15 tfl’s. Also strong up front are Jim McHale (So. Cortland, Oh – 12 stops, 2 tfl’s), Corey Giles (So. Cochranton- 4 hits), Rich McCune (Slippery Rock – Laurel; 20 tackles, 2 tfl’s), Kyle Cathcart (Jr. Clarion – 19 hits, 4 tfl’s), Kory Kusick (Fr. East Brady – 7 hits, 2 tfl’s) and Nate Griffin (So. San Antonio, Tx.- 6 hits).

Clarion’s second line of defense is strong across the row. 2005 third team All-American Matt Morris (Sr. Boiling Springs) anchors the middle. He has 54 stops, 5 tfl’s, 2 break-ups this season and 1 interception. He now has 303 career stops and 50 tfl’s. Guarding the outside are Zach Gourley (Sr. McIntyre – Apollo Ridge) and Kevin Rigby (Sr. Cortland, Oh.). Gourley leads the team with 55 hits and 5 tfl’s, while Rigby has managed 48 stops, 7 tfl’s, 2 int. Gourley has 225 career tackles and 29 tfl’s, while Rigby has 179 career stops and 20 tfl’s. Also set to see time will be Colin McDonough (Fr. State College, 12 jolts) and Josh Rytel (Fr. Beaver Falls-Blackhawk; 7 stops).

Anchoring the secondary will be corners Dwaon Woodard (Sr. Erie- Central) and Quintin Brazil (So. Pgh. Oliver). Woodard has 25 tackles this year and 4 int’s, and in his career has 151 career tackles, 10 int’s and 23 break-ups. Woodard had 3 int’s against Cheyney, including a 54-yard return for a touchdown. Brazil has 18 stops and 1 int. this season. The safeties include Tom Schreppel (So. Shenandoah; 29 jolts) and Erik Yonish (Jr. Bethel Park; 35 tackles. 2 int.).

Edinboro’s offense ranks 9^th in the PSAC in total offense getting 316 yards per game, including a running game that ranks #11 in the PSAC with 113 yards per game. The passing game nets 203 yards per game which ranks #6 in the PSAC.

Calling the signals for the Scots will be freshman Trevor Harris. He has completed 113 of 188 passes (60%) for 1,381 yards and 9 td’s with 7 interceptions.

His favorite targets include wideouts Ryan Valasek (34 catches, 536 yards, 6 td’s Ryan Rybicki (15 catches, 179 yards), Rich Cerro (13 grabs, 164 yards) and tight end Kyle Witucki (23 receptions, 301 yards, 2 td’s).

The running game will be led by tailbacks Ulysee Davis (121 carries, 460 yards, 7 td’s) and Chaz Cobbs (59 rushes, 294 yards, 1 td).

Edinboro has a stalwart defensive unit. The Scots are #1 in the PSAC in scoring defense giving up only 13.3 points per game and #2 in total defense yielding only 253.4 yards per game. Opponents are getting 77.9 rushing yards (#3 in PSAC) and 175.6 passing yards (#6 in PSAC) per game.

Up front Edinboro’s defense is anchored by noseguard A.J. Cousins (32 tackles, 4 tfl’s) and All-America tackle Chris Amico (35 jolts, 8 tfl’s). The ends are talented with Syl Hanner (20 stops, 6 tfl’s) and Mike Enoch (16 hits, 5 tfl’s).

The linebacking corps is very strong with Ben Stroup (73 hits, 13 tfl’s, 2 int’s), Dave Jazenski (40 tackles) and Jim Soltis (38 stops, 11 tfl’s) anchoring the middle.

The secondary has Houston Brown 23 tackles, 3 int’s) and Taurean Valentine (24 jolts, 3 int’s) at the corners, with Damion Malott (35 tackles) at strong safety and Tom Davidson (16 stops) at free safety.