SLIPPERY ROCK DEFEATS CLARION 31-7 IN PSAC-WEST OPENER
(CLARION, PA.): Slippery Rock scored 21-unanswered points in the second half to pull away and defeat Clarion on Saturday night by a 31-7 final score at Memorial Stadium. SR qb Nate Crookshank passed for two td’s and ran for one on the evening.
The game was the PSAC-West opener for both teams. Slippery Rock is now 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the PSAC-West, while Clarion drops to 0-5 overall and 0-1 in the West.
Clarion rode running back Edie Emanuel all night, as the Clarion junior finished with a career high 170 rushing yards and 1 td on 25 carries.
Emanuel gave Clarion a 7-0 lead at 3:37 of the first quarter when he scored on a 2-yard run up the middle, capping a 6-play, 36-yard drive. The score was set up when Clarion linebacker Kevin Rigby forced and recovered SR qb Nate Crookshank’s fumble at the SR 36.
The Rock came right back to tie the game 7-7 when they drove 61 yards in 10 plays. Crookshank tossed a 15-yard td pass to Luke Wetzel for the score at 14:19 of the second quarter.
On SRU’s next possession the Rock drove from its own 15 to the Clarion 16 before settling for a 33-yard field goal from Ryan Daniel. The field goal gave SRU the lead for good, 10-7, at 2:09 of the second quarter.
Clarion tried an onsides kick to start the second half, but SRU recovered on the Clarion 46 and took the pigskin into the endzone in 8 plays. Crookshank tossed an 18-yard scoring pass to Colin Golden over the middle to give the Rock a 17-7 lead with 10:33 left in the third.
After recovering a Clarion fumble at the Eagle 39, Slippery Rock drove the distance in 7 plays to take a commanding 24-7 lead. Crookshank scored on a 1-yard sneak with 4:10 left in the third.
Damarcus Cleckley scored the final Slippery Rock touchdown on a 3-yard run with 8:14 left in the game making the final 31-7.
Clarion totaled 204 yards of offense, with Emanuel rushing for 170. His 170 yards is the most by a Clarion runner since 2004 when Marcus Lowe ran for 170 against Mansfield.
Clarion’s Kevin Rigby led the defense with 13 tackles, 4 tfl’s, 2 forced fumbles, 1 recovery and an interception.
Slippery Rock had 322 yards of offense including 167 rushing and 155 passing. Cleckley rushed 14 times for 91 yards and 1 td, and Golden caught 6 aerials for 69 yards and 1 td.
Crookshank completed 12 of 19 passes for 155 yards and 2 td’s, plus rushed for 16 yard and 1 td.
Clarion returns to Memorial Stadium next Saturday afternoon to host Cheyney in the Homecoming Day Game. Slippery Rock returns home to Shippensburg.
Box Score (Final)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Slippery Rock....... 0 10 14 7 - 31 Record: (4-1,1-0)
Clarion............. 7 0 0 0 - 7 Record: (0-5,0-1)
<cpi17>
Scoring Summary:
1st 03:37 CLAR - Eddie Emanuel 2 yd run (Kyle Snoke kick), 6-36 3:17, ROCK 0 - CLAR 7
2nd 14:19 ROCK - Luke Wetzel 15 yd pass from Nate Crookshank (Ryan Daniel kick), 10-61 4:09, ROCK 7 - CLAR 7
02:09 ROCK - Ryan Daniel 33 yd field goal, 12-69 5:09, ROCK 10 - CLAR 7
3rd 10:33 ROCK - Colin Golden 18 yd pass from Nate Crookshank (Ryan Daniel kick), 8-46 4:23, ROCK 17 - CLAR 7
04:10 ROCK - Nate Crookshank 1 yd run (Ryan Daniel kick), 7-39 4:15, ROCK 24 - CLAR 7
4th 08:14 ROCK - D. Cleckley 3 yd run (Ryan Daniel kick), 8-63 3:08, ROCK 31 - CLAR 7
<cpi10>
ROCK CLAR
FIRST DOWNS................... 18 10
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 45-167 35-171
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 155 33
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 19-12-1 14-4-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 64-322 49-204
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 0-0 1-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 1--2 5-110
Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 1-26
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 1-59.0 3-40.7
Fumbles-Lost.................. 2-2 4-2
Penalties-Yards............... 6-40 7-54
Possession Time............... 34:04 25:56
Third-Down Conversions........ 6 of 13 2 of 10
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 2 0 of 3
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 5-6 1-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-2 0-0
RUSHING: Slippery Rock-D. Cleckley 14-91; Travis Sarver 14-41; A.J. Saunders 7-23; Nate Crookshank
7-16; Bryan Dodds 3-minus 4. Clarion-Eddie Emanuel 25-170; Mark Rupert 3-19; Pierre Odom 1-14; Keith
Gruber 2-8; Tyler Huether 2-3; TEAM 2-minus 43.
PASSING: Slippery Rock-Nate Crookshank 12-19-1-155. Clarion-Tyler Huether 3-10-0-19; Mark Rupert
1-3-0-14; Pierre Odom 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING: Slippery Rock-Colin Golden 6-69; Luke Wetzel 2-57; Paul Favers 2-17; A.J. Saunders 1-7;
Ross Hornish 1-5. Clarion-Pierre Odom 3-19; Jason Glass 1-14.
INTERCEPTIONS: Slippery Rock-None. Clarion-Kevin Rigby 1-26.
FUMBLES: Slippery Rock-Nate Crookshank 2-2. Clarion-TEAM 2-1; Eddie Emanuel 1-1; Keith Gruber 1-0.
Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 1500
Kickoff time: 6 p.m. End of Game: 8:20 Total elapsed time: 1:20
Officials: Referee: Vance Harris; Umpire: Bruce Campbell;
Linesman: Jeff Bower; Line judge: Robert Searles; Back judge: Richard Olivola;
Field judge: Mark McCarter; Side judge: Paul Sheehan; Scorer: Chris Rossetti;
Temperature: 50 Wind: E-W 6 Weather: Cloudy
Game called b/c of lightning with 2:01 to play
<page>
Slippery Rock vs Clarion (Sep 30, 2006 at Clarion, PA)
SACKS (UA-A): Slippery Rock-Mike White 1-0. Clarion-None.
TACKLES (UA-A): Slippery Rock-Tyler Boudreau 2-4; Jared Palmer 2-4; Jerome Whiting 2-3; Seth Randall
2-3; Clint Forsha 2-3; Jason Curenton 1-5; Akeem Etheridge 2-0; Sam Morant 2-1; Bill Lamb 1-3; Cory
Lacek 1-2; B. Rakszawski 0-4; Richie Barnes 1-1; Matt Fontana 1-1; Nate Crookshank 1-0; Mike White
1-0; Anthony Walls 0-3; A. Berarducci 0-1; Jake Barzen 0-1; Marty Kern 0-1. Clarion-Kevin Rigby 6-7;
Zach Gourley 4-8; Matt Morris 5-2; Erik Yonish 3-6; Tom Schreppel 3-2; Jimmy Simmons 2-5; Quintin
Brazil 3-0; Kyle Cathcart 2-3; Dwaon Woodard 1-2; Kyle Mahoney 1-0; Dan Grazier 1-0; Corey Giles
1-0; Richard McCune 0-3; Kory Kusick 0-3; A.J. Graves 0-1; R. Askerneese 0-1; Nick Stallone 0-1.