TIFFIN EDGES CLARION 21-13
(TIFFIN, OH.): Tiffin’s Austin Clopton scored on a 1-yard run with 10:46 remaining in the game and the Dragons held Clarion off the board the rest of the way to defeat the Golden Eagles to post a 21-13 win on Saturday night.
Held at Frost-Kalnow Stadium, Tiffin raised its record to 2-0 on the season, while the Clarion dropped to 0-1 in their season opener.
Tiffin took a 7-0 lead at 9:57 of the first quarter when quarterback Don Johnson scored on a 54-yard run, which coincidentally was the first, first down of the game for the Dragons.
Clarion came back and drove 66 yards on 12 plays to tie the game. Freshman quarterback Mark Rupert (Knoch) capped the drive with an 11-yard touchdown run on third and goal from the 11. Kyle Snoke (Cathedral Prep) booted the PAT and Clarion had a 7-7 tie with 3:33 left before intermission.
Tiffin took the kickoff and drove 70 yards in 9 plays and scored on the final play of the first half. QB Matt Root lofted a 25-yard touchdown pass to Kody Koselke with 1 second left on the clock and Tiffin led 14-7 at halftime.
Clarion used a strong running attack in the third quarter to drive 77 yards in 12 plays to find paydirt again. But on fourth down at the Tiffin 11, Clarion gambled and qb Mark Rupert fired his first Clarion td pass to Pierre Odom to make it 14-13 at 1:12 of the third quarter. Kyle Snoke’s PAT attempt to tie the game was blocked.
Tiffin drove 68-yards in 10 plays and scored on an Austin Clopton 1-yard run with 10:46 left to make it 21-13.
The game was the opener of the Jay Foster era at Clarion and the Golden Eagles held their own against a very talented Tiffin squad that last week scored 58-points against Missouri-Rolla.
Clarion gained 194 total yards including 169 rushing and 25 yards passing. Tailback Eddie Emanuel rushed 29 times for 136 yards, while Rupert rushed 9 times for 32 yards and 1 td, plus completed 3 of 10 passes for 25 yards and 1 td.
Clarion’s linebacker Zach Gourley (Apollo Ridge) led the defense with 8 tackles, Matt Morris had 7 and defensive tackle Jimmy Simmons posted 5 stops including 3 tfl’s.
Tiffin gained 272 yards of offense including only 116 rushing and 156 passing. Johnson rushed for 75 yards and 1 td on 11 tries, while completing 1 pas for 51 yards. Austin Clopton ran 21-times for only 36 yards and 1 td, while qb Matt Root completed 6 of 9 passes for 105 yards and 1 td.
Clarion returns to action next Saturday as the Golden Eagles travel to Kutztown for a 6:05 start.