College Football

CLARION DEFEATS CALIFORNIA 29-22 IN PSAC-WEST CLASH

         (CLARION, PA): Clarion quarterback Adam Almashy ran for 120 yards and 2 td's, and Demetric Gardner scored the game-winning touchdown with 9:01 left as the Golden Eagles rallied to defeat California (Pa.) 29-22 in a key PSAC-West game. The game was held at Clarion's Memorial Stadium with 1,234 looking on.

         Clarion upped its record to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the PSAC-West, while California, who was ranked 6th in the Eastern Region entering the game, dropped to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the PSAC-West.

         Clarion trailed 22-14 at halftime, but took the second half kickoff and drove 81 yards in six plays to tie the game at 22. Glenn Lovelace capped the drive with a 17-yard touchdown run, then Almashy converted the two-point run and the game was tied.

         The Golden Eagles took the lead for good early in the fourth quarter when Almashy led Clarion on a 70-yard scoring drive in 12 plays. Almashy rushed four consecutive times to the Clarion 48. Gardner led the remainder of the scoring drive carrying 5 times for 39 yards, including the two-yard touchdown run that put Clarion ahead for good.

         California's last drive started at its own 8 with 1:24 left, but ended on the Cal 10 with 1 second left in the game.

         Cal opened the game with a 7-0 lead after Dustin Strayer completed a 68-yard pass to Clint Alexander at 8:21 of the first.

         Clarion roared back to take a 14-7 lead on two, six-yard touchdown runs by Adam Almashy. The first score came at 5:29 of the first and capped a 56-yard, 8 play scoring drive. The second came at 9:11 of the second quarter and completed an 8-play, 39-yard drive. The Eagles were set up for the score after Myron Hargon intercepted at Brandon LeDonne pass at the Clarion 38 and returned the ball 23 yards to the Cal 39.

         Cal drove 60 yards late in the second quarter to turn the momentum. All-America running back Wesley Cates scored on a 12-yard run at 4:28, but the PAT was blocked by Clarion's Doug Diegelman and the Vulcans still trailed 14-13.

         On the ensuing kickoff Clarion's Mike McCullum tried the return the kickoff, but was hit by Cal's Nate Brown, fumbled backwards into the endzone and was recovered by Clarion for a safety. Cal led 15-14.

         After the free kick was returned to mid-field, the Vulcans drove 50-yards in only 8 plays to take a 22-14 halftime advantage. Cates capped the drive with a 5-yard run.

         Clarion's Almashy finished the game with 21 rushes for 120 yards and 2 td's, while completing 2 of 9 passes for 52 yards. Gardner also ran 15 times for 78 yards and 1 td, while Lovelace had 9 carries for 65 yards and 1 td. The Golden Eagles had 362 yards of offense and possessed the pigskin almomst 20 minutes in the second half. Clarion rushed for 310 yards and passed for 52.

         Cal's offense had 292 yards with 134 rushing and 158 passing. Wesley Cates posted 24 carries for 102 yards, including 99 at halftime. LeDonne completed 7 of 20 aerials for 80 yards, and Strayer hit of 2 of 2 passes for 78 yards and 1 td.

         Dennis Yu led Clarion's defense with 11 tackles and 1 tfl, while Korey Eppinette had 9 hits and a tfl, and Emil Johnson had 8 stops and 2 tfl's.

         Jamal Colbert posted 12 tackles and Jim Lukacs 11 stops for California.

         Clarion travels to Edinboro next Saturday, while California returns home to host Slippery Rock.

Box Score:
California vs Clarion (Oct 6, 2001 at Clarion, Pa.)

Score by Quarters	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Clarion (3-3, 1-1)	7	7	8	7	29
Calfornia (4-1, 1-1)	7	15	0	0	22

Scoring Summary:

• 08:21 VUL - C. Alexander 68 yd pass from Dustin Strayer (Jason Gross kick), 3-79 1:03, VUL 7 - CLAR 0
• 05:29 CLAR - Adam Almashy 6 yd run (Jason Flora kick), 8-56 2:52, VUL 7 - CLAR 7

2nd

• 09:11 CLAR - Adam Almashy 6 yd run (Jason Flora kick), 8-39 3:23, VUL 7 - CLAR 14
• 04:28 VUL - Wesley Cates 12 yd run (Jason Gross kick blockd), 9-60 4:43, VUL 13 - CLAR 14
• 04:12 VUL - Team safety, , VUL 15 - CLAR 14
• 00:40 VUL - Wesley Cates 5 yd run (Jason Gross kick), 8-50 3:32, VUL 22 - CLAR 14

3rd

• 12:19 CLAR - Glenn Lovelace 17 yd run (Adam Almashy rush), 6-81 2:41, VUL 22 - CLAR 22

4th 

• 09:01 CLAR - D. Gardner 2 yd run (Jason Flora kick), 12-70 5:47, VUL 22 - CLAR 29

 

	CALIFORNIA	CLARION
FIRST DOWNS	16	20
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)	44-134	58-310
PASSING YDS (NET)	158	52
Passes Att-Comp-Int	23-9-1	9-2-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS	67-292	67-362
Fumble Returns-Yards	0-0	0-0
Punt Returns-Yards	2-10	1-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards	6-121	3-5
Interception Returns-Yards	1-23	1-23
Punts (Number-Avg)	7-36.6	5-32.6
Fumbles-Lost	3-0	4-1
Penalties-Yards	5-42	2-10
Possession Time	28:12	31:48
Sacks By: Number-Yards	0-0	1-6

 

RUSHING:

• CAL-Wesley Cates 24-102; Scott Schrenker 10-33; Brandon LeDonne 7-22; Dustin Strayer 1-1; S. McClelland 1-0; Team 1-minus 24.
• Clarion-Adam Almashy 21-120; D. Gardner 15-78; Glenn Lovelace 9-65; Robert Walker 9-32; Ben Culver 1-8; Chris Roberts 1-7; Team 1-0; Alan Miller 1-0.

PASSING:

• CAL-Brandon LeDonne 7-20-1-80; Dustin Strayer 2-2-0-78; Team 0-1-0-0.
• Clarion-Adam Almashy 2-9-1-52.

RECEIVING:

• CAL-C. Alexander 4-99; Wesley Cates 2-33; Robin Brown 2-23; Antown Allen 1-3.
• Clarion-Andy Pore 1-51; Robert Walker 1-1.

INTERCEPTIONS:

• CAL-RJ Abercrombie 1-23.
• Clarion-Myron Hargon 1-23.

Stadium: Memorial Stadium

Attendance: 1234

Kickoff time: 1 p.m.

End of Game: 3:41

Total elapsed time: 2:41

Officials: Referee: Larry Kupec; Umpire: Jim Blum; Linesman: Andy White; Line judge: Gary Anderson; Field judge: C. Blocksidge; Side judge: Bill Hale; Scorer: Chris Rossetti;

Temperature: 50

Wind: W-E 15

Weather: Partly Cloudy

Cal was ranked sixth in the East Region coming into the game and 17th in the nation. Clarion has now won 2 straight games

SACKS (UA-A):

• CAL-None.
• Clarion-George O'Brien 1-0.

TACKLES (UA-A):

• CAL-Jamal Colbert 5-7; Jim Lukacs 4-7; Matt Onyshko 5-3; Yadin Collins 3-5; RJ Abercrombie 4-2; Dan Smith 3-3; Kevan Scott 2-2; Al  Surman 1-3; Jon Arnold 2-1; Alex Sevensma 2-0; Ernest Genes 0-2; Brian Oddi 0-2; Gary Smith 0-1; Chris McKnight 0-1; Wesley Clemons 0-1; Jerry Ntakrah 0-1; Greg Kent 0-1
• Clarion-Dennis Yu 3-8; Korey Eppinette 3-6; Emil Johnson 2-6; Tom Pore 1-6; Tom Gaydosz 2-4; Scott McGrady 1-5; Kevin McKeither 2-3; Chris Janson 1-4; Myron Hargon 2-2; Doug Diegelman 1-3; Kevin Platz 0-4;  Jhermel Goss 2-1; George O'Brien 1-2; David Coyle 1-1; Glenn Lovelace1-0; Brandon Whitman 1-0; Jason Flora 1-0; Chad Thompson 0-1; Erik O'Brien 0-1; J. Weatherspoon 0-1.

Player participation:

• CAL: 2-Brandon LeDonne, 4-RJ Abercrombie, 5-Yadin Collins, 7-Jon Arnold, 8-C. Alexander, 9-Antown Allen, 13-Greg Kent, 14-Dustin Strayer, 16-S. McClelland, 21-Jerry Ntakrah, 22-Scott Schrenker, 23-Wesley Cates, 25-Jamal Colbert, 28-Joe Hammack, 29-Jason Gross, 33-Matt Onyshko, 35-Nate Brown, 36-Brian Oddi, 44-Jim Lukacs, 45-Wesley Clemons, 48-Kevan Scott, 55-Al Surman, 56-Ernie Andria, 58-Dan Smith, 59-Chris McKnight, 69-Gary Smith, 86-Robin Brown, 96-Alex Sevensma, 98-Ernest Genes.
• Clarion: 3-Myron Hargon, 4-Mike McCullum, 5-Dennis Yu, 6-Tom Pore, 7-J. Weatherspoon, 8-Korey Eppinette, 12-Adam Almashy, 13-Emil Johnson, 15-Kevin McKeither, 17-Chris Janson, 18-Jason Flora, 19-Jhermel Goss, 20-Brandon Whitman, 21-Erik O'Brien,  22-Ben Culver, 24-Robert Walker, 25-Chad Thompson, 27-Chris Roberts, 28-D. Gardner, 32-Alan Miller, 35-Glenn Lovelace, 41-Scott McGrady, 44-Tom Gaydosz, 45-Kevin Platz, 74-Doug Diegelman, 86-Andy Pore, 88-George O'Brien, 90-David Coyle, 92-Ken Crawford.

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