(EDINBORO, PA.): Edinboro’s Alonzo Roebuck ran for 119 yards and a td, and Chris Buehner caught a td pass to lead the Fighting Scots to a 24-12 win over Clarion on Saturday afternoon at Sox Harrison Stadium. The game also served as Edinboro’s Homecoming.

The loss left the Golden Eagles with a 3-4 overall record and a 1-2 mark in the PSAC-West. Edinboro upped its record to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the PSAC-West.

The Edinboro crowd of 6,011 saw Clarion come out smokin in the first quarter and threaten to take charge of the game early. Clarion corner Myron Hargon stopped Edinboro’s first drive with an over-the-shoulder interception at the Clarion 16. After a change of possession, Hargon worked his magic again.

The sophomore corner stepped in front of a Steve Tryon pass at the Edinboro 33 and posted his second interception of the game with 12:08 left in the first.

With great field position Clarion drove 33 yards in only 4 plays to open the afternoon’s scoring. Fullback Demetric Gardner dashed up the middle 19 yards to hit paydirt and Clarion had a 6-0 lead. A bad snap caused Clarion to miss the PAT, but the Eagles had a 6-0 advantage with 9:23 to go in the first.

Clarion’s defense stepped up again on Edinboro’s next possession. Tryon fumbled and Eagle inside linebacker Tom Gaydosz recovered for the Eagles at the Edinboro 40. But Clarion could not capitalize on the turnover and the Scots dodged a big bullet.

Clarion had the ball at midfield later in the first quarter, but a missed exchange between Clarion qb Adam Almashy and Gardner left the pigskin on the ground for Edinboro’s Dave Smith to recover at the Clarion 34. Scot placekicker Sean McNicholas booted a 40 yard field goal with 14-seconds left in the first to make it 6-3 Clarion.

Early in the second quarter Tryon hit tight end Chris Buehner on a post-pattern for 46-yards and a touchdown. The PAT was good and Edinboro led 10-6.

Edinboro took over on its own 48 on its next possession and used two big plays to score. A 35-yard pass play to Sean Hess, the QB Tryon broke out of the pocket on a drop back pass play and sprinted 17-yards into the endzone untouched to give the Scots a 17-6 lead with 9:50 left before intermission.

The Eagles let a "Golden" opportunity slip through their fingers late in the second quarter that could have put them right back in the game. Driving into the wind, Clarion drove from its own 32 to the Edinboro 4. The big play was a 20 yard run by Glenn Lovelace to the Boro 4. On second and goal at the 3, Edinboro’s Kris Kane blitzed through the line, hit Almashy from the back side, and stripped the ball from the Eagle qb and fell on the ball at the 5, turning the momentum back to the Scots.

Edinboro drove 63-yards in 4 plays to take a 24-6 lead. Alonzo Roebuck went 38 yards on a shovel pass from Tryon, then ran 23 yards to the Clarion 2. Roebuck dove over from the 2 to expand the Scots lead with 5:35 remaining in the third.

Early in the fourth quarter the Eagles tried to come back. Clarion drove 72-yards in 9 plays to hit paydirt again. The touchdown play came on a 29-yard pass from Almashy to freshman halfback Ben Culver. Culver caught the pass on a crossing route, stopped in his tracks and reversed his field to the right, picked up a block and streaked to the endzone for the score. Clarion’s two-point conversion pass failed leaving the Eagles trailing 24-12 with 6:20 remaining.

Although Edinboro recovered the onsides kick, Clarion’s defense stopped the Boro and got the ball back at the Eagle 5 with 4:12 left in the game. Almashy’s 23-yard pass to Lovelace got them out to the 28, then a 20-yard pass to McCullum put the Eagles in business at the 48. On 4^th and 11 at the Clarion 47, Almashy hooked up with Culver again for 38 yards to the Edinboro 15. Clarion just missed a td connection on second down. Almashy completed a pass to Lovelace in the back of the endzone, but the catch was made just out of play and ruled incomplete. The Eagles turned the bal over on downs with 2:01 to play and Edinboro held on for the win.

Clarion posted 342 yards of offense, including 195 rushing and 147 passing. Gardner had 60 yards and 1 td on 13 tries. Culver rushed for 23 yards on 4 carries, plus caught 4 passes for 93 yards and 1 td. Almashy completed 9 of 27 passes for 147 yards and 1 td and ran 17 times for 38 yards.

Edinboro managed 342 yards of offense, getting 189 on the ground and 155 passing. Roebuck gained 129 yards and 1 td on 19 carries, plus caught 2 passes for 43 yards. Tryon completed 7 of 18 aerials for 155 yards and 1 td, plus ran for a touchdown.

Clarion’s defense was led by Chris Janson with 13 tackles and 4 tfl’s, including 2 sacks. Dennis Yu had 12 hits, while Myron Hargon posted 2 interceptions.

Aaron Tucker had 8 stops and 3 tfl’s for the Scots, while Dave Smith had 6 tackles and 2 qb sacks.

Clarion hosts Slippery Rock next Saturday at 1pm. Edinboro will travel to IUP.

Scoring Summary:

1st:

• 9:21 Clarion Demetric Gardner 19 yard run (kick failed)
• 0:14 Edinboro Sean McNicholas 40 yard field goal

2nd:

• 11:48 Edinboro Chris Buehner 46 yard pass from Steve Tryon (McNicholas kick)
• 9:50 Edinboro Steve Tryon 17 yard run (McNicholas Kick)

3rd:

• 5:35 Edinboro Alonzo Roebuck 2 yd. run (McNicholas Kick)

4th:

• 6:20 Clarion Ben Culver 29 yard pass from Almashy (pass failed)