FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCT. 22, 2001
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College Football

SENIOR DAY

CLARION HOSTS #5 RANKED IUP IN HOME FINALE SATURDAY

Clarion will honor nine seniors in pre-game ceremonies this Saturday,
October 27th, as the Golden Eagles prepare for #5 ranked IUP in the rugged
PSAC-West. Kickoff at Memorial Stadium is set for 1pm.

Recognized in pre-game ceremonies will be (alpha order) Ben Boldin (OG,
Bellefonte), Doug Diegelman (NG, Pgh-Shaler), Jason Flora (PK, Westlake,
Ohio), Demetric Gardner (RB, Middletown, N.Y.), Tom Gaydosz (LB, Ellwood
City), Chris Janson (OLB, Lansdale), Mike Mangieri (LB, Bethel Park), Andy
Pore (TE, Shippenville) and Dennis Yu (LB, Santa Maria, Ca.).

IUP leads the series between the two schools 46-22-3 dating back to 1927.
In the last ten meetings IUP holds a slim 6-4 lead, while over the past
five seasons Clarion has won three times to IUP's two. Last year the Golden
Eagles defeated the Indians 21-13 with a big second half. In 1999 at
Memorial Stadium, IUP posted a 26-0 shutout, while in 1998 IUP notched a
52-14 win. Clarion also recorded big wins in 1997 (21-6) and 1996 (49-15).
Clarion enters the game with a 3-5 overall record and a 1-3 mark in the
PSAC-West. Clarion opened the season with road losses to East Stroudsburg
(33-27) and Youngstown State (44-0), defeated tiffin (27-14), lost at
Shippensburg (34-29), Notched home wins against Kutztown (36-7) and
California (29-22), lost at Edinboro (24-12) and lost last week's game
33-24 to Slippery Rock. Head coach Malen Luke, in his 8th season at
Clarion, has an overall record of 40-44 and a PSAC-West mark of 21-25. His
14-year collegiate record is 77-65.

IUP, ranked 5th last week in the AFCA coaches poll and 6th in the D-2
Football ranking, enters the game with a 6-0 overall record and a 4-0 mark
under 16th year head coach Frank Cignetti. The Indians opened 2001 with two
home wins against Findlay (31-10) and Lock Haven (42-0), a road victory at
Slippery Rock (23-7), a return home to defeat PSAC-East power Bloomsburg
(23-12), a 37-7 win at Shippensburg and last Saturday's 21-6 win at Miller
Stadium over Edinboro. Cignetti has an IUP record of 147-37-1 and a 20-year
overall collegiate record of 164-64-1.

Clarion's offense will receive a stern test this week from IUP's
nationally ranked defense. The Golden Eagles are averaging 351.8 yards of
offense per game (6th in PSAC) including 245.4 rushing yards (3rd in PSAC)
and 106.4 passing yards (13th in PSAC) per game.

Junior qb Adam Almashy has completed 48 of 137 passes for 786 yards and 6
td's with 8 interceptions. He has also rushed for 324 yards and 2 td's on
116 attempts. In his career he has completed 265 of 606 passes for 3,724
yards and 34 td's. He has also rushed for 703 yards and 10 td's on 374
carries.

The running game will feature Demetric Gardner at fullback, with halfbacks
Robert Walker and Glenn Lovelace. Gardner broke the single game rushing
record at Clarion last week. Gardner rushed for 257 yards against Slippery
Rock, breaking the old record held by Mickey Catello, who rushed for 256
yards in 1966 against IUP. Gardner now leads the team with 728 yards and 5
td's on 118 carries this season. He ranks 7th all-time with 1,706 yards and
12 td's on 317 carries (5.38 p/c).

Walker is next with 451 yards and 10 td's on only 68 carries. In two
seasons he has 1,051 yards and 15 td's on only 143 attempts, an average of
7.34 per carry. Lovelace has also contributed 274 yards and 2 td's on 50
tries.

Clarion's top receivers include wideout Mike McCullum and tight end Andy
Pore. McCullum leads the team with 19 catches for 334 yards and 3 td's,
while Pore has latched onto 8 passes for 187 yards and 2 td's.

The Golden Eagle defense is giving up 337 yards per game (8th in PSAC)
including 180 rushing yards (8thin PSAC) and 157 passing yards (7th in
PSAC).

Up front the Eagles are led by noseguard Doug Diegelman (40 stops, 9
tfl's, 6 sacks) and tackles George O'Brien (35 jolts, 7 tfl's) and Tom Pore
(38 hits, 5 tfl's).

Outside linebackers Chris Janson and Kevin Platz protect the perimeters.
Janson is the leading tackler in the PSAC with 77 hits, and is also #1 in
tfl's with 14. Platz has posted 28 stops and 6 tfl's.

Inside linebackers Dennis Yu (51 hits, 5 tfl's, 3 fumbles caused), Tom
Gaydosz (32 tackles, 8 tfl's, 4 sacks) and Scott McGrady (29 jolts) anchor
the middle.

The secondary will see corner Myron Hargon return this week after missing
last week with a leg injury. Hargon leads the team with 4 interceptions,
while Kevin McKeither (4 break ups) and Jhermel Goss (18 hits) also handle
corner duties. The safeties will be Korey Eppinette (64 stops, 1 int), Emil
Johnson (50 hits) and Steve Devennie (18 tackles).

IUP's offense is getting 393.8 yards per game (2nd in PSAC) including
167.3 rushing yards (9th in PSAC) and 226.5 passing yards (1st in PSAC) per
game.

IUP's offense is led by quarterback Brian Eyerman. He leads the PSAC and
is ranked 10th in the nation in qb efficiency at 157.41. He has completed
76 of 135 for 1,312 yards and 11 td's with only 5 interceptions.

The running game is led by talented tailback Aamir Dew. Dew ranked 13th in
the nation in yards per game last week and will likely move up to ninth now
averaging 143.2 yards per game. He had 171 yards on 25 attempts last week
versus Edinboro. He has rushed for 716 yards and 4 td's on 121 carries in
only 5 games.

Also contributing will be Henry Lane (207 yards, 5 td's, 61 carries) and
Marko Jackson (29 attempts, 135 yards).

Receivers J.R. Thomas and Carmelo Ocasio are top pass catchers. Thomas has
grabbed 23 aerials for 429 yards and 3 td's, wit Ocasio getting 17 catches
for 356 yards and 3 td's. Thomas was PSAC-West Co-Player of the Week" last
Saturday with 202 receiving yards and 2 td's on only 5 catches. Tom Rebholz
also has 3 td catches.

IUP's defense is one of the toughest in the nation. The Indians rank #2 in
the NCAA in scoring defense allowing only 7 points a game, #7 in total
defense (226 yards per game) and #12 in rushing defense (85.2 yards per
game). The Indians are giving up 85.2 rushing yards and 140.8 passing yards
for a total of 226 yards per game.

Up front nose tackle Tim Buffone (30 hits, 2 tfl's), tackle Brian Harris
(16 stops) and ends Andrew Batle (6 tfl's), Craig Prince (20 tackles, 2
sacks) and Adam Kucenic (2 sacks) lead the way.

The linebackers are very strong with All-American Mike Borisenko ( 39
stops, 4 tfl's), Sondiata McKeithan (45 jolts, 4 tfl's) and Jeff Jackson
(33 hits, 7 tfl's) anchoring the middle.

Corners Joey Flora (36 stops, 6 int's) and Kairi Cooper (2 int's) protect
the passing lanes, while free safety Dave Deneen (39 hits, 3 int's) and
strong safety James Tindall (37 tackles, 8 tfl's, 3 sacks) complete a
strong secondary.

CLARION NOTES: In last year's game at IUP, Clarion trailed 7-0 at halftime
and 13-0 at the end of three quarters, but posted 21 points in the fourth
quarter to get the win... Cori Johnson caught a 55-yard td pass rom Almashy
at 13:59, then Andy Pore grabbed a 23-yard td pass from Almashy at 5:11 to
give Clarion a 14-13 lead... Almashy scored on a 9-yard run with 1-minute
left to cap the scoring... Almashy led Clarion with 58 rushing yards on 20
carries ... Clarion had 291 yards to IUP's 233 yards of offense... IUP qb
Eyerman injured his hand late in the second quarter and was out for the
remainder of the season... He completed 9 of 10 first half passes for 125
yards ... Lane had 77 rushing yards and Stennett 65 yards on the ground ...
In 1999 IUP limited Clarion to -5 rushing yards on the day, sacking Almashy
4 times... Almashy was 22 of 46 passing for 200 yards... Gardner's 10 yards
led Clarion ... IUP was led by Eyerman who completed 15 of 27 passes for
196 yards and 2 td's.