SHIPPENSBURG 34 CLARION 29
(SHIPPENSBURG, PA): Shippensburg's (2-2; 1-0) Tony Johnson intercepted an Adam Almashy pass at the Clarion (1-3; 0-1) 48 with 1:04 remaining in the game and the Red Raiders held on to defeat the Golden Eagles 34-29 in front of 2,800 fans at Seth Grove Stadium.
Shippensburg led 17-10 at halftime, then expanded their lead to 24-10 at 4:51 of the third quarter when John Kuhn scored on a three yard run.
The Golden Eagles came storming back in the fourth quarter. Corner Myron Hargon picked off a Tyler Novak pass and returned it 47-yards to the Raider 28. Demetric Gardner capped the six play scoring drive and hit paydirt from 8-yards out. Jason Flora's PAT made it 24-17 with 12:15 left to play.
Clarion got the ball back, and with a little razzle-dazzle, had halfback Ben Culver throw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Ed Rivers to apparantly tie the game. Biut Flora's PAT drifted wide right, and with 10:33 remaining, Shippensburg held a narrow 24-23 lead.
The Raiders took the ensuing kickoff and drove 68 yards in 8 plays for a key touchdown. Dave Brown rammed the ball in the endzone with 6:22 left and Shipppensburg had a 31-23 advantage.
Shippensburg placekicker Berkley Myers added to the Raider lead with a 40-yard field goal with 3:49 remaining, giving Shippensburg a 34-23 lead.
The Eagles were not done! In the hurry-up offense, Clarion took the ball at its own 28 and drove 72 yards in only five plays to get back in the game. Robert Walker grabbed a 23-yard screen pass to put the ball at the Shipp 33. Walker, on a draw play, rushed 32 yards down the left sideline and missed by inches getting into the endzone. But he capped the drive on the next play, hurdling the pile at the goal line to score his second touchdown. The Eagles went for two, but the pass play failed and Shipp held onto a narrow 34-29 lead with 2:26 left.
Clarion had all of its timeouts remaining, so Flora kicked deep and the Raiders returned the ball to the Shipp 45. Clarion's defense held in three plays, and Myron Hargon's punt return of 7 yards had Clarion in business at its own 33 with 1:34 remaining. On second down, Almashy fired a pass toward Mike McCullum at the 50, but the ball was deflected out of McCullum's hands and Tony Johnson posted his game-saving interception.
Robert Walker led the Clarion offense with 119 yards and 2 td's on 8 carries, while also ctaching 1 pass for 23 yards. Demetric Gardner notched 73 yards and 1 td on 14 tries. QB Adam Almashy connected on 4 of 12 passes for 50 yards. The Eagles finished with 338 yards of offense, including 228 rushing.
Emil Johnson posted 13 tackles, Chris Janson 10 tackles, and Doug Diegelman had 2 sacks.
Shippensburg's Dave Brown rushed for 105 yards and 2 td's on 13 carries. Dave Brown caught 3 passes for 100 yards and 1 td, and Tyler Novak completed 9 of 16 passes for 196 yards and 1 td.
Clarion returns home next Saturday to host Kutztown at 2pm in the annual homecoming day game. Shippensburg travels to Lock Haven.