GAME NOTES (.pdf) 

The Game Story
-In what has become a streaky season, Edinboro lost its third straight game on Saturday, suffering a 24-21 loss to Mercyhurst.  The week before the Fighting Scots dropped a  38-31 decision in overtime at Slippery Rock.  The Fighting Scots opened the season with back-to-back losses before running off three straight wins.  They enter the home stretch with a 3-5 record and are 2-4 in the PSAC West.  That leaves them playing the role of spoiler, along with looking to maintain their streak of consecutive winning seasons.  Edinboro has not had a losing season since 2002, with nine straight winning campaigns. 

-Clarion has a 4-5 record and is also 2-4 in the PSAC West.  The Golden Eagles have lost three of their last four games, including a 45-0 loss at Indiana(Pa.) this past weekend.  

-Edinboro has been able to dominate the series with Clarion in recent years, winning eight of the last nine games, including the last two meetings.  The Fighting Scots won 21-10 a year ago.  Edinboro has won the last five games played at Memorial Stadium.    

-Three of Edinboro's five losses have come to nationally-ranked teams.  The Scots lost to then-19th ranked Bloomsburg, 30-14, the opening week of the season, followed by a 24-14 loss to sixth-ranked California(Pa.) the following week. Three weeks ago 22nd-ranked IUP handed the Boro a 26-10 defeat.  The combined record of the five teams Edinboro has lost to is 35-10.  

-The Fighting Scots have now played two overtime games in the last five weeks.  In addition to the loss at Slippery Rock, Edinboro won a 31-24 decision at LIU Post in overtime.          

-Edinboro is completing its seventh season under head coach Scott Browning.  The former long-time Boro assistant has led the Fighting Scots to a 48-28 record during that period, and tied mentor Tom Hollman for the most wins by a coach in his first six seasons.  A year ago Edinboro finished with a 7-4 record for the second straight season.     

-The Fighting Scots were picked to finish fourth in the PSAC West preseason poll, while Clarion was voted seventh by the coaches.

-Edinboro must contend with one of the top all-around threats in the PSAC in Clarion's Ben Fiscus.  The junior has always been a major threat as a runner, but this year he has become much more dangerous as a passer.  
  
On TV/Radio
-The Edinboro-Clarion game can be heard live on WFSE FM 88.9, with Mike Telek providing the play-by-play and Jason Hoffman the color commentary.   The game will also be televised by the SPORTSFever Network.  Dan Watson will handle the play-by-play and Scott Bacon will provide the color commentary.   
    
The All-Time Series 
-Edinboro leads 43-38-2 
The Fighting Scots have won the last two meetings and eight of the last nine.  In addition, Edinboro has won the last five games played at Memorial Stadium.      
  
The Last Meeting 
-2011 -- Edinboro 21, Clarion 10
Cody Harris threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third to lead the Fighting Scots to the win at Sox Harrison Stadium.  Harris scored on a  two-yard run in the first quarter, then completed a 32-yard TD pass to David Bostic later in the period and a 25-yarder to D'mar Jeter late in the second quarter.  Edinboro took advantage of three turnovers and held the Golden Eagles to 272 yards.  Harris completed 19 of 23 passes for 203 yards while Clarion counterpart Ben Fiscus was just 3 of 15 for 39 yards with a pair of interceptions.  Patrick Graham-Murphy ran for 174 yards in 20 carries.  (For complete game statistics see page 4)
            
The Coaches
-Scott Browning (Ohio State '81)  took over as Edinboro's 13th head coach on January 5, 2006, and in his first six seasons he tied the record for most wins by a coach during that period.  Browning is now in his seventh season with a 48-28 record, tying former mentor Tom Hollman for most wins in the first six seasons.  He was certainly no stranger to Fighting Scot football, however, serving as an assistant coach for the previous twenty years. While at Edinboro he has coached the offensive linemen, defensive backs and running backs, along with serving as the offensive coordinator.  Browning became the first head coach at Edinboro to debut with a win since Bill McDonald in 1969 when the Fighting Scots opened the 2006 season with a 28-14 win at West Chester.  He went on to lead Edinboro to a 6-5 finish, the most wins ever by a first-year coach.  That was followed by a 7-4 finish in 2007.  His next two Fighting Scot editions recorded a school-record tying nine wins.  in 2008 Edinboro ended the year at 9-2 and was ranked 20th in the final AFCA Top 25.  The Fighting Scots had a 9-4 record in 2009, making the NCAA playoffs for the first time in his tenure.  Edinboro would end the year 24th in the AFCA poll.  The Boro has posted back-to-back 7-4 finishes in 2010 and 2011. 

-Jay Foster (Plymouth State '85) is completing his seventh season after being named the 11th head coach at Clarion in 2006.  He owns a 23-52 record, including an 8-3 record in 2009, when the Golden Eagles were 6-1 in the PSAC West to finish second.  Foster was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year following the season.   He previously coached at Slippery Rock for 18 seasons, including the last 17 as defensive coordinator.  He helped The Rock to three NCAA Division II playoff appearances and four PSAC West titles.       
    
Last Week
-Mercyhurst 24, Edinboro 21  --
Mercyhurst scored with just under seven minutes remaining to avoid Edinboro's upset bid and make it five years in a row that the visiting team has won in the series.  The Fighting Scots fell behind 14-0 after one quarter, but Branden Williams fueled the comeback.  The senior cornerback blocked field goal, and then later got Edinboro on the scoreboard when he blocked a punt, scooped it up and covered the final nine yards for a touchdown.  Cody Harris tied the game just before the half on a one-yard run, and Edinboro grabbed a 21-14 lead when Harris directed a 16-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a spectacular diving catch by Kevin Sonnie for a seven-yard touchdown.  With a strong wind at their back, the Lakers would score the final ten points in the fourth quarter to pull out the win.  The Scots ran for a season-high 158 yards, but threw for just 88 yards.

-Indiana(Pa.) 45, Clarion 0  -- the Golden Eagles drove inside the IUP 30 five times and had 1st-and-goal inside the five on three occasions but couldn't score.  Three turnovers hurt the cause.  Clarion finished with 253 yards of offense, but just 72 yards rushing.  Ben Fiscus completed 12 of 29 passes for 181 yards but was never a factor with his feet.  Travis Day had 70 yards rushing on 12 carries, and Jon Reid caught 5 passes for 77 yards.