Edinboro University Athletics

EDINBORO, Pa. (Oct. 10, 2015) – A large Homecoming crowd at Sox Harrison Stadium was looking to celebrate the first victory of the season for Edinboro on Saturday. Unfortunately, it was Clarion doing the celebrating in front of a crowd of 4,819, as the Golden Eagles took advantage of a key penalty late in the first half and three Edinboro turnovers to remain undefeated at 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the PSAC West. The Fighting Scots are now 0-6 and 0-3, respectively.
 
Edinboro kept the high-powered Clarion offense in check for much of the first half, and trailed just 13-10 late in the half. The Fighting Scots forced a Clarion punt and took over at their won 20 with 2:22 remaining. Jake Sisson completed an 11-yard pass to Alex Caratelli, but the Fighting Scots were flagged for illegal procedure.
 

The Fighting Scots were ultimately forced to punt, with Clarion taking over at their own 37 with 1;18 to play. A 41-yard completion from Connor Simmons to Jaron Moorer on first down gave the Golden Eagles the ball at the Boro 22. A sack by Lindel Service left Clarion facing a 3rd-and-17. Simmons found Delrece Williams on a screen pass and the running back did the rest, going 19 yards to the 10 for a first down. On the next play Simmons combined with Matt Lehman for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 36 seconds to play.
 
Josh Kibbie would block Phil Esposito's extra point attempt – one of three blocked kicks on the day for Edinboro – but Clarion still led 19-10 at the half. Joel Fulton blocked a punt for the second straight week and Thaddeus Cornick blocked an extra point.
 
Clarion would pull away in the second half on the strength of the three turnovers. The Golden eagles scored immediately after two of them. An interception led to a 24-yard field goal with 2:38 remaining in the third quarter after Clarion took over at its own 45. That was the lone scoring in the period as the Golden Eagles led 22-10 after three quarters.
 
An Edinboro fumble led to the next score as Clarion took over at the EU 40 and needed just four plays to ahead 29-10. The combination of Simmons-to-Lehman hooked up again for the second time in the game and 12th time on the season, the 15-yard TD pass coming on the first play of the fourth quarter.
 

Edinboro answered with one of its longest drives of the season, going 89 yards on six plays. Freshman wide receiver James Clark scored the first touchdown of his career, taking a short drag pass over the middle and outracing several Clarion defenders, thanks in part to a great block by Caratelli. Austin Reese's extra point pulled the Scots to within 29-17 with 12:09 to play.
 
Clarion answered in just four plays, with the majority of the 75 yards coming on a 57-yard touchdown run by Williams. It marked the third time in the last four games that Edinboro allowed a run of 50-or-more yards.
 
Edinboro would tack on a touchdown in the final minutes on a 10-play, 84-yard drive. A pass interference penalty in the end zone on a 4th-and-5 play gave Edinboro new life, and two plays later Sisson plunged in from a yard out with 2:15 to play.
 
Clarion opened the scoring following the opening kickoff, driving 87 yards on just five plays with Simmons completing four straight passes, the last covering seven yards for six points to Kevin Genevro.
 
Edinboro scored its first points of the game on a 31-yard field goal by Reese with 5;10 to play in the opening period. The score was set up by Fulton's punt block which gave the Scots the ball at their own 48.
 
Clarion responded with a quick three-play march that covered 75 yards. A 50-yard bomb from Simmons to Lehman gave the Golden Eagles the ball at the Edinboro 21, and on the next play Simmons and Genevro combined for their second touchdown of the first quarter.
 

After that the Edinboro defense stiffened. The offense, meanwhile, used up 6 minutes, 18 seconds on the ensuing possession to go 72 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown. Sisson completed four passes in the drive for 53 yards, then dove over from six yards out, stretching the ball just past the pylon, for the touchdown. With 12:47 to play in the second quarter Edinboro trailed just 13-10.
 
Edinboro ended the day with 299 total yards while Clarion finished with 506 yards. The Fighting Scots finished with 215 yards passing and 84 yards on the ground, while the Golden Eagles had 345 yards passing and 161 yards on the ground.
 
Sisson completed 20 of 33 passes for 215 yards with a touchdowns and 2 interceptions, adding 36 yards and 2 TDs on the ground on 12 carries. His favorite target was Sean Rolick, who caught a career-high 6 passes, but for just 18 yards.  Clark, in his most extensive action of the season, caught 4 passes for 76 yards and a score. The freshman came in with 2 receptions for 15 yards.
 
Darren Massey finished with 5 catches for 61 yards. The junior wide receiver moved into second place in career receptions with 151, trailing only David Bostic's 160 career receptions. His 45 catches this season ranks 15th.
 
Ja'maal Eveillard, making his first career start, paced the Edinboro ground game with 41 yards on 14 carries.
 
Simmons, who is enjoying a record-breaking season for Clarion, threw for 345 yards while completing 18 of 28 passes for 4 TDs and no interceptions. Williams led the team both in rushing and receiving. He carried the ball 20 times for 146 yards and caught 4 passes for 104 yards.
 
Lehman hauled in 4 passes for 81 yards and 2 TDs, and Genevro also had a pair of scores on 4 catches for 59 yards.
 
The Edinboro defense failed to force a turnover, but after recording just two sacks in the first five games, the Fighting Scots sacked Simmons four times. Noseguard Josh Kibbie led the Scots with 8 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
 
Edinboro will look for win number one next week as the Fighting Scots play at Gannon on Thursday, October 15 in a 6 p.m. kickoff. They are 0-6 for the first time since 1954.