Clarion is at Slippery Rock Saturday with Milk Jug on the Line

| October 26, 2017


SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The famed Milk Jug will be at stake when Clarion makes the short trip across Interstate 80 to take on Slippery Rock at 1 p.m. Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.The Golden Eagles (1-7 overall, 1-4 PSAC West) will look to maintain possession of the Milk Jug when they take on Slippery Rock (6-2, 3-2). Clarion won the Jug, which has been played for since 2010, for the first time last year with a 27-23 win at Clarion.

In last year’s game, the teams were tied 14-14 at halftime but the Golden Eagles outscored The Rock 13-9 in the second half to claim a 27-23 win, their first over Slippery Rock since the 2009 season.  Layne Skundrich and Brandon Vocco each finished with 10 tackles while Sam Fareri added seven tackles and an interception. This will be the 76th meeting between the two teams, with Slippery Rock owning a 47-25-3 advantage in the all-time series with the Golden Eagles.  Since 2010 the two teams have played for the Milk Jug trophy, with Slippery Rock holding on to the trophy until a loss last year.

Despite losing each of its last two games, Clarion has shut out its opponents in the second half in each of the last two weeks, holding California (Pa.) and IUP scoreless over the final 30 minutes of those games. After two straight games with single-digit tackles, linebacker Layne Skundrich recorded 15 stops against IUP, a career-high. Defensive back Colton McKay recorded a career-high 3.5 tackles for loss against IUP, including 1.5 sacks. Linebacker Avery Howsare forced a fumble for the second straight game last week.

Offensively, running back Mylique McGriff has 204 rushing yards and two touchdowns in his last two games.

Thanks to McGriff, a freshman who has 67 carries for 359 yards over the last five weeks, the Golden Eagles have established a strong rush attack that shares a strong correlation with their improved offensive play of late.  Clarion is averaging 148.2 yards per game on the ground in the last five weeks.

Slippery Rock was briefly ranked in both the AFCA and D2Football.com polls this year, though they fell out of the former after back-to-back losses to IUP and Edinboro in the last two weeks. The Rpossessessess one of the best offenses in the PSAC, ranking fifth with an average of 38.4 points per game, though they have also allowed an average of 33.8 points per game.

Tanner Garry leads the conference in passing with 2,832 yards and 26 touchdowns, compared to just seven interceptions on the season.  Marcus Johnson has been one of the top targets in the nation and is one of only four players in the country with 1,000 or more receiving yards at this juncture. Marcus Martin remains one of the best in the country on defense with 18.0 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks.

Lasy week, No. 17 Slippery Rock put up 586 yards of offense and set multiple team passing records, but gave up a season-high 49 points in dropping a 49-39 decision at Edinboro.

The Rock allowed 254 rushing yards, including a 98-yard TD run, to negate a strong offensive performance in which SRU broke program records for passing completions, attempts and first downs. Tanner Garry set those records at 41-of-61 for 488 yards with three touchdowns and one INT. It was the second most passing yards by any QB in the PSAC this season, behind only his 518-yard effort against Gannon.

Marcus Johnson carried the load for the receivers with Milly Raye missing the game. He caught a career-high 14 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Dylan Stapleton also had a career-day with eight grabs for 89 yards. Mike Merhaut caught five passes for 78 yards and Andrew Bridgeforth caught four passes for 53 yards. Brian McNally caught one TD and Isiah Neely and Chacar Berry both rushed for a TD.

Kyle Hall and Dylan Whiteman each had one interception and Marcus Martin was held without a sack or tackle for a loss for the first time this season.


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