It’s the Standard as Clarion Claims Homecoming Victory

| October 8, 2017


CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – It was a day of redemption for the Clarion University football team on Homecoming Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

(Photo of Mason Standard. Photo courtesy of Clarion University Athletics. Photo by George Powers)

Box Score

The Golden Eagles claimed their first victory of the season, 33-28 over visiting and winless Seton Hill, while having their best offensive day of the season with freshman wide receiver Mason Standard having a career day with three touchdowns and quarterback Asianti Woulard, who started the day alternating series with Jeff Clemens, reclaimed his starting job.

Meanwhile, the Clarion defense caused five turnovers scoring off of one and sealing the victory with another with just over two minutes to play and Seton Hill driving.

About the only thing that didn’t go right for the Golden Eagles was the kicking game where kicker James Metzgar missed three field goals – including having one blocked – and also shanked an extra point off the upright. But even Metzgar hit a pair of field goals in the game which proved to be the difference in the win.

Clarion head coach Chris Weibel talked about the afternoon.

Trailing 21-20 at halftime mainly because of Metzger’s troubles – he missed an extra point, had a field goal blocked and shanked a 32-yard field goal as time expired in the half – Clarion set the tone for the second half on the first drive of the half when it went 67 yards in seven plays scoring on a 33-yard Woulard to Standard touchdown pass that gave the Golden Eagles the lead for good, 27-21.

Woulard was 3-for-4 on the drive for 49 yards and finished the day 19 of 35 for 267 yards and two touchdowns easily his best game of the season.

This after the NCAA Division I transfer (UCLA and South Florida) junior had sat out last week’s game and shared snaps with Clemens throughout the majority of the first half with each quarterback taking alternating serieses.

But Woulard took over late in the second quarter and played the final three drives of the first half before playing the entire second half. He engineered a 45-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 7-yard scoring pass to Standard with 40 seconds left in the half to cut a 21-13 Seton Hill lead to 21-20 and also got the Golden Eagles within field goal range at the end of the half following a Sam Fareri interception and 45-yard return to the Seton Hill 34-yard line with 14 seconds left in the half.

After Woulard’s 33-yard scoring pass to Standard, who had eight catches for 117 yards, put Clarion ahead for good, the Golden Eagles added to the lead with a pair of Metzger field goals – a 37-yard boot late in the third quarter and a 20-yard chip shot with 6:28 to play.

The 20 yarder put Clarion ahead 12, 33-21, but Seton Hill answered quickly needing just a minute to make it a one-score game on a 37-yard Christian Strong to Cinque Sweeting touchdown pass which saw Sweeting come out of the backfield uncovered down the far sideline.

Seton Hill’s defense then stopped Clarion at the Seton Hill 31-yard line forcing a punt of 16 yards by Metzger than gave the Griffiths the ball back at its 15 with 2:40 to go.

It looked like Seton Hill had pulled off a big gainer on third-and-6 from the 19 when Strong hit an open Michael Elardo across the middle, and Elardo took the ball into Clarion territory. But Fareri hit Elardo and the ball came loose before the Seton Hill receiver went down with Colton McKay recovering at the Clarion 47-yard line to clinch the win.

Clarion jumped to a 6-0 lead two-third of the way through the first quarter when Clemens, who was 3 of 6 for 57 yards, hit Standard with an 8-yard touchdown pass. The score was set up by a pair of Seton Hill 15-yard penalties – a kick-catch interference call following a punt to the Clarion 47 and a targeting penalty on Fardan Allen when he hit Greg Leonard over the middle as Leonard attempted to catch a pass on a play that is the new-wave of football but would have been considered a normal football play a decade ago.

Watch Standard’s first touchdown.

Seton Hill answered right back 21 seconds later when Jarvis McClam, who ran for 105 yards, sprinted through a pair of arm tackles and went 76 yards down the near sideline for a touchdown a 7-6 Seton Hill lead.

Clarion took the lead back on defense when Samuel Payne recovered a fumble in the end zone after Strong had trouble taking the snap on the first play of the second quarter.

Elardo, who had seven catches for 151 yards, though scored the game’s next two touchdowns on passes of 14 and 31 yards from Strong to put Seton Hill up 21-13 with 3:24 left in the first half.

Strong finished 22 of 36 for 354 yards and three touchdowns but was also intercepted three times.

Clarion is 1-5 on the year and 1-2 in the PSAC West while Seton Hill is 0-6 and 0-3 in the conference. The Golden Eagles return to action Saturday at California (Pa.).

EXTRA POINTS

  • McKay added an interception to go with his fumble recovery at the end of the game, while Deron Wharton also had a pick for the Golden Eagles.
  • Metzger had been having a good season until Saturday and entered the game 4 of 4 on field goals and 4 of 4 on extra points.
  • Clarion had scored just 48 points in its first five games but took advantage of the PSAC’s worst defense to have its highest scoring game since the next-to-the-last game of last year when the Golden Eagles beat Gannon 41-35.
  • The Homecoming win was Clarion’s second on Homecoming in Weibel’s three seasons. The Golden Eagles beat Mercyhurst, 41-27, in 2015 but lost to Edinboro, 62-14, last year.

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