CLARION, Pa. – Clarion qb Ben Fiscus rallied clarion with two, fourth quarter td drives but the golden Eagles fell short as slippery Rock defeated Clarion 28-20 on Saturday afternoon in the third annual “Milk Jug” Game.

Held at Memorial Stadium, Clarion’s record dropped to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the PSAC-West, while the Rock upped its record to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the PSC-West.

Trailing 28-6 in the fourth quarter, Clarion junior qb Ben Fiscus led the Golden Eagles on a 16 play, 83-yard drive that culminated in a Travis Day two-yard td run. The PAT failed and Clarion trailed 28-12 at 7:17.

Clarion took control of the football on an interception by cornerback Jason Peterson at the Clarion 38 with 4:10 left in the game. Fiscus rushed for 10 yards, SR was penalized for defensive holding, and Fiscus hit Aaron Barlow for 10 yards to the Rock 34. Fiscus then hit wideout Nick Perry over the middle for 24 yards to the 11, where on first down, Fiscus dashed up the middle and over the endzone to paydirt. Fiscus called his own number on the two-point conversion and with 2:55 left in the game, clarion drew to within 28-20.

Slippery Rock covered the onside kick, then rushed for a first down and ran out the clock to win the game.

“This game was simply a story of missed opportunities on both sides of the ball for us,” said Clarion seventh year head coach Jay Foster. “We had so many chances to score – and didn’t. And we also gave up some big plays defensively at critical times. We just didn’t make enough plays to win – its that simple.”

Clarion outgained Slippery Rock 404 – 376 and in time of possession 32:20 – 27:40, but the Golden Eagles missed several opportunities to score points. Clarion had five drives inside the Slippery Rock 35, including one that stalled at the 9, and two others inside the 25 that Clarion got no points from.

The Rock scored on its opening drive when qb Nigel Barksdale hit Jaimire Dutrieulle on a 14-yard td pass with 11:34 left in the first.

In the second quarter, after a Clarion drive stalled in SR territory, the Rock went 88 yards in 9 plays and scored on a Nigel Barksdale two-yard run, giving the Rock a 14-0 lead at 10:54.

Clarion got on the board before halftime on a 57-yard drive in four plays. Fiscus hooked up with Jon Reid on a 44-yard pass play, that also tacked on a penalty to the SR 7. On second down Fiscus scrambled in the backfield, reversed his field and hit Nick Perry in the endzone for a td. The PAT failed and Clarion trailed 14-6 at halftime.

Clarion drove to the SR 14 yard line on its first possession of the third quarter, but a sack took the Eagles out of field goal range and Clarion punted to the 20.

Slippery Rock then drove 80-yards to score on a Brett Crenshaw two-yard run. Kurt Brackman’s PAT madei t 21-6 at 6:14 of the third.

Clarion again drove deep into SR territory, but the drive stalled at the Rock 24. Nathan Coway’s field goal attempt of 41 yards missed to the left. SR took advantage once again – going 76-yards in 10 plays to score. Barksdale hit Josh Gardner on a 3-yard td pass to put SR ahead 28-6 at 14:11 of the fourth, setting up Clarion’s comeback attempt.

Clarion had 404 yards of total offense including 117 rushing and 287 passing. Fiscus rushed for 68 yards and 1 td, plus hit on 21 of 48 passes for 287 yards and 1 td. Aaron Barlow caught 7 for 73 yards, while Jon Reid grabbed 5 for 98 yards.

Slippery Rock had 376 yards of offense including 119 rushing and 257 passing. Akeem Satterfield rushed 19 times for 77 yards. QB Nigel Barksdale had 11 rushing yards and 1 td, plus connected on 19 of 26 passes for 257 yadrs and 2 td’s. Ken aAmos had 6 catches for 101 yards and Jaimire Dutrieulle had 4 receptions for 51 yards and 1 td.

Clarion’s defense was led by linebacker Rocco Yauger who had 14 stops and 3 tfl’s. Julian Howsare had 8 tackles including 3 more sacks – giving him 10 on the season.

Clarion travels to Lock Haven next Saturday for a Noon game.