Sports

Clarion football gets blown out by No. 9 Bloomsburg

Clarion University’s football team played host to No. 9 Bloomsburg University in the home opener last Saturday, Sept. 10.

Bloomsburg’s running back Eddie Mateo put on a show at Memorial Stadium, rushing for 179 yards and scoring five touchdowns in a 45-10 romping over Clarion.

With the loss, the Golden Eagles fall to 0-2 on the year.

The Golden Eagles’ start was promising when junior Patrick Graham-Murphy returned the opening kickoff 53 yards to the Bloomsburg 41-yard line.

Sophomore quarterback Ben Fiscus lead the Clarion offense down to the Huskies’ five-yard line.

The Golden Eagles would ultimately have to settle for a Tyler Ruark field goal, taking the early 3-0 lead.

Bloomsburg answered on its first possession with a field goal of their own to tie it up at 3-3.

Early in the second quarter Bloomsburg took over and never looked back.

The Huskies drove the ball 76 yards on five plays.

The drive was capped with an eight-yard touchdown run by Mateo, giving them the 10-3 lead with 11:23 to go in the first half.

Once again the Golden Ealges would find themselves inside the Bloomsburg 20-yard line threatening to score.

Junior running back John Fuhrer was stopped on a third-and-seven, forcing another field goal attempt from Ruark.

The 29-yard attempt went wide left keeping the score at 10-3 with 6:36 left in the half.

“We have to make the plays when we have the opportunities,” Coach Jay Foster said.

Thanks to running back Franklyn Quiteh, and a 39-yard pass from Pat Carey to Kyle Fisher, the Huskies were in a position to extend their lead.

On second and goal from the Clarion one-yard line, Mateo scored his second touchdown of the game, making the score 17-3 at the half.

At the start of the second half, Clarion’s kickoff went out of bounds, giving Bloomsburg great starting field position at its own 40-yard line.

Mateo ran for 11 yards on the first play, followed by a 35-yard run by Matt Cox down to the Golden Eagles’ 14-yard line.

Mateo took the next play in for a 14-yard touchdown, giving him three on the day, and giving the Huskies a 24-3 lead.

Bloomsburg would extend its lead on another Mateo touchdown; this one was a 22-yard run putting them up 31-3 with 9:34 left in the third quarter.

With seconds ticking down in the third quarter Mateo scored his fifth and final touchdown of the day when he busted a 38-yard run that put the Huskies up 38-3
going into the fourth.

Bloomsburg would add one more touchdown when Ryan Maggs ran the ball nine-yards to the goal line fumbling into the endzone, recovered by
Nicholas DeLuca for the touchdown.

With 3:50 to go in the game, Fiscus hit Jon Reid with a beauty of a pass for a 39-yard touchdown.

“We’re one of those football teams where neither side of the ball is dominant, but they’re both good enough to be successful,” Coach Foster said.

“We have to feed off each other, and win as a football team.”

Clarion rushed for 156 yards, lead by Brandon Atkins with 43 yards, and Fiscus with 41 yards of his own.

Fiscus was 14 of 32 passing with three interceptions, 171 yards and one touchdown.

Clarion will head to Shippensburg Saturday, Sept. 17, where it will battle the Red Raiders at 1 p.m.