The Golden Eagles offense attempts to score, as No. 40, John Fuhrer looks to block, as Tyler Huether hands off the ball to No. 80 Tarrean Barrett. (Justin Gmoser/The Clarion Call)
Clarion won its fourth consecutive game this past Saturday against IUP. It was their second straight game where they had to come from behind in the second half to pull out the win.
Right now, it seems like no one can stand in the way of its goal, to become Champions of the PSAC West.
“We need to control what we can control. If we win this Saturday against Edinboro, and get some help from Mercyhurst against California; we are in real good shape. Two weeks is eternal in college football, but we just have to take things week by week and hope for the best,” said Coach Jay Foster.
Well they got another step closer with their win this past weekend.
The Golden Eagles got off to a quick start as they went down the field using a good mix of run and pass, for the touchdown.
From 11 yards out it was John Fuhrer taking it in for the score making it 7-0. After both teams were forced to punt on their next possession, the IUP special teams came up with a huge play.
They were set up with a short field to work with after they were able to break through and block the Clarion punt.
IUP took advantage of this opportunity, tying the score at 7-7 with a rushing touchdown by Tobias Robinson.
It seems like this might have given the Crimson Hawks all the momentum they needed as they outscored the Golden Eagles 14-10 for the rest of the first half to take a 21-17 lead.
It was a last minute touchdown run by star running back Alfonso Hoggard to narrow that deficit.
Clarion came out strong in the second half. After IUP charged down the field only to miss a field goal, the Golden Eagles knew this was an opportunity they couldn’t let slip by. The offensive line would lead the way for Hoggard as he took Clarion down the field, before quarterback Tyler Huether capped the drive off with a one-yard touchdown run.
After taking the lead, the defense for Clarion came up with a momentum swinging stop.
With the ball back, Hoggard and the Clarion offense were back ready to finish this game off.
The whole drive belonged to Hoggard as he picked up all 57 yards for his second touchdown of the day and a 30-21 lead after placekicker Rob Mamula’s extra point was blocked.
With a two-point lead, the Clarion defense came up with the game-winning stop for the second week in a row.
“They have been playing good all game. They are playing with a lot of confidence and knew that they were going to shut the opponent down,” Coach Foster said.
Clarion went on to win the game 30-28.
Hoggard once again had an outstanding game with 292 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns.
Also, it was nice for the seniors to go out with a win in their last home game.
“It feels great after that game, I was speechless. That showed all the work that myself and the three other seniors have put in the past few years. Everything finally paid off, and it was great to go out as winners on our last home game.
“We stuck through it when we were at the lowest that we could possibly be, and I’m just happy I was here, and am able to say that I was part of the turn around to get Clarion football back on the map,” said Huether.
The Golden Eagles will go on the road for the last conference game against Edinboro this Saturday. To this point, this will be their most important game of the year.
“Well, we need to jump on them right from the start and not wait until the second half. We have been stopping ourselves lately with all the penalties, so I believe if we could keep the penalties to a minimum then we will be all right.
“Basically we need to be able to run the football successfully, cut out the penalties, and score one more point than them.
“This is a playoff game for us so everyone knows how big this game is and what we have to do,” said Hoggard.
Kickoff this Saturday at Edinboro is scheduled for 1 p.m.
