Sports

Fiscus Leads Golden Eagles Football to First Victory

As last week’s annual Autumn Leaf Festival illuminated downtown Clarion, the Golden Eagles football team lit up the scoreboard to earn its first victory by
defeating Lock Haven 54-6 in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West game in front of Saturday’s large homecoming crowd.

In what coach Jay Foster felt was a long time coming, the Golden Eagles (1-5 overall, 1-2 PSAC) played 60 minutes of fundamentally sound football, scoring nine
times and preventing the visiting Bald Eagles (0-5, 0-3) from scoring any touchdowns.

After the game, he said the team has been persistent despite its 0-5 start.

“We really put forth a tremendous effort all year long,” Foster said.

“You just keep talking and keep playing, and we were able to make some plays.”

Instrumental in the victory was sophomore quarterback Ben Fiscus, who ran an option clinic on the Bald Eagle defense.

Fiscus rushed for two touchdowns, passed for two touchdowns and finished with 21 carries for 204 yards rushing and 36 yards passing.

“We came into the game ready to throw the ball, but the guys up front blocking allowed us to run through our holes,” Fiscus said, giving credit to the offensive
line.

He said the option was successful because Lock Haven was keying on the running backs, which allowed him to average nearly 10 yards a carry.

After Clarion’s first possession resulted in a three-and-out, Lock Haven took a 3-0 lead on a 38 yard field goal.

Two drives later, the Golden Eagles took the lead for good at 7-3 on a two yard run by sophomore tailback Brandon Akins to cap a five-play, 29-yard drive.

Akins and junior running back John Fuhrer combined with Fiscus to carry the offense, combining to account for 402 of the team’s 474 total yards.

Gaining yards, however, has never been the concern of Foster.

“We’ve been getting better,” Foster said. “I don’t get excited about yards; I get excited about points.”

Foster had plenty of reasons to be excited after the game, as the team scored on offense, defense and special teams.

Junior Robert Tantlinger and senior Barrington Morrison combined to block a Bald Eagle punt that rolled out of the back of the end zone late in the first half
for a safety, and defensive end Sean Motley recovered a Lock Haven fumble in the end zone in the fourth quarter to cap the 48-point route.

In the third quarter, the Golden Eagles took control with the defense and shut down Lock Haven, holding them to less than 30 yards.

Meanwhile, the offense used three consecutive scoring drives of 73, 93 and 47 yards for a possession time of 8:54.

Clarion’s first victory of the season is historic because this is the first time since 2000 that the Golden Eagles scored more than 50 points in a PSAC West
contest.

They hope to build on their momentum heading into this week’s game against Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Kickoff will be on Saturday, Oct. 15, at 3 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.