CLARION, Pa. — After a 1-2 road trip that ended on a high with a come-from-behind win at Mercyhurst last week, the Clarion University football team returns home for its annual homecoming game at 2 p.m. Saturday.
(Photo of Clarion running back Delrece Williams. Photo courtesy of Clarion Athletics)
The game will be broadcast live on The SportsFever Television Network and can be accessed locally in the following places (ESPN 3, ESPN College Extra, WPNT in Pittsburgh and WETM in Johnstown/Altoona/State College)
The Golden Eagles (2-2 overall, 1-0 PSAC West) broke a string that had seen them lose six of their past seven games with the comeback, 35-34, win over the Lakers.
Edinboro (3-1, 0-1), meanwhile, is coming off its first loss of the season, 56-28 at the hand of IUP. This after the Fighting Scots went 0-11 a year ago.
The game features two of the top statistical quarterbacks in Division II with Edinboro’s Jake Sisson ranking second in the nation in passing touchdowns (16) and ninth in passing yards (1,290), while Clarion’s Connor Simmons is 13th in passing yards (1,234) and 21st in passing touchdowns (10).
While the teams both love to throw the ball, they go about the passing game in different fashions.
Edinboro spreads the ball around with five different receivers catching at least 15 passes led by James Clark (26 catches for 394 yards and 4 TDs) and Ta’Nauz Gregory (19-245-3). Jordan Williams (18-248-2), Alex Caratelli (18-169-3) and Walter Fletcher (15-179-3) are also players Clarion’s defense must account for.
The Golden Eagles basically have a three-man rotation that Simmons looks for led by Kevin Genevro (23-396-5), 2015 All-American Matt Lehman (22-375-3) and youngster Kyle Evans (17-204-1).
Clarion has the more balanced approach of the two teams with Delrece Williams (75 carries, 427 yards, 3 TDs) having run for more yards than the entire Edinboro team (345, 5 TDs), which could be a good thing for the Clarion defense, which is allowing 231.5 yards per game on the ground.
Fletcher (238 yards, 2 TDs) is the only Fighting Scot to break 100 yards for the season.
