CLARION, Pa. – Quarterback Asiantii Woulard ran for one touchdown, threw for another, and hauled in a two-point conversion, but the Clarion football team lost a 21-18 nail-biter to Mercyhurst in the opening game of PSAC West play.
(Photo courtesy of Clarion University Athletics)
The Golden Eagles (0-4, 0-1 PSAC West) will look for their first divisional win in a road game at Edinboro next week.
Woulard completed 13-of-30 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown, including the score that would pull Clarion to within three points with 7:30 left to go in regulation. After a shanked punt by Mercyhurst gave the Golden Eagles a 1st-and-10 from the Mercyhurst 39-yard-line. Two plays later, Woulard bought time with his feet and connected downfield with Greg Leonard to cut the deficit to 21-16.
Needing a two-point conversion to make a field goal the tying score, Clarion first attempted a throw to the back of the end zone. The pass fell incomplete, but a pass interference call by Emmanuel McDowell gave the Golden Eagles another crack at it from the Mercyhurst 1. Woulard pitched to Evans, who dumped to Standard cutting left to right across the field. Standard flipped the ball to the back pylon to Woulard, who pulled it into convert the attempt and make the score 21-18.
The Golden Eagles got the ball back on their own 42-yard-line with 3:52 left to go and moved it to just outside the red zone. The Lakers ended the comeback threat on an interception by McDowell, who returned the pick to his own 37-yard-line to ice the game.
The Clarion rushing game got off to a faster start against the Lakers, finishing the game with 141 total yards. Mylique McGriff rushed for a career-high 66 yards on 13 carries, an average of 5.1 yards per attempt. Kyle Evans added 50 yards on 14 carries, and Woulard showed some wheels with a number of long rush attempts.
Mercyhurst struck on their first drive of the game, with Theo Blackstone hauling in a pass from Doug Altavilla from seven yards out to make it 7-0. The Golden Eagles would not counter until the second quarter, but their response was an inspired one. Woulard ripped off a 15-yard run on 3rd-and-14 to give Clarion a first down in Laker territory and then hit Standard for a long gainer on the next play. Facing 3rd-and-1 at the Mercyhurst 10, Woulard ran a quarterback draw to the right side and extended for the pylon to tie the game at 7-7.
The Lakers scored less than six minutes into the third quarter on a pass from Altavilla to Brad Novak, but James Metzgar booted a 38-yard field goal to make it a 14-10 game just five minutes later. Mercyhurst took the two-score lead early in the fourth quarter on a four-play, 98-yard drive capped by a 70-yard touchdown from Garrett Owens.
That was the only major defensive gaffe for the Golden Eagles on the afternoon, who limited Mercyhurst to 316 total yards – 70 of which came on one play. Other than Owens’ long run, the Lakers were limited to 22 rushing yards on 24 attempts. Saif Khan led the way with six tackles and a tackle for loss, while Brandon Vocco had five tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Clarion finished with 6.0 tackles for loss as a team.
