CLARION, Pa. – The Golden Eagle football team benefitted from a couple of splash plays on both sides of the ball, but Clarion could not keep pace with Mercyhurst in falling 38-20 to the Lakers at Memorial Stadium.
Clarion (0-8, 0-5 PSAC West) will close out their PSAC West season a week from today when they travel to Edinboro on Nov. 6.
In the first half, it looked as if the Golden Eagles, sparked by emotion on Senior Day, might go toe-to-toe with the Lakers for the duration. The Clarion offense found something it could exploit in the passing game, primarily with Terrell Ford getting open in deep in the defensive backfield. In the first quarter, a potential 51-yard touchdown catch-and-run by Ford was negated by a holding penalty, but quarterback Zechariah Sanderson went back to the well on the first play of the second quarter and this time found water. Facing a 3rd-and-7 from his own 45-yard line, Sanderson connected with Ford on a 55-yard score to put Clarion up 7-0 just nine seconds into the quarter.
Clarion took advantage of Mercyhurst miscues on their third drive of the second quarter, drawing even with the Lakers after falling behind 14-7. The Golden Eagles first converted a fourth down from their own 45-yard line on a pass interference call, and later converted a third down as a result of a roughing the passer call against the Lakers. Taylor Eggers hit Ford for a strike on the righthand sideline to get down to the Mercyhurst 1, and Khalil Owens ran untouched into the end zone to knot things up at 14.
The Golden Eagles trailed 21-14 at halftime but looked to have things untracked to start the second half when Drew Blon picked off Joe Carter near midfield on the Lakers’ first drive of the half. A facemasking penalty at the end of the run set Clarion up with excellent field position to start the drive, but Bradley Burrows intercepted a Sanderson pass intended for Kahliq Muhammad to end the threat. Mercyhurst tacked on 10 points in the third quarter, including an interception returned 33 yards for a touchdown by Thomas Zacharyasz, to build a three-score lead.
Clarion did get on the scoreboard once more in the contest, when Eggers found Muhammad down the left sideline on a well-placed ball near the pylon. Muhammad’s touchdown was his third of the season. The two-point conversion attempt failed, though, and the Lakers went on for the win.
Ford had his second 100-yard receiving day of the season, catching seven passes for 130 yards and a score. Golden Eagle quarterbacks combined for 289 passing yards, but the Lakers recorded five interceptions. Kareem Hamdan had a game-high 11 tackles, one tackle for loss, one pass break-up, and one quarterback pressure, while Blon finished with nine stops, two tackles for loss, and the pick.
