Sporting a 1-1 record, seventh year head coach Jay Foster will lead his Golden Eagles in the PSAC-West opener this Saturday, September 15 at Mercyhurst. Kickoff at Tullio Field is set for Noon.
All the game action between Clarion and LIU-Post can be heard on the Golden Eagle radio network, which includes WCCR-FM, 92.7 in Clarion and WKQW-FM, 96.3 in Oil City, as well as on the internet at Redzonemedia.com with Mike Kalinowski providing the play by play and Joe Lodanosky offering color commentary.
Clarion head coach Jay Foster, in his seventh season leading the Golden Eagles, has his team off to a 1-1 start to the 2012 season. Clarion opened the year with an exciting 7-0 win over WVIAC foe Fairmont State. A game televised live on ROOT Sports on Thursday, August 30, Clarion took a 7-0 lead in the third quarter when junior qb Ben Fiscus hit freshman Mark Nicholas on a 27-yard td pass. The defense went on to pitch a shutout – including a goal line stand in the final 30-seconds – to post the victory. The Golden Eagles had eight turnovers last Saturday in its 46-26 loss at LIU-Post, despite outgaining the Pioneers in total offense 538-375.
The Golden Eagles were 3-8 in 2011 and posted a 2-5 mark in the rugged PSAC-Western Division. The Golden Eagles won three of their final six games, including wins over Lock Haven (54-6), Gannon (28-21) and Millersville (34-20). Other close losses include a 42-38 setback in the final seconds against Mercyhurst after leading 38-14 in the third quarter, and close losses to Fairmont State (31-17) and Edinboro (21-10).
The 2010 Eagles were 4-7 overall and 3-4 in the rugged PSAC-West, while the 2009 squad was 8-3 overall, 6-1 in the West and earned an 8th place ranking in the NCAA D-II East Region final poll. Coach Foster was named the 2009 PSAC-West “Coach of the Year”. Foster enters the game with a career record of 20-48.
Mercyhurst, led by eleventh year head coach Marty Schaetzle, enters Saturday’s game with a 1-1 overall record in 2012. The Lakers opened the year with a tough 59-42 loss at Notre Dame College, then rebounded last Saturday at Millersville to drop the Marauders 45-7. Mercyhurst returns 13 starters and 37 letterwinners retuning from a team that was 4-7 a year ago overall and 2-5 in the PSAC-West.
Schaetzle led Mercyhurst to a 10-3 overall record in 2010 including the PSAC-West and PSAC team titles, and a spot in the NCAA Regional finals before losing. Schaetzle has a record of 46-64 at Mercyhurst.
The Clarion special teams will be anchored again by punter Nathan Conway (Jr. – Lock Haven/Central Mountain), who will also double as the Clarion placekicker in 2012.
Conway, in his third year as the starter (2009, 2011) at punter, is averaging 29.2 yards per punt. Last year he averaged 35.2 yards per punt, but the average was a bit deceiving – pointed out coach Foster. Conway booted 16 punts inside the 20, and had 14 punts fair caught. He averaged 37.9 yards per punt as a freshman in 2009.
