CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – They say a photo is sometimes worth 1,000 words.
(Photo of Delrece Williams. Photo courtesy of Clarion University Athletics)
That says it all about the 2016 Clarion University football homecoming game. Edinboro 62, Clarion 14. (See box score)
And some may argue it wasn’t even that close.
The Fighting Scots led 20-0 at the end of the first quarter and 41-7 at halftime.
It was more of the same in the second half with Edinboro outscoring Clarion 21-7 in the third quarter, although there weren’t as many people around to see it.
Memorial Stadium was full in the first half
The crowd thinned out considerably after halftime
“I don’t have an answer for you with what went wrong and what happened,” Clarion head coach Chris Weibel said. “All I know is turnovers and miscues. Other than that, I have to watch the film. I’m sure there is a lot of stuff I’m going to see that were tiny mistakes and were little things that led up to big things.”
Oh, there were turnovers, three to be exact, that led to 20 Edinboro points including a third-quarter pick-six for the Fighting Scots.
But more than that, it was simply the fact Clarion’s secondary couldn’t cover Edinboro’s receivers.
Edinboro threw for 365 yards, 357 of those by Jake Sisson – the eight yards Sisson didn’t throw for he caught for the Fighting Scots first touchdown. Sisson was 22 of 37 and threw five touchdown passes. He also ran for a score.
Watch Sisson’s rushing touchdown that made the score 27-0.
James Clark and Alex Caratelli each caught a pair of scores with Clark grabbing seven balls for 112 yards and Caratelli five for 99 yards.
“It’s not secret (the secondary) is all young,” Weibel said. Besides Adam Lynch, they are all young. Myles (Edmonds) just came back from an injury. It’s just his second game, he didn’t even play a whole game last week.”
Weibel also said a few defensive starters were suspended for the game – he didn’t say way or who but a quick look at the participation chart didn’t show any of the Golden Eagles top 12 tacklers who had played in at least four games going into Saturday not in the lineup.
“We had few guys who were suspended this week who were starters on defense,” Weibel said But that’s no excuse. The guys need to step up and get the job done, and we didn’t today.”
What is indisputable, Clarion didn’t make Edinboro even have to work all that hard for their points.
Other than an 11-play, 84-yard drive on their first possession and a 10-play, 95-yard drive on their final touchdown drive of the first half, the Fighting Scots scored quickly thanks to a porous Golden Eagle secondary that allowed seven completions of 20 or more yards including touchdown passes of 30, 52, 43 and 32 yards. That secondary was also charged with three defensive holding penalties.
“We practiced a few different coverages and ran a few different coverages,” Weibel said. “(Edinboro) did a nice job adjusting to us and putting guys in routes that beat the coverages. Again, we are young in the coverage (area), and they have an experienced quarterback. He just picked us apart.”
Coverage wasn’t the only problem for the Golden Eagles.
Clarion twice moved the ball inside the Edinboro 10-yard line only to be turned away on downs failing on fourth-and-1 from the 2-yard line trailing 7-0 and then coming up short on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 from the 5-yard line down 34-7 in the second quarter.
Special teams also turned into a disaster for Clarion with Kyle Evans fumbling away a punt that led to Edinboro’s second touchdown and Edinboro’s Ta’Nauz Gregory returning a kickoff 96 yards for a score right after Clarion got on the board to cut Edinboro’s lead to 27-7 early in the second quarter.
“It snowballed on us,” Weibel said. “You take some chances, and we get stopped on those chances. You lose the ball, and those turnovers turn into touchdowns. You get behind the eight-ball real quick. There is not enough time in the game to come back when you get a deficit like that.”
Weibel also wasn’t happy with the way his team responded to adversity.
“We didn’t have much heart today,” Weibel said. “We got down early, and guys kind of hung their heads.”
The Golden Eagles did get a pair of Delrece Williams touchdown runs, one from 11 yards and one from 3, and Williams ran for 125 yards.
Watch Williams’ first touchdown run.
Williams was also seen after the game gathering his teammates around him and giving a passionate speech after Weibel addressed the squad right on the field.
Clarion (2-3 overall, 1-1 PSAC West) will try to get back on track next week at Seton Hill.
“You have to keep practicing, keep on them,” Weibel said. “Keep doing the exact same thing you did and dig deep. It’s how bad you want it, how much heart do you have in it.”
Copyright © 2024 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited.
