A trio of long touchdown passes elevated The Rock over Clarion University football 38-22 at Clarion’s Memorial Stadium yesterday.
Coming off a loss to California University (Pa.) on Oct. 19 that looms large in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West division standings, the White and Green headed into a favorable matchup against the Golden Eagles.
After Trever Valenti forced a fumble on Clarion’s opening drive that resulted in a Mike Soloman 35-yard touchdown pass from Brayden Long, the Golden Eagles hung in the game for the rest of the first half.
Both teams traded equal blows until halftime. Clarion responded to the opening score with seven points of their own, then both sides were forced to punt on the ensuing drive, after which the teams traded touchdowns again.
With 2:47 on the clock in the second quarter, The Rock got the first significant edge in the game when Idris Lawrence’s ground score forced the Golden Eagles to either score quickly or take a 21-14 deficit into half. The latter possibility was realized.
The White and Green carried the confidence of their late-half score into the second half and never looked back, rallying for three straight scores to all but finish off Clarion by early in the fourth quarter.
Long found Kam Kruzelyak wide open in the middle of the end zone to open up a 28-14 lead shortly after the outset of the second half.
A Clarion three-and-out and 48 yards of SRU offense later, Kylon Wilson’s 32-yard catch and run ended in the end zone and put the Golden Eagles down three scores.
The Rock forced another punt and tacked on a 36-yard Mason Yohn field goal to round out their scoring for the night with 38 points on the board and less than a quarter for Clarion to rebound from a 24-point hole.
The White and Green forced a turnover on downs on the Golden Eagles’ following drive then were stopped on fourth down themselves. The five minutes they shaved off the clock while reaching Clarion’s four-yard line effectively ended the game.
The Golden Eagles would score a touchdown, a two-point conversion and recover the following onside kick but it was too little too late with just over one minute remaining and still a 16-point deficit after the dust had settled.
Heavy pressure off the edge by Todd Hill forced an uncomfortable incompletion as The Rock forced another turnover on downs before Long took a knee to end the game.
Long threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns on 39 attempts, finishing just one passing yard shy of his career high with SRU. The signal caller tallied three passing touchdowns of over 31 yards.
Wilson racked up 147 yards and two touchdowns on seven catches while Soloman and Logan Ramper had over 80 receiving yards.
Chris D’Or and Lawrence were efficient running the ball as both averaged over 5.5 yards per attempt. Wilson had 15 rushing yards on two attempts as well.
The Rock had two sacks with Jett Franz tallying one while Hill and Munchie Johnson both accounted for a half.
Kanye Thompson reached double-digit tackles with 10, eight of which were solo tackles.
The Rock will take the field at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium for one final regular season PSAC-West matchup against Seton Hill University for Nov. 9’s Senior Day game.
