FULL GAME NOTES
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Lock Haven University football will celebrate its 2010 Homecoming this Saturday with a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West battle with Gannon University.
The Game:
Kickoff on Saturday (Oct. 16) at Hubert Jack Stadium (3,500) is set for 12 p.m. as Lock Haven continues to look for their first win of the 2010 campaign.
Gannon comes in losing three of their last four games, including a 34-7 loss to No. 4 ranked California (Pa.) University last week. The Golden Knights are 3-3 on the season and 1-2 in the PSAC West.
The Bald Eagles will look to rebound from a tough 49-6 loss to winless Clarion University.
The game marks the third home game of the year for the Haven. A full day of festivities has been slated to celebrate the 2010 homecoming.
Lock Haven is 0-2 at home, losing 38-13 against Kutztown University back on September 18 in The Haven's 2010 home-opener and last week's loss to Clarion.
Watch/Listen/Live Stats
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link listed here.
The Series:
The Golden Knights lead the young series 2-0.
In the previous two meetings the Bald Eagles have yet to put any points on the board losing 27-0 last season and 26-0 in 2008. The 2008 game was also Lock Haven's homecoming.
Bald Eagles at a glance:
Lock Haven is hosting their second straight home game and are 0-6 on the year and 0-3 in PSAC West play.
The Haven will look to snap a 27-game losing skid as the Bald Eagles haven't had a winning season since 1981.
Last week, in a battle of the winless, Clarion started out fast scoring on the first play from scrimmage and kept it going from there taking a 42-0 lead into the half.
Two weeks ago, No. 4 California (Pa.) came out swinging and put 31 points on the board in the first half on the way to a 58-0 PSAC West victory.
Three weeks ago the Lock Haven defense held their own in the first half, holding Mercyhurst to just seven points. Mercyhurst came out with their halftime adjustments and put up 28 points in the third quarter. The Lakers added six more in the fourth quarter to win their homecoming game 41-0.
The Haven's last win came in the 2007 season finale, where LHU outlasted Clarion 17-14 on an overtime field goal.
Four weeks ago the Bald Eagles played Kutztown and was in the game going into the locker room at the half but once again Lock Haven struggled in the second half and loss the Golden Bears 38-13.
In week two, LHU fell to Millersville 35-21 in their second of two road games to start the new season.
In their season-opener at VMI, Bald Eagles fell to the Keydets 48-6 in front of 6,865 fans.
Lock Haven and VMI had met just once prior to this game. In the 2007 season-opener the Bald Eagles lost to their Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponent 20-0.
Gannon at a glance:
Clarion is back on the road for the fourth time this season and their first road game since hosting home games in the previous two weeks.
In the season-opener, the Golden Knights defeated Lake Erie College 26-20. Gannon's other non-division win came against Shippensburg in week two. Their only PSAC West win came against Mercyhurst (14-10) two weeks ago.
Gannon has proved their resiliency in the Red Zone this season, leading all of the PSAC in Red Zone defense.
Lock Haven's last time out:
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Lock Haven University football team (0-6, 0-3 PSAC West) fell to visiting Clarion University (1-5, 1-2 PSAC West) 49-6 tonight at Hubert Jack Stadium in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West action.
Clarion was led by a superb effort from freshman quarterback Ben Fiscus. Fiscus, who was making the first start of his young career, set a Clarion record after a perfect 16-for-16 night passing. He passed 187 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for a team-high 78 yards and one rushing TD.
Clarion scored 21 points in each of the first two quarters to jump out to an early 42-0 halftime lead.
The Bald Eagles prevented the shutout by taking on a TD with 3:17 left in the ballgame.
Quarterback Jarryd Burkett (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) hit Jay Hartman (Lewistown, Pa./Indian Valley) on a 39-yard pass for the score. Lock Haven went for two, but the pass was intercepted.
Burkett was 13-for-24 for 134 yards and the one touchdown.
Hartman made four catches for 66 yards.
Nick Gounaris (Morrisville, Pa./Pennsbury) and Ryan Good (Tower City, Pa./Williams Valley) each made seven tackles for Lock Haven to lead the way defensively for LHU.
Six of Gounaris's seven tackles were solo stops and James Wilbern (Steelton-Heights, Pa./Steelton-Heights) added seven stops.
Corey Porta (Marietta, Pa./Lancaster Catholic) added six tackles.
Lock Haven has lost 27 straight games with its last win coming against Clarion in the 2007 season-finale.
Gounaris leads the defense:
Senior Nick Gounaris (Morrisville, Pa./Pennsbury), the Bald Eagles lone captain on this year's squad, is the leader for LHU on the defensive side of the ball.
Last year he earned a spot on the PSAC West Second Team Defense, nabbing a spot on the defensive line. Gounaris finished with 47 total tackles, which was fifth-best on the team. Gounaris made 25 solo stops and six tackles for a loss, which ranked as second-best on the team in 2009. He also added two sacks.
Two of Gounaris's best performances came against PSAC West opponents, as he racked up a game-high 11 and eight tackles against Clarion and Edinboro, respectively.
So far this season, he's made 25 stops, 15 of which are solo tackles.
Gibble returns:
A huge key for Lock Haven is the return of senior Ryan Gibble (Millville, Pa./Central Columbia) to the O-line. Gibble a two-time All-PSAC selection yet missed the majority of last year with an injury.
Last time vs. Gannon (9/19/09):
Football falls on the road at Gannon
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Lock Haven University football team (0-8, 0-6 PSAC West) was shutout 27-0 on the road today at Gannon University (4-5, 2-4 PSAC West) in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division action.
A 10-point first quarter helped lead the Golden Knights to the win on their homecoming.
Gannon led just 10-0 at halftime, but tacked on two touchdowns in the third quarter, which paved the way for the win.
Sophomore Shawn Faulk (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) got the start under center, as LHU head coach John Klacik looked to the spark The Haven's offense. Faulk went 11-for-20 passing with one interception. He racked up 90 total yards through the air.
Jay Hartman (Lewistown, Pa./Indian Valley) recorded three catches for 41 yards to lead LHU in receiving.
Defensively, the Bald Eagles continue to put up tremendous numbers.
Kyle Lucas (Bellefonte, Pa./Bellefonte) was the leader today and he finished with a game-high 14 tackles. He had five solo stops and one tackle for a loss.
Wes Plummer (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) had 10 tackles, including five solo stops and one tackle for a loss.
Nick Gounaris (Morrisville, Pa./Pennsbury) and Dean Tortorice (Delmont, Pa./Franklin Regional) each finished with seven tackles.
The Bald Eagles did everything they could to get things jump started today, including going for it on fourth-and-one on the third possession of the game, faking a punt in second quarter with a pass-play that resulted in a first down and starting the second half with an onside kick.
Lock Haven's last win (11/10/2007):
Bald Eagles Avoid Winless Season With Overtime Victory Over Clarion 17-14
CLARION, Pa. – The Lock Haven University Football team avoided its first winless season in 56 years as they defeated the Clarion University Golden Eagles in overtime by a 17-14 margin.
The win for LHU was their first since they defeated Clarion last season at Hubert Jack Stadium.
Clarion looked to get on the board early as they marched down field easily only to have a 30 yard field goal attempt fall short and keep the game scoreless.
Both teams would trade possessions until Clarion would find pay dirt early in the second frame.
Clarion scored in the second quarter as quarterback Tyler Huether powered in from the goal line on a one yard QB keeper to give the Golden Eagles the lead. Kicker Nick Sipes boot cleared the uprights to make the score 7-0.
Following a possession by each team LHU would get the ball back with great field position and would capitalize on it as five plays later running back Ibrahim Smith (New Bloomfield, Pa./West Perry) crossed the plane of the endzone. Haven kicker Marc Domonkos' (Windber, Pa./Bishop McCort) PAT would be good to tie the game up at 7-7.
Things would remain the same as both teams headed to the locker room.
As the two teams came from the locker room it became a defensive struggle in the third quarter as both teams were unable to put on points on the scoreboard.
LHU had a great opportunity to take the lead as following a muffed Brendon Pickel (Easton, Pa./Easton) punt the Bald Eagles had great field position at the Golden Eagle 25, but they were unable to do much with it as they had to settle for a field goal attempt from Domonkos. Domonkos' kick would sail wide left keeping the score at a 7-7 deadlock.
Lock Haven would waste no time scoring in the fourth quarter as 11 seconds into the frame Smith would scamper 64 yards to the end zone to give The Haven the 14-7 lead following Domonkos' PAT.
Each team would trade possessions until with 8:30 to go quarter number four Clarion would get possession and march downfield on an ten play 89 yard drive which resulted in a touchdown. Running Back Eddie Emmanuel barreled one yard up the middle for the score which became tied again following Sipes second extra point of the day.
Lock Haven would have one last ditch effort to win the game in regulation as quarterback Ilio DiPaolo (Orchard Park, N.Y./St. Francis) would find Chris Hawkins (Glenside, Pa./Cheltenham) 39 yards downfield but time would expire before the LHU coaches could get the timeout in sending the game to overtime.
Clarion would the toss and chose to take the ball for the first possession of the overtime frame. The Bald Eagle defense pushed Clarion backwards and the Golden Eagles had to settle for a field goal attempt. Sipes' 47 yard attempt would be short of the mark for the second time of the day setting Lock Haven up for the win.
LHU's possession would start at the Clarion 25 and four plays later culminate with a 35 yard boot from the nearside hash. Third time would be a charm for Domonkos as his field goal would clear the uprights to give Lock Haven their first victory of the year.
Leading the way on the ground for Lock Haven was Smith who carried the ball 22 times for 139 yards and two touchdowns. His 139 yards and two touchdowns are the best of his young career.
Through the air DiPaolo and Tyler Golden (Tyrone, Pa./Tyrone) combined to be 15 of 22 for 184 yards. DiPaolo had a stellar performance going 10-15 for 97 yards and Golden also put up strong numbers as he went 5-7 for 87 yards in only one quarter of work.
On the receiving end junior Damar Dowell (Buffalo, N.Y./Erie Community College) had four catches for 60 yards.
Defensively LHU was led by Mike Nesby's (Pittsburgh/Rankin) eight tackles and Corey Gildea's (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Holliddaysburg) five tackles on the day gave him 100 on the season.
Lock Haven wraps up their season with a 1-11 mark and for the second time in a row Head Coach John Klacik won a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West game defeating Clarion both times.
Next time out:
Lock Haven goes back on the road heading to Slippery Rock University on Saturday (Oct. 23) at 2 p.m.
