READING, Pa. – Albright College quarterback Tanner Kelly was named Middle Atlantic Conference Player of the Week after passing for 447 yards and four touchdowns and running for another score as the Lions treated the 1,728 fans in Shirk Stadium to a 42-17 win over visiting Kean Saturday night.
The redshirt sophomore, who starred at Clearfield Area High School, completed 18 of 22 passes, including TDs of 69 yards to Nate Romig and 79 yards to Steven Asay for a 14-0 Albright lead.
Kean clawed back into the non-conference game with a 59-yard return of a Kelly punt for a touchdown and then blocking a Kelly kick for a safety.
Kelly\’s six-yard run was one of Albright\’s two TDs in the second quarter that widened the spread to 28-9 at the half, and the 6-4, 221-pounder capped his big day with scoring passes of 30 yards to Romig and 43 yards to Jordan McCauley in the fourth period.
Kelly was intercepted once and sacked six times, once for a safety. He wound up with minus-10 yards in the rushing department. And he averaged 40.5 yards for two punts.
The Lions (1-1) amassed 539 yards of offense in head coach John Marzka\’s first victory.
After two weeks of the 2007 season, Kelly owns the MAC standards for single-game total plays (60) and total offense (437) in addition to the passing yards, touchdowns and completion percentage (81.8) he posted against Kean. His 79-yarder also is the longest completion. He is second in pass attempts and total offense yards per play (12.9) as well as punting average and longest punt (56 yards).
Kelly tops the MAC in season totals for completions (42), passing yards (699) and average (349.5) and total offense yards (673) and average (336.5). He\’s second in passing efficiency with a 199.2 rating.
Albright hits the road Saturday for a 7 p.m. game against Shenandoah (Va.).
* * * * * * * * * *
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Dave Richards of Clearfield returned to his starting role in the Shippensburg University backfield but carried only seven times in the balanced ground game that was limited to 80 net yards by Division I Football Championship Subdivision opponent Liberty in a 35-14 loss Saturday night.
The redshirt junior right halfback ran 15 yards on a reverse on the Red Raiders\’ second play to kick-start an 80-yard touchdown drive that tied the score 7-7 late in the first quarter. That was Shippensburg\’s lone rushing attempt of more than nine yards.
Richards was tackled for losses twice and finished with 18 net yards.
Shippensburg controlled the ball for nearly 37 minutes, but the Flames burned the Red Raiders with big plays, including an 88-yard punt return, a 61-yard interception runback and a 65-yard pass for touchdowns.
Liberty, which received votes in last week\’s NCAA Division I-AA Poll, was the first Division I foe that Shippensburg has faced since 1996. And the crowd of 12,331 in Williams Stadium was the biggest in school history for a road game.
The Red Raiders, who lost to nationally-ranked Division II Shepherd in their opener, will travel again Saturday for a 3:05 p.m. kickoff at Kutztown. The game will be broadcast live across the state on SPORTSfever TV Network.
* * * * * * * * * *
CLARION, Pa. – Freshmen safeties Shawn Sopic and Nick Sipes of Curwensville made some key plays for Clarion University\’s defense Saturday night, but Kutztown took advantage of Eagle mistakes for a 35-13 win in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover game that drew a crowd of 3,000 to Memorial Stadium.
Four touchdown passes by Kyle Spotts sparked the 1-1 Golden Bears, two of them coming late in the third period after the hosts had sliced their deficit to 21-13.
Four turnovers were costly for Clarion (0-2), which had a 316-306 edge in total yards. Tom Cressman returned one of Kutztown\’s three interceptions for the first score and finished with 10 tackles, including a sack and three stops behind the line of scrimmage, to earn PSAC Eastern Division Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Teammate Ty Dennis was named PSAC Eastern Division Offensive Player of the Week for his 239 all-purpose yards.
Sopic had one of Clarion\’s two interceptions in the first period, but the Eagles couldn\’t convert either into points, managing only six yards after Sopic\’s two-yard return to the K-38 with the score knotted 7-7.
Earlier, Sipes registered a solo tackle and two assists on one Golden Bear possession.
For the game, Sopic had three solo tackles, two of them on back-to-back pass completions late in the third quarter, while Sipes logged one solo stop and four assists, one in the Kutztown backfield.
Two-game totals show Sopic with four solo tackles, two assists, a fumble recovery and the interception and Sipes with two solo tackles and five assists.
Clarion will visit West Chester Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
* * * * * * * * * *
MADISON, N.J. – Sophomore defensive back Beau Ryan of Clearfield had two solo tackles for Juniata in its heart-breaking 20-17 overtime loss to Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham Saturday afternoon at Shields Field.
Moments after the Eagles\’ failed on a field goal attempt, Red Devil kicker Mike Barnard sent a 43-yarder through the goal posts to send the majority of the 2,357 fans home happy.
It was a tough way to start the season for the Eagles, who grabbed a 17-14 lead with 9:14 remaining after trailing 14-0 at the half. FDU-Florham drove 72 yards in the final five minutes for the game-tying field that sent the game to overtime.
Juniata, which left the Middle Atlantic Conference after the 2007 season, will makes its debut in the Centennial Conference Saturday at 1 p.m. against Ursinus, the coaches\’ pick to win the championship. Ursinus pulled out a 17-14 win over Lycoming College in its opener.
* * * * * * * * * *
OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. – After missing three games, Mark Auman of Clearfield returned to action Saturday for the Lock Haven University men\’s soccer team, which suffered its first loss of the season 2-0 to New York Institute of Technology.
The Bald Eagles, who had won their first five games, managed only three shots, two of them on goal.
They are 4-0 and tied with East Stroudsburg (4-1) atop the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference with 12 points.
Auman, a freshman midfielder, has one assist in three games for the Bald Eagles, who will play at Slippery Rock Wednesday at 4 p.m. and host Bloomsburg Saturday at 3 p.m.