WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Quarterback/punter Tanner Kelly of Olanta played a key role with his arm and leg as Albright held off King\’s 24-21 in a crucial Middle Atlantic Conference football game before 1,750 fans at Betzler Fields Saturday afternoon.
The Lions, 5-1 overall, are one of three MAC teams at 3-0.
Kelly, a former Clearfield Area High School standout, completed 16 of 29 passes for 205 yards and a pair of touchdowns and averaged 42.8 yards on six punts, including three that were downed inside the Monarch 20.
He was named MAC Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time this season. The redshirt sophomore also was selected MAC Offensive Player of the Week in Week Two.
King\’s (0-6, 0-3) got the jump midway through the first period on a very controversial play involving Kelly. He appeared to have scored on a one-yard sneak, but Monarch safety Shane McNamara took the ball away from him as he reached across the goal line and raced 99 yards for a touchdown. The call stood in spite of protests by the Albright coaches.
With the score 7-7 in the second quarter, Kelly was flushed out of the pocket on a third-and-seven play and fired a long pass to Stephen Asay, who outjumped two Monarch defenders at midfield, broke a tackle and scored the go-ahead TD, an 83-yarder that is the second-longest scoring pass in Albright history.
Kelly\’s second TD aerial was a pass in that flat that Nate Romig carried 18 yards to the end zone for a 24-14 Albright lead with five seconds left in the third quarter.
Kelly, who has connected on 113 of 162 passes, leads the MAC in completion percentage (69.8), yardage (1,561), touchdowns (13) and passing efficiency (172.2) as well as total offense (1,533 yards, 255.5 per game). He also is the No. 1 punter with a 39.6 average for 29 boots.
He also has scored two rushing TDs.
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MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – Right halfback Dave Richards of Clearfield and fullback Aaron Dykes ran for 79 yards and one touchdown apiece as Shippensburg made it two wins in a row by trimming Millersville 23-14 in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover game at Chryst Field in Beimesderfer Stadium Saturday.
A crowd of 5,500 saw Richards carry 13 times and score what proved to be the game-winning TD on a 15-yard run with 1:05 remaining in the second quarter, putting the Red Raiders ahead 17-7 at intermission.
He also caught his first pass of the season, good for 10 yards.
A redshirt junior, Richards has 62 carries for 263 yards and two TDS for the 2-5 Red Raiders.
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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Freshman Nick Sipes of Curwensville booted his first collegiate field goal, a 30-yarder, to give Clarion the early lead against Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division rival Slippery Rock Saturday, but the hosts overcame first-half deficits of 9-0 and 12-7 to run away from the Golden Eagles 41-18 on Bob DiSpirito Field at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium.
Sipes\’ squib kickoff following his three-pointer was recovered by the Golden Eagles, who drove for their first touchdown.
Sipes got his third start at free safety and responded with two solo tackles and three assists.
Former Curwensville Area High School classmate and teammate Shawn Sopic also played in the Clarion secondary and registered six solo tackles and two assists.
Redshirt sophomore running back Nate Sipes, Nick\’s older brother, saw action for The Rock, which delighted the crowd of 8,500 with its sixth win in seven games.
Clarion is 0-7, including three PSAC-West losses.
Nick Sipes is second on the team and 35th in PSAC in tackles with 41 and also had one fumble recovery. Sopic is seventh with 28 stops to go with one interception and two fumble recovers.
Nate Sipes has three carries for nine yards in limited action with The Rock offense.
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GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Sophomore defensive back Beau Ryan of Clearfield recorded six solo tackles and also returned the opening kickoff 13 yards for the Juniata College football team in a 42-21 Centennial Conference loss to Gettysburg Saturday.
The Eagles (0-6) fell to 0-5 in the conference, while the second-place Bullets (5-2) improved to 4-1 with their Homecoming victory in front of 3,381 fans on Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.
For the season, Ryan has been involved in 12 tackles, nine of them solo. He also has two tackles for losses.
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GREENSBURG, Pa. – Danielle Struble of Curwensville racked up nine points as the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg women\’s soccer team enjoyed a great week with a trio 4-0 victories, two of which raised their Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference record to 4-3.
The freshman forward had one goal and two assists at Mount Alyosius Tuesday, duplicated that performance against visiting Carlow in a non-conference action Thursday and added an assist against Lake Erie at Painsville, Ohio, Saturday. She attempted 10 shots in the three games and all but one were on goal.
The AMCC recognized Struble for her efforts by listing her among the \”Best of the Rest\” in the Player of the Week selection.
Lady Bobcat Dana Huether was named Goalkeepr of the Week for her three shutouts.
Struble leads Pitt-Greensburg in goals (5), assists (8) and points (18) as well as shots (40) and shots on goal (23).
In the AMCC, she is No. 1 in assists with six for a 0.86 average and tied for No. 3 in points with 10.
The Lady Bobcats are 6-9-1 overall.
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BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – Goalkeeper Amber Weaver of Clearfield came up with 15 saves, but the Geneva College women\’s soccer team bowed at St. Vincent 3-0 last Wednesday and to Waynesburg 2-1 Friday in Presidents\’ Athletic Conference games.
The junior has allowed 34 goals for a 2.81 goals-against average and totaled 123 saves for a 78.3 percentage. Her record is 2-9-1.
The Golden Tornadoes (2-11-1) are 0-4-1 in the PAC.
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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Juliana Howell, a freshman from Clearfield, started at forward for the Slippery Rock University women\’s soccer team in a 2-0 loss at Indiana last Wednesday and a 6-0 victory over Charlestown (W.Va.) at James W. Egli Soccer Field Saturday.
She attempted two shots, one on goal, as The Rock ended a three-game winless streak with the non-conference shutout.
Slippery Rock is 11-3-1 with a Western Division-leading 6-1-1 record in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
Howell has scored two goals.
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CALIFORNIA, Pa. – Sophomore forward Ashleigh Mohney of Bigler started and got off one shot for the California University women\’s soccer team in a 2-1 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference loss to Lock Haven last Wednesday.
She is a Clearfield Area High School graduate.
The Vulcans are 3-12-1 with a 1-6-1 PSAC-Western Division record.
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ALTOONA, Pa. – Penn State-Altoona was blanked 2-0 by Medaille in a showdown between unbeaten Allegheny Mountain Athletic Conference men\’s soccer teams at Buffalo, N.Y., Sunday after goalkeeper Brandon McQuillen of Woodland posted seven saves in a 2-1 win at Frostburg (Md.) on Oct. 9.
The Lions (12-3) have a 6-1 AMCC record for 18 points, while the Mavs (12-1-2) are 5-0-1 for 16 points.
McQuillen, a Clearfield Area High School graduate, also had seven saves against Medaille.
He has a 9-3 record with a 0.83 goals-against average and an 83.3 saves percentage.
In the AMCC, he leads in shutouts with three and is third in goals-against average (.98), saves (29 for 4.14 per game) and save percentage (87.9).
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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Sophomore forward Lucas Feathers of Clearfield saw action in a reserve role for the Slippery Rock University men\’s soccer team in a 3-2 loss at Wheeling (W.Va.) Jesuit last Wednesday and a 2-0 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference win over Kutztown Saturday.
He attempted two shots against Wheeling Jesuit.
The Rock is 7-3-2 in the PSAC and 8-5-2 overall.
Feathers has one goal 16 shots in 14 games.
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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Sophomore John Lytle of Clearfield and the University of Notre Dame men\’s swimming and diving team got off to a great start to the 2007-08 season by winning the 43rd Dennis Stark Relays at the Rolfs Aquatic Center on Oct. 5.
The Fighting Irish piled up 242 points to leave Ball State (158), Oakland (156), Valparaiso (118) and Marquette (50) far behind in claiming the title for the 11th time in 12 years and the 23rd time overall. The meet, previously called the Notre Dame Relays, was renamed in 2004 to honor former Fighting Irish head coach Dennis Stark.
Lytle, coming off an outstanding freshman season, joined sophomore Andrew Hoffman, junior Danny Lutkus and senior Rob Seery for a meet-record 2:16.83 in the 300-yard freestyle relay.
Notre Dame won 10 of the 13 events, including the mixed 400 medley relay anchored by Lytle. Christopher Wills, Peter Koppel and Ross Moore swam the first three legs.
Lytle also swam on two relay teams that placed second to Oakland foursomes.
He anchored the men 400 medley relay team and led off the men 400 freestyle relay team with an event-best 46.08 leg.