FOOTBALL
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – After a tremendous fourth-quarter comeback by Navy sent the first Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy game of the season into overtime, Air Force Academy junior placekicker Parker Herrington of Clearfield booted his fifth extra point to give the Falcons a 35-34 win in a thriller for the crowd of 37,506 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Down 18 points with less than 10 minutes remaining, and 11 with just over two minutes left, the Middies battled back and forged a 28-28 tie on a touchdown and two-point conversion with 19 seconds left.
The Middies scored first in overtime, but an excessive celebration penalty following the TD cost them 15 yards for the PAT, and the kick was blocked, enabling the once-beaten Falcons to notch their third victory with a touchdown and Herrington’s conversion.
Herrington is 15-for-16 on PAT attempts and 3-for-4 on field goals, with along of 45 yards.
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SLIPPERY ROCK – Redshirt junior linebacker Nate Sipes of Curwensville was involved in a career-high 14 stops and recovered a fumble while redshirt senior safety Shawn Sopic of Curwensville recorded eight tackles for Clarion (0-5) in a 27-13 loss to Slippery Rock (4-1) with 1,776 on hand at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium Saturday evening.
The Rock drove to the Clarion 1-yard line on the opening possession of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division game before Sipes shared a tackle with Peter Rivera for a two-yard loss and then recovered a fumble at the four on the next play.
One of Clarion’s touchdowns in the second annual “Milk Jug” Game was a school-record 100-yard interception return by Karns City
High School graduate Anthony Stimac of East Brady.
Sipes ranks third in the PSAC with his 27 assists and 48 tackles. Those totals, as as well as his 21 solo stops and two fumble recoveries, are tops for the Golden Eagles, who are 0-2 in the division.
Sopic is the No. 2 tackler with 29 stops, 15 of them solos. He has one tackle for a loss of three yards, one pass broken up and one forced fumble.
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LOCK HAVEN – Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jesse Hoover of Curwensville caught three passes for 30 yards and one touchdown in Lock Haven’s 54-13 loss to California (4-1), ranked No. 16 in NCAA Division II, at Hubert Jack Stadium Saturday night.
Only 589 fans were on hand for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division game that resulted in the 35th consecutive defeat for the Bald Eagles, who did surprise the Vulcans by converting a fumble recovery into the first score.
Hoover had all of his receptions on the 39-yard drive, including a nine-yard payoff pass from quarterback Jarryd Burkett of Altoona.
Freshman running back Jed Greslick of Curwensville made his first appearance for Lock Haven (0-4, 0-2 PSAC-West), gaining seven yards on his lone carry.
Hoover tops the Bald Eagle receiving corps with his 15 receptions and is second with 204 yards. He has two of the team’s four TDs through the air.
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WILLIAMSPORT – Junior wide receiver Jarrin Campman of Clearfield pulled in three passes for 40 yards, keying two touchdown drives, as Lycoming (3-1) got back into the Middle Atlantic Conference race by knocking off previously-unbeaten Albright (4-1) 35-13 in the rain and mud at David Person Field Saturday afternoon.
The Warriors, coming off a three-point loss at Widener, delighted the partisan crowd of 1,346 by shackling one of the nation’s top 10 offenses to hand the Lions their first MAC defeat in three outings.
Campman’s 15-yard reception to the A-11 set up Lycoming’s first score in the first quarter, and his 21-yarder to the A-16 helped the Warriors open a 21-0 lead early in the third quarter.
Campman also had an 11-yard runback in his first opportunity as a punt returner.
The punting of sophomore Zack Czap of Philipsburg was crucial in the field position battle. He averaged 33.0 yards on 13 kicks, six pinning the Lions inside their 20.
Campman has a team-high 16 receptions for 159 yards. He is tied for ninth in the MAC in catches-per-game at 4.0.
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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Junior David Kalgren of Curwensville had four solo tackles and one assist for the Oberlin (2-2) defense that kept the No. 16-ranked Wittenberg (5-0) offense in check for two quarters Saturday, but the North Coast Athletic Conference leaders pulled away in the second half to beat the Yeomen 41-19 in front of 2,137 fans on a cold, rainy afternoon at Edwards-Maurer Field.
The right cornerback also returned five kickoffs for 129 yards, including a second period 45-yarder to the W-30 that set up the first touchdown for Oberlin, which is 1-1 in the NCAC.
Kalgren has logged 18 tackles, 16 of them solo stops, intercepted one pass and broken up four passes.
He is averaging 28.6 yards for 10 kickoff runbacks and 7.4 yards for four punt returns.
He leads the Yeomen in all-purpose yards with 357.
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HUNTINGDON – Junior running back Isiah Morgan of Clearfield accounted for 22 of only 37 yards Juniata (0-5) could muster against
undefeated and No. 20-ranked Johns Hopkins (Md.) in a 31-0 defeat Saturday afternoon.
The visitors proved to the 820 Homecoming Game fans at rain-soaked Knox Stadium why they are 5-0 with the second-longest winning streak in NCAA Division III at 10 games while sitting atop the Centennial Conference at 4-0 as they limited the Eagles to 21 yards on 32 rushing attempts and 16 yards on 3-for-16 passing.
Morgan carried four times for seven yards and caught one pass for 15 yards, Juniata’s longest gain of the day.
His season totals are 38 rushing yards on 16 attempts and 17 receiving yards on two receptions.
The Eagles are 0-4 in the conference.
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PITTSBURGH – Redshirt sophomore lineman Nick Redden of Clearfield played at center and guard on offense and was on the forward wall for the punt, extra point and field goal units as Duquesne (4-1) stretched its winning streak to four with a big 31-28 victory over Bryant (R.I.) Saturday afternoon.
An Arthur J. Rooney Field crowd of 2,212 sat through light rain and chilly temperatures to watch the Dukes come from behind twice in the second half to unseat the Bulldogs (2-2, 2-1) atop the Northeast Conference at 2-0.
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LORETTO – Freshman linebacker Andrew Redden of Clearfield saw action on special teams for St. Francis (1-4) against Albany (N.Y.) State (2-2) in a Northeast Conference game at DeGol Field Saturday.
The visitors, playing their conference opener, handed the Red Flash their third AMCC setback, 40-21, in front of 868 fans who turned out on a cold, rainy afternoon.
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WOMEN’S SOCCER
CRESSON – Junior forward Paula Pride of Clearfield has registered seven shots as a starter in every game for Mount Aloysius, which fell to 0-10 with a pair of Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference losses last week that extended its winless streak to 15 games.
The Lady Mounties were shut out 7-0 by LaRoche (3-3-3, 1-1 AMCC) at Pittsburgh Thursday and edged 6-4 by visiting Medaille (3-7, 2-1) at Kimball Field Saturday.
