FOOTBALL
EAST STROUDSBURG — Graduate student Jesse Hoover (Curwensville) embellished his numbers on lists of Lock Haven’s all-time top pass receivers with five catches for a season-high 85 yards and a season-long 54-yard touchdown Saturday in a 52-28 loss to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division rival East Stroudsburg with 1,800 fans looking on at Eiler-Martin Stadium.
His third TD reception of the season gained him entrance into the Bald Eagle Top 10 Club with 12, good for a four-way tie for eighth place.
Hoover, who has 41 receptions for 449 yards in his fourth year as a starter at wideout, already had cracked three other Top 10 lists and ascended the all-time ladders in two of those Saturday.
The 6-1, 205-pounder moved up one notch into a tie for sixth place for career receptions with 119 and jumped from 10th to seventh in pass reception yards with 1,601.
He’s locked into ninth place for receptions per game with 2.98.
Sophomore running back Beau Swales (Clearfield) had one rush for no yards, one catch for three yards and one kickoff return for 15 yards as Lock Haven (3-6) slipped to 2-4 in its first season in the PSAC-East.
Swales is third on the team in all-purpose yards with 576, netting 54 yards on 24 carries, 64 on seven pass receptions and 458 on 21 kickoff runbacks. He has scored two touchdowns.
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SLIPPERY ROCK — Sophomore defensive back Derek Morgan (Clearfield) recorded his second interception of the season with a 10-yard return in Slippery Rock’s impressive 38-17 win over California with first place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division at stake Saturday.
The Rock, ranked No. 20 by D2football.com, No. 22 by Beyond Sports Network and No. 24 by the American Football Coaches Association in NCAA Division II last week, made it an enjoyable afternoon for the Mihalik-Thompson Stadium crowd of 4,772 by stretching its winning streak to six for an 8-1 record, 5-1 in the PSAC-West. The Vulcans dipped to 6-3 and 4-2.
Morgan shares The Rock lead in interceptions and is sixth in solo tackles with 19. He also has assisted on 11 stops and has broken up two passes.
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WESTMINSTER, Md. — Freshman defensive back Jordan Russell (Curwensville) made three solo stops as Juniata rolled to a 42-21 Centennial Conference victory over host McDaniel (1-7) in front of 2,708 fans at Kenneth R. Gill Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles (5-3, 4-3 CC) are enjoying their best season since 2002.
In six games after being moved from wide receiver on offense, Russell has totaled 10 tackles, broken up one pass and recovered one fumble.
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CLARION — Sophomore long snapper Eric White (Clearfield) assisted on two tackles and made the first hit on another for the Clarion (4-5) punt unit in Saturday’s 42-14 loss to Indiana University of Pennsylvania (7-2) at Memorial Stadium.
A Senior Day turnout of 1,128 saw the Golden Eagles tumble to 2-4 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division. The Crimson Hawks are 4-2.
White has been involved in six stops this season.
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PITTSBURGH — Brothers Nick and Andrew Redden (Clearfield) were on opposite sidelines for the third year in a row Saturday evening, and the outcome was the same as the previous meetings with Duquesne defeating visiting St. Francis 21-10 in front of 2,044 fans at Rooney Field to grab first place in the Northeast Conference at 3-1.
Big brother Nick, a graduate student, has been the starting center the last two seasons for the Dukes, who are 5-3 overall after outgaining the Red Flash 306-131 and dominating time of possession 38:41-21:19.
Andrew is a junior reserve linebacker with one appearance for St. Francis (3-5, 1-2 NEC).
Duquesne’s important NEC showdown with Sacred Heart (8-2, 2-2) Saturday at Fairfield, Conn., will be televised nationally on ESPN3 and as well as ROOT Sports (Channel 32) with kickoff set for noon.
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WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
LORETTO — St. Francis freshman Rebecca Johnson (Grampian/Curwensville Area H.S.) placed 58th among the 71 runners in the 2013 Northeast Conference Championships Saturday.
Her time for the 5,000-meter race around the hilly Immergrun Golf Club course on the St. Francis campus was 22:36, which was 17 seconds slower than the personal record she established at the Father Bede Invitational on Sept. 28.
Johnson finished seventh for the Red Flash, whose top five runners totaled 128 points to place fifth among the nine teams in the event.
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WRESTLING
WILKES-BARRE — Freshman 157-pounder Nolan Barger (Clearfield) made an auspicious debut for Lycoming by knocking off a trio of seeded matmen en route to a third-place finish at the Monarch Invitational hosted by King’s College at the Scandlon Gymnasium Saturday.
Barger advanced to the semi-finals by besting Ryan Butler of Roger Williams (R.I.) 4-2 and No. 5 seed Chris Sarro of SUNY Cortland 7-1 and pinning No. 4 seed Tyler Herzog of Roger Williams in just 1:20.
He lost 14-1 to Washington Jefferson senior Josh Etzel, the No. 1 seed who was ranked No. 2 by the National Wrestling Coaches Association and No. 5 by d3wrestle.com in the preseason.
Barger came back to major decision Stephen Turner of Wilkes 10-2 and then deck No. 6 seed Tyler Lauchaire of Wilkes in 4:47 of the consolation finals.
In the 157 title bout, Roger Williams sophomore Francisco Colom upset Etzel 4-2 in overtime.
Lycoming tied for fifth place in the 13-team field with 51.5 points as two other Warrior freshmen, Andrew Gibe (South Williamsport) at 133 and Seth Lansberry (Line Mountain) at 149, matched Barger’s third-place effort.
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CLARION — Pitt sophomore 141-pounder Jake Keller (Curwensville) split four matches while Clarion freshman 133-pounder Dylan Graham (Clearfield) dropped two close decisions in the season-opening Clarion Open at the Rec Center Sunday.
After losing 9-3 to eventual third-placer Anthony Ashnault of Rutgers in the pigtail round of the 40-man weight, Keller dropped into the consolation bracket and went overtime to beat Trevor Moody of Indiana 5-4 via a rideout, received a medical forfeit from Wolfgang McStravick of Clarion and was nipped 3-2 by Daniel Sanchez of Maryland.
Last season, Keller competed unattached in five open tournaments at 141 and 149, posting an 11-10 record with seven falls and two major decisions.
Graham was edged 7-5 by Vinny Punzone of Notre Dame (Ohio) College and 8-5 by Robert Trombetta of Bloomsburg in his first action for the host Golden Eagles.