CLARION, Pa. – A school-record 390 passing yards and a late rally was not enough as the Gannon football team dropped a 28-21 decision at Clarion Saturday afternoon in snowing conditions at Memorial Stadium. The Golden Eagles won the game by chewing up 247 rushing yards and becoming the second consecutive team to rush for over 200 yards against the Golden Knights after IUP produced 203 rushing yards last week.

Clarion needed only two plays to strike first. On the second play from scrimmage, Patrick Graham-Murphy ripped off a 68-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead 54 seconds into the contest.

Gannon was able to immediately slow the action after the long scoring play and controlled field position for the remainder of the first quarter. The Golden Knights finally took advantage of great field position to tie the game late in the first quarter. Forced to punt from his own end zone, Clarion's Nathan Conway had a 30-yard punt that gave Gannon the ball at the Golden Eagles' 37-yard line. On the next play, Daniel Tapscott (Beltsville, Md./DeMatha Catholic) connected with Jerry Smith (Westland, Mich./John Glenn) for a 37-yard touchdown pass. The strike tied the contest at seven with 1:18 left in the first quarter.

Both teams also produced a touchdown in the second quarter. Clarion regained the lead on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Ben Fiscus to Jon Reid with 6:33 showing on the clock. The play culminated an eight-play, 78-yard drive that started with a 51-yard reception by Ryan Wolfe.

Gannon reached into its bag of tricks and scored the game-tying touchdown on the final play of the first half. With the ball on Gannon's 43-yard line and nine seconds remaining, Tapscott hit Jonathon Jones (Rochester, N.Y./Aquinas) for 12 yards to the Clarion 45-yard line. Jones then lateralled the pigskin to Lawrence Coleman (Warren, Ohio/Warren G. Harding), who ran down the right sideline 45 yards for the score. The hook and ladder play went 67 yards.

Gannon seemed to have momentum at that point and immediately drove the ball down the field during its first possession of the second half. The Golden Knights moved 39 yards to the Clarion 26-yard line, but missed a 44-yard field goal.

Clarion responded with a seven-play, 74-yard drive to regain the lead once again at 21-14 with 9:08 left in the third quarter. The two big plays on the drive were a Gannon offsides penalty on third-and-three and Brandon Askins' 32-yard touchdown run.

The home team extended its lead to 28-14 with a monster drive that used 18 plays, marched 80 yards and ate up eight minutes and 53 seconds on the clock. The possession started with 2:36 left in the third quarter and ended when Fiscus scored from one yard out on fourth-and-goal with 8:43 left in the game.

Gannon tried to rally late. Backup quarterback Ty Watson (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora) orchestrated a 53-yard scoring drive that only took one minute and one second. The drive started with a 39-yard pass play to Coleman and ended with a two-yard toss to Smith.

However, the onside kick with 49 seconds left was recovered by the Golden Eagles who then ran out the clock by taking two knees.

Clarion held advantages in total yards (421-376), rushing yards (247-minus 14), first downs (19-17) and time of possession (33:52-26:08). Gannon produced a 390-174 edge in passing yards, setting a new school record for passing yards in a game. The previous record was 385 against Michigan Tech in 2004.

Coleman and Smith were the recipients of most of those passes, becoming the first Gannon duo to record 100 receiving yards in the same game since Dave Ditka (6-120) and Aaron Parker (4-100) performed the feat against Michigan Tech in 2004. It marked only the third time in school history two receivers had 100 yards in the same game. The first time came against Hillsdale in 2004 when Wes Whiteside (7-135) and Sam Culberth (7-127) did it.

Coleman hauled in seven receptions for 194 yards. Both marks are career-highs. His 194 yards equaled the third-highest single-game total in school history.

Smith caught six passes for 127 yards, setting a career-high in receptions and shattering his previous career-high in yards.

Tapscott finished 17-of-27 for a season-high 266 yards and two touchdowns. Watson came off the bench to direct the final two drives, ending the day 7-of-14 for 124 yards and a score.

Khayree Connors-McChristian (Sicklerville, N.J./Winslow Township) and Luke Rankie (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) headlined the defensive unit with 10 tackles each. Connors-McChristian reached double digits in tackles for the third time this season, finishing three shy of his career-high. Rankie's 10 stops were five more than his previous season-high.

Randy Colling (Arcade, N.Y./Pioneer) moved closer to Gannon's all-time sack record with another quarterback takedown. The senior defensive lineman now has 25.5 drops, sitting three behind Mitchell Hanlon's (2001-04) school record of 28.5 sacks. He 9.5 takedowns this season are 1.5 shy of David Leven's single-season record of 11 set in 1994.

Gannon dropped to 3-6 overall and 2-4 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division with its second consecutive loss. Clarion improved to 2-7 overall and 2-4 in the conference with its third consecutive victory against the Golden Knights.

Head coach Jim Kiernan's squad returns to action Saturday, November 5 against first-place Slippery Rock at Gannon University Field. Game time for the home finale is slated for 12 noon. Seventeen seniors will be honored during pregame ceremonies as part of Senior Day.

For a complete box score from Saturday's Gannon-Clarion football game, please click here.