ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon football team hits the road for the first time in 23 days Saturday, September 28 for an encounter at Clarion. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division contest is scheduled for 2 p.m. It will be Homecoming Weekend for the Golden Eagles.
The contest can be heard live locally on Jet Radio 1400 and online at
www.wergfm.com. There will be no live video broadcast available online, but SPORTSfever will broadcast the game on a tape-delayed basis on ROOT Sports. The broadcast is scheduled for Wednesday, October 2 at 7 p.m.
Saturday's contest will also have much more meaning than the final score. For the sixth year in a row, college football coaches nationwide will join together in support of the Coach To Cure MD program, which will be held during games this Saturday. The rapidly growing annual effort has raised more than a million dollars to battle Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) members, including Gannon head coach
Brad Rzyczycki and his entire staff, will wear a Coach To Cure MD logo patch on the sidelines and college football fans are asked to donate to research projects supported by Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), the largest nonprofit organization in the U.S. focused entirely on Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Football fans can donate to Duchenne muscular dystrophy research by either going online toÂ
www.CoachtoCureMD.org or by texting the word CURE to 90999 (a $5 donation will automatically be added to your next phone bill).
Last year, more than 10,000 college coaches at a record 580 different institutions participated in Coach To Cure MD events. Both those figures are higher than in any of the program's first five years (2008-12). Last season marked the first time all 124 Football Bowl Subdivision schools participated, and the five-year fundraising total is just over $1 million.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most common fatal genetic disorder diagnosed during childhood and primarily affects boys across all races and cultures. Boys and young men with Duchenne muscular dystrophy develop progressive muscle weakness that eventually causes loss of mobility, wheelchair dependency and a decline in respiratory and cardiac function. Currently, there is no cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and limited therapeutic options exist.
"The AFCA membership has enthusiastically embraced Coach to Cure MD," said Grant Teaff, executive director of the AFCA and legendary former coach at Baylor University. "We are proud of the commitment shown at all levels of competition to help raise funding for such an important cause."
In addition to the coaches' efforts, families affected with Duchenne muscular dystrophy will also gather for fund-raising tailgate parties on campuses around the country to encourage more fans to get involved.
"As a rare disease organization, you often feel alone in your fight to help those affected. The Duchenne community continues to be blessed by having the support and partnership of the AFCA with our sixth annual Coach To Cure MD" said Pat Furlong, founding president and CEO of PPMD. "The coaches that make up the AFCA are a special group of people with big, generous hearts. We are thrilled to have them as our teammates in the fight to end Duchenne."
On the field, two of the PSAC early-season surprises will clash Saturday afternoon at Clarion's Memorial Stadium. Gannon enters the contest at 2-1 overall while Clarion sports an undefeated mark at 3-0. Both squads won their PSAC Western Division openers last weekend. Gannon and Clarion were picked fifth and seventh respectively in the PSAC preseason coaches poll.
Last week's 38-27 victory against Slippery Rock represented Gannon's first win in a PSAC West opener since joining the league in 2008. The Golden Knights won their conference divisional opener for the first time since defeating Mercyhurst 35-26 during the 2005 opener as a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). The program is off to a 2-1 start for the fourth time in the last six seasons.
Several Golden Knights could make jumps on the school's all-time record charts on Saturday. Junior
Abraham Ocasio ranks fifth all-time at Gannon with 1,279 career receiving yards, needing 54 yards to pass John Zernick (1992-95) and into the fourth place. Junior
Justin Caliste ranks fifth all-time at Gannon with 3,243 all-purpose yards. He needs 123 yards to move past Darmel Whitfield (2001-04) and into fourth place.
Redshirt senior
Jansen Jones ranks ninth all-time at Gannon with 1,725 career rushing yards. He needs 117 yards to pass Zach Boedicker (2007-10) and move into eighth place. Redshirt sophomore
Liam Nadler ranks fourth all-time at Gannon with 3,802 career passing yards. He can move past Boedicker and into third place with 129 yards.
Special teams have played extremely well for Gannon this season. The Golden Knights rank fourth among all NCAA Division II teams as a unit in kickoff return average (33.22). Individually, Caliste ranks sixth (37.6) and sophomore
Quad Law is 28th (28.9). Law broke the school record for the longest kickoff return in school history with a 93-yard return for a touchdown last week against Slippery Rock. Jones is the nation's eighth-leading rusher with 163.3 yards per game.
Clarion remained undefeated with a 20-13 victory against Mercyhurst last Saturday. The Golden Eagles raced out to a 20-0 lead, before holding on for the win. Freshman quarterback Darelle Carson led the offense with 209 yards and one touchdown through the air. He also rushed for 85 yards. Carson, who completed nine passes to six different receivers, replaced senior All-PSAC quarterback Ben Fiscus who suffered an injury against Lock Haven during the second week.
Freshman kicker Phil Esposito converted two of three field goal attempts, giving him four this season. Clarion's defense intercepted four passes and held the Laker passing game to only 12 completions in 26 attempts for 96 yards. The Golden Eagles have started 3-0 for the first time since 1996. All-America defensive end Julian Howsare has 16 tackles, five tackles for a loss and three sacks this season. He has 98 career tackles, including 28 tackles for a loss and 21 sacks.
Gannon has seen some tough times against Clarion since joining the PSAC in 2008. The Golden Eagles have won four consecutive games against the Golden Knights and lead the all-time series 4-1. Gannon's only victory in the series came via a 31-24 home victory during the first-ever meeting in 2008. Gannon is 0-2 at Clarion's Memorial Stadium, falling 42-21 in 2009 and 28-21 in 2011.
