Chris Farnsworth vs. Clarion
Bryce Dolak

Football Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Game Preview: Banged-Up Golden Knights Play at Seton Hill on Saturday

GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (1-3, 1-0 PSAC West) at SETON HILL GRIFFINS (1-3, 0-1 PSAC West)
DATE: Saturday, September 30, 2023
KICKOFF: 4:00 p.m.
STADIUM: Offutt Field l Greensburg, Pa.
 
LIVE COVERAGE: Live Video l Live Stats l Live Audio
 
GAME NOTES: Click Here
 
RADIO: 90.5 WERG FM – Listen to all the exciting action of Gannon football with Dan Teliski providing the play-by-play.
 
ERIE, Pa. – Gannon broke through in the win column last week for a 27-20 win over Clarion on Homecoming. The victory boosted the Golden Knights to 1-3 overall and 1-0 in the PSAC West after three late fourth-quarter losses. Now they head to Seton Hill to face another team sitting at 1-3 on their Homecoming weekend. The Griffins are 0-1 in the Western Division following a 35-14 loss to No. 12 Slippery Rock. Kickoff at Offutt Field is set for 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 30.
It was a banged-up Gannon team that left McConnell Family Stadium, but it did so after posting the largest comeback in school history. Gannon trailed 17-0 ten minutes into the game and 20-0 in the second quarter. The Golden Knights proceeded to run off the next 27 points. Nate Mikell (Summerfield, Fla./Wildwood) and Donell "Tank" Mason combined on a pair of touchdown passes and Eric Scarpino's (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) field goal made it 20-17 in the third quarter.
The comeback was complete when Kam Snell (Owings Mills, Md./Good Counsel) intercepted a pass and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter for the first pick six since 2018. Scarpino added an insurance field goal.
It's appropriate that the defense scored the winning touchdown since the unit turned in an outstanding effort against the Golden Eagles. Clarion was held to 244 total yards and Gannon forced four turnovers – two interceptions and two fumbles – while recording five sacks. 
  
SERIES RECORD
Gannon leads 8-1
Gannon has won the last three meetings with the Golden Eagles to pull into a tie in the all-time series at seven wins apiece.

Last Meeting:  Oct. 1, 2022 – at Gannon 21, Seton Hill 10 l RECAP
Gannon battled through an injury to quarterback Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast) to post a hard-earned win against the Griffins. Seton Hill took an early 10-7 lead in the third quarter but the Golden Knights answered with Curtis' second touchdown pass of the day, a 26-yarder to Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington). Melvin Blanks (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) added his second touchdown of the day on a six-yard run with just over three minutes remaining to clinch the win.

HEAD COACH
Gannon head coach Erik Raeburn is in his 23rd season as a head coach and picked up his 150th career win with last year's triumph over Charleston. Now in his fourth year at Gannon, he owns a 15-15 ledger in charge of the Golden Knights and is 158-77 overall. He has had head coaching stops at Coe, Wabash, Savannah State, and Gannon. A year ago he led Gannon to an 8-3 record, the 11th time he has guided a team to eight-or-more wins.
 
GANNON POSTS LARGEST COMEBACK EVER VS. CLARION
The outlook appeared bleak when Clarion jumped out to a 17-0 lead five minutes into the game and led 20-0 in the second quarter. The comeback began with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Nate Mikell (Summerfield, Fla./Wildwood) to Donell "Tank" Mason late in the half. The pair hooked up for an 80-yard score early in the third quarter to pull the Golden Knights to 20-14. Eric Scarpino's (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) 32-yard field goal made it 20-17 late in the period. The comeback was complete when Kam Snell (Owings Mills, Md./Good Counsel) stepped in front of a Clarion pass at the CU 16 and returned it for a touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter. Scarpino added a second field goal from 30 yards out with 2:39 remaining to score the final points in a run of 27 straight points. The comeback from a 20-point deficit was the largest in team history. Gannon had previously rallied from 17 points down on four occasions.

TANK ON A MISSION
Donell "Tank" Mason enjoyed a career-best day against Clarion. Last year's PSAC West Offensive Freshman of the Year hauled in six catches for a career-high 164 yards, his second 100-yard career day. The 164-yard output is tied for the ninth-highest game total. He caught touchdown passes of 11 and 80 yards, with the latter tied for the seventh-longest in school history.   
 
HAPPY ON HOMECOMING
Gannon made it six straight Homecoming wins with the victory over Clarion last Saturday. Three of those wins have come against the Golden Eagles, as they also defeated Clarion on Homecoming in 2019 and 2021. The last time the opponent spoiled the Homecoming festivities was 2016 when Mercyhurst prevailed 38-35 in overtime.

DEFENSE GROUNDS GOLDEN EAGLES, SNELL NAMED PSAC WEST DEFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
The Gannon defense turned in a stellar effort in the 27-20 win over Clarion. The unit held the Golden Eagles to 244 total yards and forced four turnovers – two interceptions and two fumbles – along with sacking Clarion quarterbacks five times. Kam Snell (Owings Mills, Md./Good Counsel) came up with the biggest play, a 16-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, giving Gannon the lead at 24-20. It was the pick six for a Gannon defender since 2018. For his efforts he was named the PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week. Obi Ezeigbo (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) also played a huge role, as the defensive lineman matched his career high with eight tackles, including a pair of sacks.  
FARNSWORTH REACHES 200 CAREER TACKLES
Two-time All-PSAC West performer Chris Farnsworth (Bristol, Pa./Milton Hershey) finished with seven tackles at West Chester to go over 200 stops for his career. The senior defensive back now has 206 tackles and is fast approaching the top 20 in career tackles. A year ago he led Gannon with 91 hits and four interceptions to earn first-team All-PSAC West accolades.

SCARPINO NOW TIED FOR FOURTH IN CAREER FIELD GOALS
Redshirt senior placekicker Eric Scarpino (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) kicked field goals of 27 and 35 yards in the season opener at Charleston (WV). It was the first time a Gannon kicker made two-or-more field goals since last year's Clarion game (9/24/22) when Scarpino made two. He added a 38-yarder at West Chester and now has made 19 career field goals, moving into a tie for fourth place in career field goals made, and his 26 attempts rank sixth.

SCOUTING SETON HILL
Seton Hill owns a 1-3 record following last week's 35-14 loss to No. 12 Slippery Rock in its PSAC West opener. Picked to finish sixth in the Western Division in the preseason poll, the Griffins opened the year with a 35-24 loss at Wheeling. They hosted Shippensburg in week number two and defeated the Raiders 28-23 as Hayden Teska threw a pair of long touchdown passes and the defense limited Ship to 21 yards rushing. Since then the Griffins have lost to a pair of undefeated teams, 55-21 at East Stroudsburg followed by last week's loss to Slippery Rock … former Seton Hill gridder Daniel Day is in his fifth season at the helm. Day owns a 10-26 record at his alma mater, with his 2021 squad going 5-6. That's the most wins since the 2016 team also posted a 5-6 record. He welcomed back 16 starters from last year's team that won two of its final three games … while the Griffins entered the season needing to replace the top three tacklers from 2022, the defense has put up some solid numbers. Seton Hill has 35 TFL and 11 sacks, ranking first in the PSAC in tackles for losses and third in sacks. Ben Weaver, a 6'0", 240 lb. defensive lineman, leads the way with 8 TFL and 4 sacks among his 19 tackles. He is second in the PSAC in both categories … Teska has taken over at quarterback. The redshirt freshman has completed 40-of-86 passes for 499 yards with 5 TDs and 4 INTs. Last year's leading receiver, Mark Bails Jr. is once again atop the receptions chart with 17 catches for 282 yards, a 16.6 yard average, with 3 TDs. A year ago the junior caught 30 passes for 495 yards and 5 TDs. Leading rusher Ky'Ron Craggette is also back. A 5'10", 200 lb. redshirt sophomore, he ran for 497 yards and 5 TDs on 131 carries. This year he once again leads the way with 251 yards on 60 carries with 3 TDs.
 
UP NEXT
Gannon is back home to face the first of two local rivals on Saturday, October 7. Edinboro visits McConnell Family Stadium with kickoff set for 12 noon.
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Melvin Blanks

#2 Melvin Blanks

RB
6' 1"
Senior
Business
Kory Curtis

#7 Kory Curtis

QB
6' 4"
Redshirt Junior
Ke

#1 Ke'John Batiste

WR
6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
Obi Ezeigbo

#33 Obi Ezeigbo

DL
6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
Chris Farnsworth

#9 Chris Farnsworth

DB
5' 11"
Senior
Nate Mikell

#6 Nate Mikell

QB
6' 4"
Redshirt Sophomore
Eric Scarpino

#94 Eric Scarpino

PK
5' 9"
Redshirt Senior
Mechanical Engineering
Kam Snell

#1 Kam Snell

DB
5' 11"
Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

Melvin Blanks

#2 Melvin Blanks

6' 1"
Senior
Business
RB
Kory Curtis

#7 Kory Curtis

6' 4"
Redshirt Junior
QB
Ke

#1 Ke'John Batiste

6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
WR
Obi Ezeigbo

#33 Obi Ezeigbo

6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
DL
Chris Farnsworth

#9 Chris Farnsworth

5' 11"
Senior
DB
Nate Mikell

#6 Nate Mikell

6' 4"
Redshirt Sophomore
QB
Eric Scarpino

#94 Eric Scarpino

5' 9"
Redshirt Senior
Mechanical Engineering
PK
Kam Snell

#1 Kam Snell

5' 11"
Redshirt Junior
DB