By Duane Cochran
For the Times West Virginian
CLARION, Pa. —
It may be a bit cliché, but in athletics turnabout is fair play.
Thursday night here at Memorial Stadium Fairmont State’s football team gave Clarion (Pa.) University a dose of its own medicine en route to a 27-16 season-opening victory over the Golden Eagles in front of an estimated crowd of 4,000.
Last year Clarion used a pair of interception returns to help topple the Falcons 33-21 in the season’s first game and that win helped propel the Golden Eagles to an 8-3 finish.
Last night FSU’s defense picked off Clarion quarterback Eric Coxon three times, returned one for a touchdown and used another to set up the game-securing score as the Falcons rallied from a 13-7 halftime deficit to record the win.
“As a coach sometimes you say your prayers because you need that ball to bounce your way and tonight, especially in the second half, it did for us and we were able to take advantage it,” said FSU coach Mike Lopez. “We’re excited about this win. Clarion is a very good football team and I have the utmost respect for Jay Foster as a coach and for what he’s done with the football program here. We really didn’t play that well, but we beat a very good football team. We obviously wanted to be 1-0 a lot more than 0-1 right now.
“We just made plays when we had to. We’re going to enjoy this one tonight on the bus ride back home, but tomorrow we start getting ready for Notre Dame College because we all know we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us and a lot of mistakes to correct.”
Clarion scored on its first two possessions to take a 10-0 lead late in the first quarter. FSU, on the other hand, struggled on both sides of the ball. Fairmont’s offense ran just 26 plays in the first half, gained just 89 yards and tallied a mere three first downs. The Falcons ended the game with just 217 total yards, while Clarion totaled 494 yards, including 285 through the air and 209 on the ground.
However, midway through the second quarter Fairmont caught its first break in the game when Clarion’s Alfonso Hoggard, who led all rushers with 143 yards on 36 carries, made a bad decision to try to field a punt deep in his own territory. The ball bounced over his head, glanced off his hand and was recovered by FSU’s Perry Baker at the Golden Eagles’ eight-yard line. Two plays later Patrick Pinchinat beat everyone to the corner of the end zone to close the gap to 10-7.
Clarion, though, regrouped and tacked on a 47-yard Robert Mamula field goal just before the half and then early in the second half appeared to pick up right where it left off when it marched 75 yards in 10 plays and added three more points to make it 16-7 on a 26-yard Mamula field goal.
On the Golden Eagles’ next possession, though, the tide turned in favor of the Falcons for good when FSU cornerback Ryland Newman picked a pass off the shoulder of Clarion receiver Matt Ward and raced 54 yards to the end zone to make it 16-13.
“In the first half my teammates tipped a ball and I missed an opportunity to pick one then so I told the guys I’d pick them up and I wouldn’t drop another one,” said Newman. “I made a promise and when it came my way again I made the play and all I saw was green in front of me.”
Newman’s interception return for a TD ignited a spark in FSU’s entire team. On the Falcons’ next offensive possession they marched 83 yards in just six plays and took the lead in the game for good with 13:22 to play when Cody Reed broke free on a third-and-one play for 33 yards and a score. The run was a testament to old school football at its best as FSU’s powerful junior fullback bowled over two would-be tacklers within five yards of the line of scrimmage, bent his facemask in doing so and raced the rest of the way untouched to the end zone.
“It was third and one and I was just thinking get the yard and get us another series of downs,” said Reed. “The line blocked great on that one. They slanted the opposite way of the run, I saw an opening and I just ran and was able to bounce it outside.
“I love contact and when you can score and run someone over at the same time that’s always fun.”
Later in the period FSU outside linebacker Brian Turner picked off another tipped pass and returned it 14 yards to put the Falcons in business at the Clarion 31 with 5:59 remaining.
“In the second half it was 11 guys doing 11 jobs and what the coaches tell us to do,” said Turner. “Garrett (Davis) made a great tip on the ball and I just went up and got it and tried to make a play.
“It’s also a great feeling when you see the offense score off of something like that. That touchdown pretty much sealed it for us.”
A Doug Brazill run for six yards on first down and a Pinchinat run of 24 yards on second down took the ball to the one where on the next play Pinchinat scored his second touchdown of the game to pretty much secure the victory with 5:22 left to play.
“In the first half I think we were all just trying to get the first-game jitters out,” said Pinchinat, a junior transfer who led FSU with 43 yards rushing and a pair of TDs on just seven carries. “In the second half it was a different story. Ryland’s pick really kind of ignited things for us. The offense started clicking, the defense started making plays and we found a way to get a much-needed win.
“I’m glad I was able to score a couple of times for us tonight. Those were my welcome to Fairmont touchdowns. I hope I have a lot more of them this season.”
The icing on the cake for the Falcons came in the fact that senior return man Zack Page was able to set a national record for career kickoff return yards in the win. Page returned three kickoffs for 83 yards and now has 2,711 career return yards breaking the old mark of 2,630 set by Winona State’s Dave Lundy from 1991-94.
FSU returns to action in its home opener Saturday, Sept. 11 when it hosts Notre Dame College at 1 p.m.
