Clarion rolls over Edinboro after Harris goes down

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October 31, 2009

By Lisa Byers The Meadville Tribune Sat Oct 31, 2009, 11:35 PM EDT

EDINBORO — Trevor Harris expected Saturday to be an emotional day.

He had spent days preparing himself for that final march onto Sox Harrison Stadium in a Fighting Scots uniform where he would be greeted by his parents, Tom and Suzanne Harris, and the hundreds of Edinboro faithful, who have made it a tradition to watch Harris on Saturday afternoons for the last four years.

Nothing, however, could have prepared Harris for his exit.

Harris suffered a knee injury with 36 seconds to play in the second quarter and never returned as Edinboro fell to Clarion, 30-17, in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West football action.

The loss all but ends Edinboro’s playoff hopes as it fell to 7-3 overall and 5-2 in the PSAC West. Clarion improved to 7-3 overall and 6-1 in the conference.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Edinboro coach Scott Browning said. “I didn’t even know what to say to the team. They didn’t want to hear anyone talk and I understand; and I didn’t want to talk. It’s just …”

Edinboro came into the contest in a must-win situation against the Golden Eagles. And that was pretty obvious from the get-go with the Scots, who elected to go for it on fourth down and one to go at the Clarion two-yard line on their opening drive.

The Scots failed to convert on the fourth-down play, but it served as a solid message that Edinboro was there to win.

Clarion’s ensuing possession ended when its punter was forced to pick up and hold on to a bad snap. Cochranton graduate Donnie Marsteller forced a fumble on the play and sophomore cornerback Branden Williams picked up the loose ball and ran it three yards into the end zone for the touchdown. Alex Romanias’ point-after-touchdown kick gave the Scots a 7-0 lead with 3:49 to play in the first quarter.

Clarion answered with a touchdown of its own on a five-yard run by quarterback Tyler Huether, but missed the extra point as Edinboro maintained the lead at 7-6.

The Scots added a 20-yard field goal by Romanias with 5:11 to play in the half and elected for the onside kick which Edinboro recovered.

That is where things went awry for the Scots.

On the sixth play of the drive, Harris took off running and picked up four yards before being pushed out of bounds by defensive end Barrington Morrison. Harris came up limping and favoring his left knee, but remained in the game, in obvious pain, for four more plays, the last of which was a two-yard run by David Bostic for a touchdown.

While Edinboro celebrated the touchdown, trainers were forced to meet Harris near the sidelines, the senior unable to put any pressure on the knee.

Trainers tended to Harris briefly on the sidelines before carrying him to the locker room with 36 seconds to play in the half.

Harris didn’t return to the field until the 10-minute mark of the third quarter and did so on crutches and in street clothes.

Edinboro, despite a valiant effort by five-year senior Joe Wanson under center, never recovered. And Clarion went on to score 24 unanswered points on its way to the win.

“Shocked,” Edinboro senior defensive end Jeremy Appell said. “I don’t know what to say. We had them wrapped up, but we let them back in the game. That’s something you can’t do against a team like (Clarion). They’re good.

“It just goes to show you sometimes how underappreciated Trevor Harris is.”

Harris chose not to speak to the media following the game. But it was obvious by his body language throughout the second half just how distraught the reigning NCAA Division II Super Regional One player of the year was.

He stood with his head in his hands and dumped the crutches a couple of times and tried to walk off the injury — all of this while his little brother, Cody, Trevor’s heir-apparent stood along the sidelines shaking his head.

“Trevor is the last person I would want to see in that position,” Appell said. “He would do anything. He would never quit. He was begging the training staff to let him go back out and he couldn’t even walk on (the leg). It’s disappointing. But it is what it is I guess.”

And nothing anyone could have prepared themselves for.

“Sad the way it ended,” Browning said.

“I didn’t know how bad he was,” Browning added, “because he finished out the series. He finished it out, so what do you think at that point. You think that maybe it’s just cramped up or something or knotted up and they’d take him in at halftime and he’d be OK. It ended up a bit more serious. It’s a gutsy thing he finished the first half.”

Huether wound up scoring three of Clarion’s four touchdowns and finished with 91 yards on 16 carries. Alfonso Hoggard added 99 yards on 30 carries with a touchdown.

For the Scots, Harris finished the game 8-of-11 for 97 yards. Wanson completed 7-of-17 passes for 49 yards. Ilio DiPaolo, once the starting quarterback at Lock Haven, also took a pair of snaps under center. Bostic had 50 yards on 15 carries and Harris 44 yards on seven carries.

Harris’ status for Edinboro’s regular season finale at Millersville is unknown. He will have to undergo further tests to establish the extent of the injury, according to Browning.

Lisa Byers can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at lbyers@meadvilletribune.com.

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Clarion rolls over Edinboro after Harris goes down

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