Oct. 13, 2007
Final Stats
Slippery Rock, Pa. - Redshirted freshman running back Ryan Lehmeier recorded his second successive 200-plus-yard rushing effort Saturday afternoon to lead The Rock to a 41-18 win over visiting Clarion in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division action.
Lehmeier rambled for 210 yards and scored four touchdowns on Bob DiSpirito Field at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium as The Rock improved its season record to 6-1 and evened its PSAC-West mark at 1-1.
Saturday's performance came one week after Lehmeier ran for a career-high 229 yards and two TDs in a 31-24 win at East Stroudsburg.
Adding even more brilliance to Lehmeier's effort is the fact that he is filling in for the PSAC's leading rusher, Corey Manfull (144.6 yards per game), who has sat out the last two games with a shoulder injury.
Lehmeier is only the second player in Rock football history to rush for 200 or more yards in back-to-back games. Dorrian Glenn ran for a school-record 335 yards at California in 2001 one week after going for 295 yards at Clarion.
Lehmeier's first TD Saturday, a seven-yard run early in the second period, gave SRU a lead it would not relinquish as it put the Green and White up by a 14-12 score.
His second TD, a 15-yard jaunt just before halftime pushed the hosts' lead to 21-12 at intermission.
Lehmeier's third TD, a 22-yard gallop with 4:30 left in the third period, made it 28-12 before his final scoring run, an eight-yard burst with eight minutes left in the game, accounted for the final points of the contest.
Behind Lehmeier's lead, The Rock rolled up 493 yards in total offense, 382 of which came on rushing attempts. Sophomore Damarcus Cleckley added 99 yards on 10 carries to come up one yard short of his second straight 100-yard game.
Rock quarterback Nate Crookshank completed 10 of 15 passes for 111 yards and one TD, a 23-yard hookup with senior wide receiver Paul Favers that produced SRU's first points of the game with just less than five minutes left in the first period.
Crookshank also scored on a 32-yard QB keeper in the final seconds of the third period.
Freshman kicking specialist C.J. Bahr successfully converted five of The Rock's six TDs.
Defensively, The Rock was led by junior linebacker Jake Barzen and junior defensive end Tyler Boudreau, who each had 10 total tackles. Included in Boudrea's takedowns were three QB sacks (-9 yards), two tackles for loss and two pass breakups.
Senior defensive tackle Clint Forsha had eight tackles, including three QB sacks (-16), 2.5 tackles for loss and one forced fumble. Junior linebacker Richie Barnes also had eight tackles.
Clarion jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead with a field goal on the opening drive of the game, followed by a touchdown after SRU muffed a squib kickoff on the ensuing kickoff.
The Golden Eagles (0-7, 0-3 PSAC-W), coached by former SRU defensive coordinator Jay Foster, got a field goal on their third possession of the game to take a 9-7 lead before Lehmeier took over.
Clarion finished the game with 383 yards in total offense, 303 of which came through the air as The Rock defense continued to have trouble stopping opposing passing attacks.
The Rock hits the road for a 1 p.m. game at Shippensburg next Saturday before closing out its home schedule with an Oct. 27 date with nationally ranked and division-leadign California U. of Pa. (1 p.m. kickoff).
