9/18/26

SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College football has a second home game in as many weeks, as the Falcons will play host to the Clarion Golden Eagles out of the PSAC West on Saturday, September 19^th. Kickoff is set for 1:00pm ET at PenFed Field at Scranton's Memorial Stadium. It's the second game in which the Falcons will play a PSAC opponent.
 
Game Details
Who: Clarion University Golden Eagles (1-1) at Lackawanna College Falcons (0-2)
When: Saturday, September 19th, 1:00pm ET
Where: PenFed Field at Scranton Memorial Stadium; Scranton, PA

Game Notes | Video | Live Stats | Tickets
 
Video coverage: https://lackawannafalcons.com/LIVE OR PSAC Sports Digital Network
Fans who cannot make the game in person can watch along for free on the Lackawanna College Athletics Network or via the PSAC Sports Digital Network. Tom Ferguson and Josh Pardini will have the call.
 
Live stats: https://lackawannafalcons.com/sidearmstats/football
Live stats coverage is available and will be updated as the game goes on.
 
Tickets: https://lackawannafalcons.com/tickets
Fans can purchase tickets ahead of time at the link above, or in-person the day of the game when the gates open at 11:30am ET. All ticket purchases are cashless.
 
Saturday's game is Lackawanna College's Hunger Action Month Food Drive contest, where donations of canned goods and non-perishables will be accepted to be donated to our local community. Attendees can also give cash donations via QR codes at the donation tables. All items and dollars donated will be given to local families in need in the Scranton/NEPA community.
 
Saturday's game will also feature halftime entertainment from the Valley View High School marching band!
 
The Falcons
The Falcons (0-2) struggled to move the ball in the second half of their week two loss to Seton Hill, 20-10, last Saturday afternoon in Scranton. The Falcons had just 191 yards of total offense and left their defense out to dry in the second half, as the Griffins kicked a field goal early in the third and then scored on a tired Lackawanna defense nearing the end of the fourth quarter. You can read the full recap HERE.
 
On the season, Lackawanna is averaging eleven points per game, while giving up 20 per contest this year. Opponents averaging 257 yards per game in offense, including 106 on the ground and 151 through the air, while the Falcons are averaging 196 yards of total offense per game, posting 89 per game on the ground and 107 per game through the air. The Falcons are 29.6% on third downs, while their opponents are 28.6%. Lackawanna has thrown four interceptions, but has lost zero fumbles, while the opposition has one interception and a pair of fumbles this year.
 
Quarterbacks David Naniewicz (Scott Twp., PA) and Laivon Balthazar (Perth Amboy, NJ) have both seen time this year, with Naniewicz starting last week against Seton Hill. Naniewicz, a first-year player, is 9-for-22 for 81 yards and three interceptions. He's also run ten times, gaining 35 yards but losing 23 on the year. Balthazar, a second-year player, started against Monroe and played last week, going 15-for-25 for 133 yards in his two games, with one interception. He has 37 net yards rushing on 20 attempts this year.
 
Second-year back Daniel McConomy (Middletown, DE) has 15 carries for 71 yards this season, posting 64 yards and catching a pair of balls against Seton Hill last week. Third-year back Jalen Fletcher (Bethlehem, PA) has 58 yards on 23 carries and has scored a pair of touchdowns, one in each game.
 
Third-year receiver Keaon Jenkins (Wayne, NJ) leads the Falcons with six catches for 111 yards this season, posting 103 yards on five catches against Monroe. Khi'Lee Patterson (Fox Chapel, PA) is a second-year receiver who has six catches for 41 yards for the Falcons this year. Fletcher also has six grabs, for 27 yards, and Jamal Jefferson, Jr. (Euclid, OH) has three grabs for 30 yards this year.
 
Defensively, second-year linebacker Brodie Daugherty (Manheim, PA) leads the team with nine solo tackles and 16 total stops this year, posting 2.0 TFLs and one sack this year. Daugherty had seven solo stops against Monroe earlier this season. Fellow linebacker Rashon Giddens (Norristown, PA) also had 16 total stops, on seven solo tackles and nine assists, and he leads the team with 3.5 TFLs and a sack, while also recovering a pair of fumbles, including one on a blocked kick that he returned for a touchdown against Monroe.
 
Second-year safety Jaerone Parker (Pittsburgh, PA) has six solo tackles and eight total tackles this season. First-year linebacker Noah Ewell (Harrisburg, PA) has seven total tackles, including three solos, part of his sick-tackle effort against Seton Hill last weekend. Second-year defensive end Savion Travis-Dukes (Trenton, NJ) has three solo tackles and three assists, along with 2.5 sacks and a blocked FG this season. First-year defensive end Nickolas Logan (Fredericksburg, VA), has five total tackles, including three solos, and two TFLs, while also recovering a fumble on Saturday against Seton Hill.
 
Second-year kicker Isiah Rodriguez (Old Forge, PA) is 1-for-1 on field goals this year, hitting a 26-yarder against Seton Hill, and is 1-for-2 on extra points. Second-year punter Samuel Magnotta (Roaring Brook Twp., PA) averages 37 yards per punt and has a long of 51 yards this season, with three punts placed inside the opponents' 20-yard line this season.
 
Lackawanna is led by veteran leader Mark Ross, who was named as the next head football coach at Lackawanna College, the third in program history, in December 2025. Ross has been coaching since pursuing his master's degree at East Stroudsburg in the 1990's, going from coaching defensive ends with the Warriors to working at Ithaca for eleven seasons at the Division III level, becoming Defensive Coordinator for his final four seasons with the Bombers. Ross then moved on to Misericordia University, where he became a head coach for the brand-new program in 2011. He spent nine seasons as the head coach at Misericordia, winning eight games and getting the Cougars to a postseason bowl for the first time in history in 2018. When the COVID-19 pandemic took out the 2020 season, Ross left Misericordia to be the defensive coordinator at Bloomsburg for three seasons in the PSAC. After that, he went to Cornell to serve as Director of Football Operations for a year with the Big Red, and then eventually made his way to Lackawanna.
 
 
The Golden Eagles
Clarion (1-1) ran into a buzzsaw last weekend, as the Eagles fell 45-14 on the road at #3/4 Kutztown University. The Golden Bears ran off 31-straight points, piling up 484 yards of total offense on the day, going for nearly seven yards per play, picking off a Clarion pass and running a punt back for a touchdown. The Eagles did post 341 yards of offense, which included 295 yards through the air.
 
In two games this year, the Eagles are averaging 33 points per game, while giving up 29.5 points per contest to their opponents. Clarion averages 395.5 yards per game on offense, with 235 yards per game through the air and 160.5 on the ground. Their opponents average 426 yards of offense this year, throwing for 253.5 per game and 172.5 yards on the ground this year. Clarion is 38.5% on third downs this year, while their opponents convert at a 43.3% clip. Clarion has thrown three interceptions and lost a pair of fumbles this year, while recovering one fumble and picking off one pass on the year.
 
Redshirt-freshman Jase Ferguson is the starter at QB, going 28-for-53 with five touchdowns, three interceptions, and 417 yards through the air this season. He also has 82 yards rushing and one touchdown this season.
 
Senior running back Tyreeck Hall leads the Eagles with 97 net yads rushing on nine carries and one touchdown in his two games. Redshirt freshman Kaevon Gardner is the bell cow, with a team-high 24 carries for 84 yards and one touchdown this season.
 
Redshirt-junior Davon Jones has a team-best ten catches for 101 yards and one touchdown this season. Jones had five catches for 52 yards and one TD against West Virginia Wesleyan in week one. Ja'Tawn Williams, a redshirt-sophomore, has eight grabs for 157 yards and a touchdown this season, including five catches for 95 yards against Kutztown.
 
Senior DB and former Falcons Najhir Kibidor leads the Eagles with 16 total tackles and a team-high ten solo stops this year. Kibidor has two pass breakups and a fumble recovery this season. Junior DB Cameron Thomas has nine solo stops, 15 total tackles, second on the team. Sophomore linebacker Gabriel Laws has 14 total tackles, seven solo stops, and 1.5 TFLs on the year.
 
Senior kicker Ty Woods does the placekicking, going 1-for-1 on a 19-yarder against West Virginia Wesleyan, and he's 9-for-9 on extra points. Woods also punts, averaging 41 yards per punt and booting a long of 57, while putting three punts inside the 20. Junior kicker Keith Baker handles the kickoffs, averaging 58.3 yards per kick and posting one touchback this season.
 
The head coach is Raymond Monica, now in his fifth season at Clarion, and 17^th overall as a head football coach. Where PSAC fans may remember coach Monica from was his time as head coach at Kutztown, from 2006 through 2012, where he led the Bears to 45 wins, including ten wins in 2010 and eleven wins in 2011, making the NCAA DII Playoffs in both years. He won a pair of PSAC East championships, and a PSAC overall title came in 2011. After that, he was a head coach at Arkansas Tech for seven seasons, then became an assistant at Southeastern Louisiana for three years at the Division I FCS level, before taking over at Clarion in 2022. After winning just eight games through his first three seasons at Clarion, Monica won six last year, helping Clarion go 6-5 overall and finish above .500 for the first time in a decade. Monica has won 93 games in his career as a head coach. Before getting the Kutztown gig, he spent eight seasons coaching at Temple University, and, before that, he spent nine years coaching at North Alabama. Monica played college ball at Northeast Mississippi CC, earning an associate's degree and moving on to North Alabama, where he immediately began coaching while pursuing his bachelor's degree in Health, Physical Education, and Recreation.
 
Next
Lackawanna College will play its first-ever PSAC road contest on Saturday, September 26^th, when the Falcons are scheduled to travel east to Monroe County to take on East Stroudsburg University for the first time, ever. Kick is set for 6:35pm ET at Eiler-Martin Stadium on the campus at ESU.