There is offense, there is defense... and then there is special teams.

The often unsung, forgot about part of the football game helped propel the Griffins to play spoiler to Clarion's Homecoming as they defeated the Golden Eagles 24-17 on Saturday. Seton Hill improved their record to 2-4, 1-2 in the PSAC West with the victory, while Clarion falls to 1-5, 0-3 in PSAC West play. 

After a slow start to the 1st quarter, Clarion started off the scoring in the contest with a five play, 73 yard touchdown drive that was highlighted by a 16 yard TD run by Corahn Alleyne to take the lead 7-0. The Griffins would respond quickly on the next drive with a score coming off of a 10 yard touchdown pass from Hayden Teska to Cody Rubrecht in the left corner of the end zone to tie the game at 7-7 in the early stages of the 2nd quarter. Both defenses held strong for the remainder of the 1st half, with multiple offensive drives ending in either punts or turnovers.

As the Griffins were in need of a spark coming out of the half, the special teams delivered. Taz Morris returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, taking the the ball a yard deep in his own end zone and firing his way through the middle of the field to give Seton Hill a 14-7 lead. Clarion would cut into this lead with some special teams of their own following the Seton Hill kickoff return, as they added a field goal on the next drive to cut the lead to 14-10. As the momentum might have been shifting in the 3rd quarter, the Griffins special teams came up clutch again. After a three and out, Jack Wagner came onto the field and fired a 37 yard punt to the Golden Eagles where their return man muffed it and D'Kairi Boone pounced on it for Seton Hill in plus territory at the Clarion 45 yard line. The Griffins were able to drive the ball down the field using ten plays, including a 13 and 19 yard run by running back JaiQuawn McGriff, to get points from off of a Luke Hauger 22 yard field goal. Extending their lead to 17-10 with less than three minutes to go in the 3rd quarter.

The Golden Eagles were eventually able to tie the game up at 17-17 with under seven minutes left in the 4th quarter after a spectacular 4th and 19 conversion with Alleyne catching a 25 yard touchdown from Zach Benedek. Seton Hill followed this score with a three and out on offense, but the Griffins found magic once again with their special teams. Another Jack Wagner punt was muffed by Clarion, this time recovered by Blake Baterse of Seton Hill at the Golden Eagles 24 yard line. The Griffins would answer with four straight run plays, including the game winning 2 yard touchdown run by Ky'Ron Craggette to take the lead 24-17 with 3:26 remaining.

Seton Hill's defense was able to stifle the Golden Eagles offense for the remainder of the game, securing their second win of the season.

Offensively, Mark Bails Jr. led the way with five catches for 127 yards. JaiQuawn McGriff rushed for 89 yards on 18 carries. Taz Morris had a phenomenal night on special teams racking up 164 return yards and a game-changing kickoff return. Luke Hauger added three extra points, along with his 22 yard field goal.

Defensively, Demetri Whitehead and Musa Tama had eight tackles each. Dioh Desuah and Ben Weaver got to the opposing quarterback four total times, accumulating two sacks a piece. 

Seton Hill will travel to Cal U (PA) next Saturday to take on the Vulcans at 3:30pm.