BOX SCORE Photo Gallery

LORETTO, Pa. – Linebacker Semo Sila (Honolulu, Hawaii /Farrington) and running back Khairi Dickson (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic) each put their stamps on Saturday's home opener with Clarion at DeGol Field. And it only took three minutes. Sila blocked a punt and intercepted a pass on Clarion's first two possessions, and Dickson punctuated each of those splash plays with a rushing touchdown. The Flash jumped out to a 27-0 lead and held on for a 27-13 victory.
 
After holding Clarion to a three-and-out on its opening possession, Sila came unblocked from the right side to block his second punt in as many weeks. Marcus Pickens (Oxon Hill, Md./Potomac) fell on the ball at the Clarion 14, and the Flash was in business. Anthony Abeid (Youngstown, Ohio/Youngstown Christian) went 11 yards to the 3, and Dickson pushed it the rest of the way to make it 7-0.
 
Sila was at it again on Clarion's second play of the following drive. He made a lunging grab of quarterback Darelle Carson's pass for his first career interception at the Clarion 38. Two plays later, Dickson went 33 yards for his second score of the day with 11:57 remaining in the first quarter. The FCS' leading rusher heading into this weekend's action, Dickson finished with 148 yards on 25 carries.
 
Clarion embarked on a seven-minute drive early in the second quarter, driving from its own 26 to the Red Flash 8. After taking a timeout, the Golden Eagles gambled and went for it on fourth down, but Carson's pass intended for Eric Frye was incomplete as Mike Dennis (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) provided the coverage.
 
Later in the quarter, quarterback Max Ward (Steelton, Pa./Middletown) rushed for 28 yards on a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive that concluded with his 16-yard touchdown run with just 25 seconds remaining in the first half. The Flash carried a 21-0 lead into the intermission.
 
Linebacker Solomon Leaeno (Kapolei, Hawaii/James Campbell) had nine tackles in the first half, easily surpassing his previous career high of six. He finished with 11 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss, tying his career high.
 
Kicker Lance Geesey (Harrisburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) tied his career long field goal make on the opening drive of the second half. He capped an eight-play, 33-yard drive with a 47-yard field goal to make it 24-0. That kick tied Geesey with two makes from that distance last season, all of which are tied for the second longest in school history.
 
After forcing another of Clarion's six punts, the Flash moved the ball into the red zone before Geesey nailed a 35-yarder to make it 27-0 with 7:21 remaining in the third quarter.
 
Clarion got on the board in the fourth quarter, with running back Delrece Williams taking it in from 11 yards out to make it 27-6. The Golden Eagles' two-pointer failed. An SFU three-and-out gave the ball back to Clarion, and Lorenzo Jerome (Sunrise, Fla./J.P. Taravella) nearly made a spectacular diving interception in the end zone as the Golden Eagles were driving. He made the catch but was ruled out of bounds. Three plays later, Connor Simmons hit Mark Nicholas for an 8-yard score to finish the scoring at 27-13.
 
Bishop Neal (Clairton, Pa./Clairton) had eight tackles while Shane Morris (Revloc, Pa./Central Cambria) added six.
 
The Flash has won six straight home openers and head coach Chris Villarrial moved his record to 5-0 in those games. Villarrial also moved into a tie for sixth place on the school's all-time wins list, tying Vince Davis. Davis won 14 games from 1949-52.
 
The Red Flash hits the road next week to James Madison for a 4:00 p.m. kickoff.