Box Score

ERIE, Pa. – In a game that featured 99 points and over 1,000 yards of total offense, Gannon University held on to win a 51-48 shootout over Slippery Rock in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western division action Saturday at Gannon.

Trailing by three with 47 seconds left to play, Rock redshirt sophomore quarterback Rocco Colavecchia was intercepted in the Gannon end zone to seal the win for the Golden Knights.

A total of 1,026 yards of offense was gained in the contest, with Gannon finishing with 558 yards on 55 plays and Slippery Rock finishing with 468 yards on 72 plays. The Golden Knights ran for a season-high 311 yards while The Rock tallied 202 yards on the ground.

Gannon quarterback Zach Boedicker threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 108 yards and another TD to lead the Golden Knights, while Jon Richardson rushed for 115 yards and two TDs.

Colavecchia finished the game completing 15-of-32 passes for 266 yards and two touchdowns, all of which were season-high totals. He also ran for 19 yards and two touchdowns and was intercepted three times, all in the second half.

Redshirt sophomore SayQuan Scott-Mitchell led the rushing attack for The Rock with 23 carries for 139 yards and two touchdowns.

Redshirt junior wide receiver Jermale Cromerdie had a "career day: with five receptions for 102 yards and one touchdown to lead the receiving corps.

Redshirt freshman Akeem Satterfield, an Erie native, finished the game with 150 kickoff return yards, including a 92-yard touchdown return.

The loss was the second in as many weeks for The Rock, who saw their season records drop to 5-3 overall and 2-3 against division rivals. The loss also pretty much snuffs out The Rock's bid for an NCAA playoff berth; SRU was ranked fifth in last week's Division II Super Region One poll.

The Rock closes out its home schedule next Saturday with a 1 p.m. game against PSAC-West leader California (Pa.), which can clinch the division title with a win over the Green and White.

With the win Saturday, Gannon ended a four-game losing skid and improved its record to 3-5 overall, 1-4 in division action.

Colavecchia scored on a one-yard QB sneak with 2:50 left in the first period and junior kicking specialist #C.J. Bahr# tacked on the extra point to give The Rock a 7-0 lead. Colavecchia's TD capped a nine-play, 71-yard drive.

The lead lasted less than two minutes, though, as Gannon went 70 yards in only four plays on the ensuing drive to tie the score at 7-7 with 0:53 left in the opening stanza. Richardson capped the drive with a 26-yd run. The first of seven PAT kicks by Jeremy Ditzler knotted the count.

Thirteen seconds later, The Rock was back in front by a 14-7 margin as Satterfield took the enusing kickoff 92 yards to paydirt and Bahr added the PAT.

The Rock then extended its lead to 14 points, 21-7, with a four-play, 53-yard scoring drive that was capped by a 19-yard pass from Colavecchia to senior tight end Kevin Guidish with 11:32 left in the second period. Bahr tacked on the PAT kick.

Gannon trimmed the margin to seven, 21-14, with a six-play, 70-yard scoring drive that was capped off by a 31-yard pass from Boedicker to Levar Goff with 8:09 left in the half.

An 11-play, 80-yard march by The Rock, culminated by a 28-yard pass from Colavecchia to Cromerdie, gave the guests a 27-14 lead with 2:13 left before halftime.

Bahr's PAT kick was blocked and returned for two points by John Chisolm in a play that turned the tide in favor of the hosts.

The block snapped a school-record string of 65 straight PAT successes by Bahr, who aggravated an Achilles injury while attempting to chase down Chisolm and sidelined him for the remainder of the game.

On the second play following the ensuing kickoff, Boedicker rambled 61 yards to the end zone on a QB scramble with 1:22 left before intermission to move Gannon to within four, 27-23.

The hosts then took their first lead of the game, 30-27, with a four-play, 80-yard scoring drive on the opening drive of the second half. Boedicker capped the drive with a 13-yard pass to Evan Twombly.

A 40-yard TD connection between Boedicker and Goff with 12:03 left in the third period expanded the Golden Knights' lead to 10, 37-27.

The Rock ended Gannon's string of 23 unanswered points with a five-play, 59-yard scoring drive that culminated in a five-yard TD run by Scott-Mitchell with 9:18 left in the third period, but the extra-point kick attempt by Rock backup Kurt Brackman was unsuccessful.

Gannon snatched the momentum back when Tyler Batts streaked 69 yards for a TD on the first play following Brackman's kickoff.

The Rock took advantage of a Gannon fumble at its own 16-yard line to close the gap to three points, 44-41,, with 14:17 left in the game. Scott-Mitchell scored from five yards out on the fourth play following the fumble forced by redshirt strong safety and Erie native Jayson Nickson and recovered by junior linebacker Tyler Henderson.

Colavecchia connected with Guidish for a two-point conversion following the TD run.

Just over 10 minutes after Scott-Mitchell's second TD run, Richardson scored what proved to be the game-winning points on a 48-yard run. That play capped a seven-play, 91-yard drive by the Golden Knights that put the hosts up by a 51-41 score with 4:12 left to play.

Undaunted, The Rock moved 60 yards in nine plays on the ensuing drive and Colavecchia scored from 13 yards out with 2:24 left.

Brackman's PAT kick trimmed the difference to three points and set up an onside kick attempt, which The Rock was unable to recover.

The Rock defense made one last stand, though, and got the ball back for the offense with 1:15 left on the clock.

The final Rock drive started at the SRU 25 and leaped forward to the Gannon 23 when Colavecchia and Cromerdie hooked up for a 52-yard gain on a second-down pass.

The comeback effort ended two plays later when Gannon's Chris Cook collared a Colavecchia pass in the end zone.

Notes:

Nickson led The Rock in tackles with nine, while Henderson and redshirt sophomore defensive back Andre Freeman each added seven ... The Rock's point total Saturday was its highest since a 59-point effort at Edinboro in the final week of the 2007 season ... Gannon's point total Saturday was the highest allowed by The Rock since Youngstown State had 51 in the 2006 season opener ... The 99 combined points scored Saturday were the most in a Rock game since SRU recorded a 68-38 win at Kutztown in Week 10 of the 1999 season ... Prior to Saturday, the last time a PAT kick by Bahr was not successful was Nov. 1, 2007, when he missed the second of four attempts at Lock Haven.